392 



THE NATURE BOOK 



for it will be convenient to consider 

 the Polecat, who is intermediate in size 

 between the Stoat and the Marten, 

 before directing our attention to his more 

 handsome and. I think I must in justice 

 add, more attractive relation. 



The Polecat has earned an unenviable 

 notoriety from the twin scent-glands which 

 are situated beneath the root of his tail. 



employed at one time or another as 

 semi-domesticated mousers. It is almost 

 certain, for instance, that the domestic 

 Cat of the Romans was a Marten. 



The power of emitting a fluid the dissi- 

 pated aroma of which is repulsive and sick- 

 ening to human nostrils, reaches its highest 

 perfection in the New-World Skunks. 

 Whether this power was originally a 



POLECAT. 



These glands occur in all mustelines, 

 but in the Polecat their secretion is singu- 

 larly noisome. 



The Germans do not mince matters 

 but call him simply " Stinkthier." The 

 French " Putois " is equally significant ; 

 while our own vernacular " Foumart," 

 an evident corruption of Foul Marten, 

 shows that our forbears had seized on 

 at least one characteristic before be- 

 stowing a title. A second English name, 

 " Fitch " or " Fitchet," has a similar 

 meaning, but the origin of " Polecat " 

 itself is lost. Two ingenious explana- 

 tions have been suggested : one that it 

 is " Polish Cat," the other that it is 

 " Poule Cat " — the cat who robs the 

 hen-roosts I cannot resist making a 

 third — " Pole-shaped Cat." A reason for 

 the termination may be found in the fact 

 that most of the Weasels have been 



means of defence or a means of court- 

 ship, is doubtful. There is little doubt, 

 however, that in the Weasel tribe it has 

 come to be e.xercised in both directions. 

 A trapped Polecat or Stoat will almost 

 certainly bring his battery to bear on 

 his prison, and it will be found that a 

 trap thus infected is the best possible 

 lure for another of the same species. 



So far as defence is concerned, though 

 we have no European animal to compare 

 with the American Skunk, who can 

 direct his emission with considerable force 

 (many persons have been blinded by it), 

 and who combines with this unpleasant 

 character a tendency to rabies, an enraged 

 Polecat is an awkward thing to deal with, 

 not only by reason of his sickening efflu- 

 vium, but also by reason of his ferocity. 

 In Smiles' " Life of a Scotch Naturalist," 

 a description of an encounter between 



