74 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



vigilance of the gamekeeper, has become very rare in this 

 country. In this case there can be no doubt that the keeper is 

 fully justified, for there is no more destructive beast among our 

 native carnivora. It is still common throughout Europe, as far 

 north as central Scandinavia. 



Though in general appearance similar to the Marten, the 

 Polecat is smaller, has shorter legs and a shorter tail, and 

 differs in colour. The entire length is about two feet, but of 

 this the bushy tail accounts for about seven inches. Its long 

 coarse fur is dark brown on the upper parts of the body, and 

 black on the undersurface. The head, also, is blackish, relieved 

 with white marks about the muzzle and between the ears and 

 eyes. The weight of a full-grown Polecat is about six pounds. 



Its usual habitat is a wood or copse, not too far from a 

 plunderable farm ; but it has no fixed type of dwelling, taking 

 advantage of any hole, be it a fox-earth, a rabbit burrow, or a 

 natural rock crevice ; often indeed a woodstack in the farmyard 

 may be utilised. On the approach of winter it looks out for 

 some deserted building where it can find shelter. Unlike the 

 Marten, it is not much of a climber, and does not exhibit the 

 sprightly agility of that species. It is a nocturnal hunter, and 

 is an adept at finding entrance to a hen-house, where it has been 

 known to kill off every one of the inmates in a night, though it 

 could only make off with a solitary hen. Although it may 

 consume the brains of its victims on the spot, the bodies are 

 always carried to its lair for more leisured consumption. Its 

 food includes eggs of all kinds, rabbits, rats, mice, birds, fish, 

 frogs, lizards, and snakes, including the viper, whose poison is 

 considered to be innocuous in the blood of the Polecat. When 

 it gets into the poultry yard, the superior size of some of its 

 victims does not alarm it ; a goose will serve its turn as well as 

 a chicken. Bell tells of sixteen turkeys that were killed in one 

 night by a single Foumart ; though, of course, it could not drag 

 away one of the carcasses. Its usual method of carrying smaller 



