Fungi, Squirrels, Weasels 389 



October, showing two heads growing from one stem, may 

 therefore be of interest. 



That Squirrels are partial to Fungi of several kinds is well 

 known, partly devoured Fungi being frequently found in 

 their nests. It has more than once been my good fortune 

 to see the animals carrying such delicacies in their mouths, 

 and scampering off with them from tree to tree. One day, 

 in Merionethshire, I almost fancied that I had detected a 

 similar taste in a Weasel, when one was seen making off 

 with a conspicuously yellow and white object in its mouth. 

 A shot from the keeper who accompanied me, however, 

 ended its career, and on getting up we found that the 

 burden carried had been a young one. The old Weasel 

 proved to be a male ; and the young one, quite recently 

 killed and still warm, had already had its hind-quarters partly 

 devoured, from which it would appear that Weasels must 

 sometimes hunt and prey upon one another. My companion 

 said he had always been of opinion that they did so; and that 

 he attributed the partly devoured remains of Weasels, which 

 he occasionally found in his traps, to this cannibalistic pro- 

 pensity. The same man had his vermin rail within easy 

 gunshot of the back door of his cottage, regardless of the 

 aroma arising from the decaying bodies of his victims. The 

 rail stretched from the wall of a dog-kennel to a neighbour- 

 ing tree, and conspicuous amongst its adornments there 

 were always present a goodly number of Weasels and Stoats. 

 Notwithstanding the proximity of the dogs, he had, from his 

 own door, shot more than one Weasel that was actually 

 engaged in making a meal off the body (sometimes by no 

 means in a fresh condition) of one of its own species, and 

 that although, at the time, the rail carried the remains of 

 hawks and other vermin that had more recently been hung 

 up there, and which might therefore have been supposed to 

 be more tempting as food. Such tastes are, of course, not 

 unknown, and most keepers are well aware of the fact that 

 one of the best baits for either Weasel or Stoat is the dead 

 body of a companion, or to rub the trap with the body so 

 as to give it a smell. I myself witnessed the death of one 

 cannibal Weasel at this same rail, but it did not fall to the 



