FERRET. WEASEL. 57 



watch for rats, moles, and field-mice, and they wage a continual 

 war against rabbits, who cannot escape, because they can readily 

 enter their holes. The Polecat is found in all the temperate parts 

 of Europe. 



20. The Ferret Mustela Furo also belongs to the genus of 

 the Polecats, and very much resembles the common polecat. Its 

 coat is clear brown or yellowish ; its body is more elongated, 

 more delicate, its head narrower, its muzzle more pointed than 

 the polecat ; the female is smaller than the male. It is origin- 

 ally from Barbary ; it is naturalized in Spain, but in France it is 

 only met with domesticated, and is employed to hunt rabbits in 

 their burrows. This animal, says Buffon, is naturally, the mortal 

 enemy of the rabbit : when a rabbit, even dead, is shown to a 

 young ferret that has never seen one, he throws himself upon it, 

 and bites with fury ; if living, he seizes it by the neck or the nose 

 and sucks its blood. When let into a rabbit-hole, it is muzzled, 

 that it may not kill the rabbits at the bottom of the burrow, but 

 only compel them to sally forth and be caught in a net with which 

 it is usual to cover the entrance. 



21. The Weasel MrtslelaVulyaris, is another species of the 

 genus Polecat ; it is of a chestnut colour above, white below, in length 

 about six inches, with an addition of fifteen or eighteen lines ior 

 the tail. This animal is very common in temperate climates, and 

 is terrible to hen-roosts, into which its small size enables it to in- 

 sinuate itself through very narrow openings. When a Weasel 

 enters a hen-roost, it does not attack the cocks or old hens, but 

 selects the young hens and chicks, kills them by a simple wound 

 inflicted on the head, and then carries them off one after the other ; 

 it also breaks the eggs and sucks their contents with incredible 

 avidity. In winter, it generally dwells in granaries or in barns, 

 frequently remaining there till the spring, to give birth to its young, 

 on the hay or straw ; during all this time it wages war, more suc- 

 cessfully than a cat, against rats and mice, because they cannot 

 escape, as it follows them into their holes ; it climbs, into dove- 

 cots, and destroys pigeons, sparrows, &c. In the spring, it goes 

 to some distance from habitations, particularly into low places, 

 about mills, along the banks of streams and rivers, and conceals 

 itself in thickets to surprise birds, and often establishes itself in 

 the hollow of an old willow to bring forth its young. 



20. What are the specific characters of the Ferret? To what part of the 

 world did the Ferret originally belong? What are its habits? 



21. What are the specific characters of the Weasel ? What are its 

 habits ? In what part of the world is it found ? 



