THE STOAT AND WEASEL 



355 



WEASEL 



I could discover l)ut the mere joy of 

 living. In countries where the cult of 

 game has not yet reached the commercial 

 stage, the names of the \^^easel are mostly 

 affectionate diminutives. The Italian 

 donnola for example, meaning the " little 

 lady"; the Spanish comadreja, "god- 

 mother"; the Bavarian schdnihierlcin, 

 "pretty beastie";* while our own pro- 

 vincial " fairy " shows that our forbears 

 regarded the little creature with an 

 affection which was based, not only on 

 its playfulness and elegance, but also on a 

 common-sense view of its utihty. 



Apart from their relative sizes it is easy 

 to distinguish between Stoat and Weasel 

 by their tails. In 

 the Stoat the tail 

 is long, and termin- 

 ates in a bushy 

 black tuft, which 

 never whitens in 

 winter. In the 

 Weasel the tail is 

 short, and displaj's 

 throughout its 

 length the russet 

 colour of the ani- 

 mal's back. Both 

 animals show sucli 

 variations in size 

 (the males are al- 

 ways the larger) 

 that it is difficult 

 to assign to them 

 definite dimensions. 

 The extreme all- 



• E. von Martens, 

 " Ueber Thieniamen." 



over measurements 

 I have encountered 

 arc : Male Stoat, i8 

 inches; Female Wea- 

 sel, 8 inches. In the 

 Stoat the tail is 

 rather less than half 

 the length of th-e 

 head and body. In 

 the Weasel it is rather 

 more than a quarter. 

 I ha\e never found 

 any primrose or sul- 

 ])hur tinge on the 

 under surface of the 

 latter, and so far as 

 the distribution of 

 brown and white on the feet and lips 

 is concerned, I have never found two 

 animals of either species identical. Ex- 

 amples of albinism in Weasels are by no 

 means infrequent, but this is, of course, 

 a different matter to seasonal change, and 

 I know of no instance of the latter occur- 

 ring in this country. Both animals are 

 well whiskered, and have, in addition, a 

 few stout vibnsscB on the elbow joint, 

 which no doubt are of service to them 

 when groping their way after dark. 

 Though I have not been able to deter- 

 mine by measurements that the Weasel's 

 neck is proportionately longer than the 

 Stoat's, the appearance of the former, 



ADULT WEASEL. 



