LIFE OF A RAT-CATCHEK. 59 



the bottom lot of cheese in a pile which had 

 only been there three weeks. 



A word or two about what a Eat will do with 

 a ferret. I have often seen a Eat run a ferret 

 out of the hole, and then wait witn its head 

 out of the hole until the ferret has come to it 

 again. I remember once ferreting at a 

 hencote, and put the ferret behind the hen 

 nest, whereupon the Eat attacked the ferret, 

 which then jumped back and died in five 

 minutes, the Eats having given only one bite 

 behind the ferret's ear ! Of course this is a 

 very rare occurrence. True, I have had many 

 ferrets killed by Eats in my time, but it has 

 always occurred through the poisonous bite 

 first swelling and then " taking bad ways,'* 

 the ferret dying in probably a week or so. 



You must understand that if you put a Eat 

 and a ferret together in a tub the ferret would 

 kill the Eat in nine cases out of ten, the nature 

 of the Eat being to get away from the ferret if 

 possible ; but if it cannot it will fight, and I 

 think a Eat, for its size, is of a very vicious 

 nature, for I have often seen when trying a 

 puppy at killing a Eat in a pit, that a game Eat 

 will run the puppy all round the pit. The 

 best way to try a pup to kill a Eat is to draw 

 the teeth of the first Eat it secures for some- 

 times if a pup gets a severe bite from a Eat 



