216 Practical Game Preserving. 



We fancy that in localities where many of these pests 

 remain there is no species of vermin caught, killed, or 

 shot with more satisfaction to either the poultry keeper or 

 game preserver, who may have suffered from their depreda- 

 tions, than the polecat ; and when a keeper may be seen 

 complacently regarding the particular tree accorded to his 

 use, one may be sure that, among the fetid collection, the 

 animal which has earned for itself the worst notoriety of 

 English weasels will probably not be unrepresented. 



Mention of the fetor of most kinds of vermin suggests 

 the polecat's most objectionable peculiarity, namely, the 

 secretion of a substance of disgusting odour near the tail 

 and the power of emitting the stench at will ; indeed, when 

 the animal is attacked it emits it to such an extent that the 

 smell will adhere for somS time to anything with which it 

 may come in contact. It is produced and secreted in two 

 small pouches (not one, as often stated) situated beneath 

 the tail, and is evidently a means of protection, exemplified 

 to the full in the skunk of America. 



As an example of the superstitions that survive, even to 

 this day in some parts of the British Islands, we find farmers 

 encouraging the polecat and even protecting it, averring 

 that it is possessed of an instinct capable of appreciating 

 hospitality, and that, such being the case, it will on no 

 account commit any havoc against the man who affords it 

 the shelter of his buildings. Expostulation in such cases 

 is unavailing, and the mistaken agriculturist must be left to 

 the teaching of experience an unkind mistress. 



The polecat, as far as its colour, &c., goes, is not much 

 known, and a description of the stoat is often volunteered to 



