THE POLECAT. SO? 



Description, favourite pre^, Sec. 



ped is considerably larger than the ferret, its 

 nose is blunter, and its body not quite so slender. 

 It also differs in its internal conformation; hav- 

 ing but fourteen ribs, whereas the ferret has fif- 

 teen; and wanting one of the breast-bones, 

 which is found in the ferret. 



The polecat is, for the most part, of a deep 

 chocolate colour, inclining to black on the throat, 

 feet, and tail. The ears are short, rounded, and 

 tipt with white; there is also some white about 

 the nose; and a little beyond the corners of the 

 mouth a stripe begins, and runs backward, partly 

 white and partly yellow. The claws are white 

 beneath, and brown above; and the tail is about 

 two inclies and a half in length. 



Rabbits seem to be the favourite prey of these 

 animals, and a single polecat is often sufficient 

 to destroy a whole warren ; as its insatiable thirst 

 for blood propels it to kill many more than it 

 can possibly devour; and Goldsmith observes, 

 that he has seen twenty rabbits at a time taken 

 out dead, which a polecat had destroyed, and 

 that by a wound scarcely perceptible. 



The polecat is likewise particularly destructive 

 among pigeons, as it gets into the dove-house 

 with very little noise ; dispatches each of its vic- 

 tims with a single wound in the head; and, after 

 killing a great number, and satiating itself with 

 their blood, it begins to carry them off, one by 

 one, to its subterraneous retreat; or if it happen, 

 that the aperture by which it got into the dove 



