142 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



with him, and come hopping round, wondering 

 who and what he was. 



The next on the gamekeeper's list, and of 

 which he had more than one specimen, was 

 the common Cat, perhaps as destructive a 

 poacher as can be found. Once the domesticated 

 Cat takes to hunting in the woods, she ceases 

 to be of any use for hunting mice or rats at 

 home, and ought to be destroyed, One day 

 while out ferreting the ferret bolted five Cats, 

 an old one, evidently the mother, and four 

 half-grown, all of which I shot. The number of 

 rabbits taken by these must have been enormous. 



The Stoat and Weasel, notwithstanding con- 

 stant trapping, hunting, and shooting, where and 

 whenever seen, remain fairly plentiful. The 

 Stoats pay a visit to my poultry -yard every 

 year, and although I manage to secure the 

 visitors, it is always after the damage is done. 

 Stoats, like their smaller relatives the Weasels, 

 are most destructive animals, killing, for the mere 

 sake of killing, every animal on which they can 



