501 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Fcrrt't* trained to chase rabbits. 



ticated condition, it requires a considerable de- 

 gree of attention and indulgence. Hence it is 

 usually accommodated with a hutch or box, fur- 

 nished with a quantity of wool, with which it 

 forms a warm bed, and in which it sleeps the 

 greater part, of the day, but its disposition is so 

 ravenous that the moment it awakes, it evinces 

 the utmost eagerness for a supply of food. 



The ferret is regularly trained, by warreners, 

 to chase the rabbits in their burrows; in this em- 

 ployment care is always taken to muzzle it, that 

 it may only drive the rabbits out into the nets, 

 which are spread before the entrance of those 

 retreats; as it would otherwise destroy, and leave 

 them in their holes. 



It sometimes happens that the ferret disen- 

 gages itself from its muzzle, whilst in the hole; 

 when there is the greatest danger of its being 

 lost, for, -after being satiated with blood, it falls 

 asleep, and then it is almost impossible to rouze, 

 or get at it. 



When this happens, the usual methods of re- 

 covering the ferret are, by digging it out, mak- 

 ing a fire at the entrance, or smoking the hole. 

 If these measures do not succeed, it continues 

 among the rabbit holes during the summer, sub 

 sisting upon the prey which it finds there; how- 

 ever, on the arrival of winter, being unable to 

 sustain the cold of that season, it is sure to 

 perish. 



In mills, barns, and granaries, this iittle 



