160 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



of them possess strength out of all proportion to their 

 size. The muzzle of the small head is pointed; the teeth 

 are sharp and thoroughly carnivorous in character. Their 

 relish for blood is strong, and only their inferiority of 

 size prevents their being among the most formidable of 

 animals. Their bite is keen and deep, and they generally fix 

 upon a vital part where some large vein invites them, and 

 there hang until their victim expires. From their slender, 

 elongated figure they are termed vermiform (or worm-like) 

 mammals. They worm their way in and out of the smallest 

 crevices where it could hardly be supposed possible for 

 them to enter ; and they climb with remarkable adroitness, 

 thanks to their short, strong limbs and sharp claws. More 

 or less nocturnal in habit, the Weasel tribe carry death to 

 every creature smaller than themselves and to not a few that 

 are much larger. Most of the Weasels give off a disagree- 

 able odour from glands which are placed beneath the root 

 of the tail. 



WEASEL (Putorius vulgaris). 

 Coloured Plate IX. Fig. 6. 



The whole of the true Weasels are terribly bloodthirsty, 

 and the common Weasel, the smallest and commonest of 

 its race, is second to none in its determination and fierce- 

 ness. The animal is found in most countries of Europe 

 and is still more abundant in North America. The generic 

 name (putorius) means bad smelling. 



The Weasel is but seven or eight inches in length with- 

 out the tail, which is another two and a half inches. The 

 body is remarkably attenuated and cylindrical, the flattened 

 head, with its pitiless eyes, merging almost imperceptibly 

 into the neck and the neck into the body, this worm-like 

 formation enabling the creature to thread even the under- 

 ground galleries of the field mice. 



Being an expert climber, the Weasel preys upon birds, 

 their eggs and young. It can run along the top of a hedge 

 with almost the facility of a bird hopping from twig to twig. 

 Rats and mice are its commonest prey : one bite on the 

 back of the head pierces the brain, which the fierce little 



