431 



one morning when I was going fishing, and every time he 

 would find it again, and I soon heard the Rabbit squeal where 

 the Weasel was killing it. 



THE. WEASEL. PUTJ.KD AND I PULLED. 



I was going fishing one morning about four years ago, when 

 1 saw something going slowly across the road about one hun- 

 dred yards ahead of me. I ran to where I saw it and there a 

 Weasel was pulling a very large Rabbit through under an old 

 log; I caught the hind legs of the Rabbit and the Weasel 

 pulled at the other end. I got a club and tried to kill the Wea- 

 sel, but I could not hit him. Every time I would let the dead 

 Rabbit go, the Weasel would take hold of it and begin to pull 

 it under the log; I laid the Rabbit close to the log and held 

 my foot on side of log; when the Weasel put his head out and 

 was pulling the Rabbit again I put my foot down on top of 

 him and killed him. The Rabbit was yet warm. I opened it 

 and found nine young Rabbits almost large enough to make 

 their appearance in the world, but they were all dead. 



WHAT FARMERS AND POULTRY RAISERS SAY. 



The following extracts conceruiiig the liabits of 

 Weasels are taken from letters received hj tlie writer 

 from farmers, poultry raisers, sportsmen and natural- 

 ists. 



JOHN F. THOMAS, Carrolltown, Cambria County: 



I have known the Weasel to kill six full grown hens in one 

 night on my father's farm. It is supposed that it kills its 

 victims for their blood only, and all the fowls killed by it, that 

 I have seen, substantiate this, since, in every case, the blood 

 vessels of the neck were severed close to the head and there 

 was apparently no flesh missing. I recollect an experience, when 

 a boy, that proves them to be remarkably bold at times. I was 

 pursuing one that had in its mouth a Mouse; in an attempt to 

 strike it with a stone, I struck the Mouse with such force as 

 to throw it a distance of eight or nine feet from the fence, when 

 to my surprise, he immediately left the fence and regained the 

 Mouse and disappeared along the fence. They seem to have 

 a greater appetite for Mice and Rats than poulti-y^ as I have 

 known them to be in my father's barn for -several weeks and 



