232 THE BALANCE OF NATURE 



and there is not much fear of his extermination 

 for a long time to come. 



It must be conceded that it is difficult to 

 make much of a case in favour of the wild cat 

 on the score of usefulness, under present-day 

 conditions ; their numbers, however, are now so 

 few that they can do little damage in the wild 

 and remote localities where they still exist. A 

 few mountain hares or grouse are surely not too 

 high a price to pay for the continued existence 

 of such a magnificent type as a member of our 

 Scottish fauna. 



Much the same is the argument in favour of 

 a lenient judgment of that beautiful and graceful 

 animal, the marten, which one fears is still nearer 

 to the vanishing point. Like the wild cat, and 

 unlike the otter, they are easily trapped, and the 

 only hope for them is that some of our larger 

 proprietors may extend protection to them in 

 time. 



For the polecat, one fears that it is already 

 too late to put in any plea ; but if, as seems 

 probable, our tame ferret is a domesticated race 

 of the polecat, it is likely to be with us in this 

 form for many a day. 



In the case of the stoat there is much more 

 and stronger evidence for the defendant. It 

 cannot for a moment be denied that it is a some- 



