36o 



THE NATURE BOOK 



ment with which to enlarge the entrance, 

 the mother very properly removed them. 

 My experience of young Weasels is more 

 definite. In Ma\', 1904, I secured a litter 

 of five during the threshing of an oat- 

 stack. They were of the same colour as 

 adults, well- furred, but blind. Four days 

 after capture their eyes opened. Their 

 note was a high whimper, and could be 

 exactly imitated by rubbing a moistened 

 finger on glass. They quickly took to 

 sparrow-meat, and, when I had had them 

 a fortnight, their whimper ceased, and 

 they developed the power of " hissing." 

 This always occurred under co\'er. A 

 Weasel under cover, who suspects mis- 

 chief, arches his back and gathers all four 

 feet beneath him. He may or may not 

 hiss. His " yap," the ultimatum, is 

 accompanied by a lightning lunge, and 

 recovery of the head, neck, shoulders and 

 fore-part of the body. It is impossible to 

 disregard the serpentine character of this 

 attack. Personally I could never face it 

 without flinching. Apart from this mus- 

 cular adaptation to quick forward move- 

 ment, the anterior portion of a Weasel's 

 body admits of an extraordinary amount 

 of lateral play. A favourite exercise of 

 my Weasels, when full grown, was to 

 swing the fore-parts of themselves from 

 side to side through something like a right 

 angle, at a rate which I timed on several 

 occasions of 150 strokes a minute. 

 Another example of this body flexibility 

 was seen when a pair quarrelled. Before 

 one got a grip of the other it was impos- 

 sible to follow the inextricable confusion 



of their bodies. I never saw the throat 

 grip, which presumal)ly was intended, 

 but on se\'eral occasions I saw one fasten 

 on the other's nose. The victim's pro- 

 cedure was always the same. He flung 

 his hind-quarters off the ground and twisted 

 completely round. The aggressor of 

 necessity followed suit, and the pair 

 formed an animated spiral, the revolution 

 of one body being a shade in front of that 

 of the other. I have counted twenty- 

 three such revolutions in succession. 



In spite of the evidence of Weasels 

 hunting in packs, to which I have already 

 referred, I should judge the adult Weasel 

 to be normally a solitary animal. In the 

 case of a pair of my captives, each had his 

 own corner of the cage, which he defended 

 vi et arinis against his fellow. Frequently 

 they fought, and in the end one killed the 

 other ; 3'et at times they plaj-ed like 

 puppies. The game was hide-and-seek, 

 one taking cover, waiting till the other 

 approached, yapping at him, and, if he 

 retreated, pursuing him round and round 

 the cage and up and down its wire-netting 

 side. As in the case of dogs, it was easy 

 to distinguish these mock combats from 

 the real thing. The Weasel has two 

 characteristic methods of running. In one 

 he keeps his body very low and straight. 

 In the other he progresses by a series of 

 bounds, and at the top of each bound his 

 body is strongly arched with all four feet 

 together beneath him. He frequently 

 adopts this dancing method when he has 

 to carry a small bird, or mouse, over 

 rough ground. 



Douglas English. 



