184 NATURAL HISTORY. 



set for his own benefit as in despoiling those meant for others ; either he takes no notice of them, 

 or carefully pulls them to pieces, and so gets the bait and outwits the hunter, without danger to 

 himself. It is only in a trap constructed with the greatest care, and disguised so as to resemble 

 a " cache," or store of hidden food, that the wary beast can be caught. Mr. Lockhart, an American 

 writer, quoted by Dr. Coues, gives some really charming instances of his own experience in trying to 

 wet the better of his inveterate enemy. In one case, he had carefully buried a Lynx's skin in the 

 snow, to the depth of some three feet ; the snow was arranged so as to present a perfectly undisturbed 

 appearance, and the Lynx's entrails and blood were strewed about, and its carcass left, so as to take off 

 the scent. On returning next morning to his beautifully-made "cache," he found the carcass, &c., 

 gone, but everything else apparently just as he had left it. His joy was great, but premature ; for on 

 digging, no skin was to be found : the "Wolverene had stolen it during the night, but had added insult 

 to injury by filling up the hole, and putting everything in statu quo. 



Mr. Lockhart gives another equally astonishing instance of the Wolverene's ability : " At Peel's 

 River, on one occasion, a very old Carcajou [the trapper's name for the Glutton] discovered my 

 Marten-road, on which I had nearly a hundred and fifty traps. I was iu the habit of visiting the line 

 about once a fortnight ; but the beast fell into the way of coming oftener than I did, to my great 

 annoyance and vexation. I determined to put a stop to his thieving and his life together, cost what 

 it might. So I made six strong traps at as many different points, and also set three steel traps. 

 For three weeks I tried my best to catch the beast, without success ; and my worst enemy would 

 allow that I am no green hand in these matters. The animal carefully avoided the traps set for 

 his own benefit, and seemed to take more delight than ever in demolishing my Marten-traps, 

 and eating the Martens, scattering the poles in every direction, and caching what baits or Martens 

 he did not devoxir on the spot. As we had no poison in those days, I next set a gun on the bank of 

 a little lake. The gun was concealed in some low bushes, but the bait was so placed that the Carcajou 

 must see it on his way up the bank. I blockaded my path to the gun with a small pine-tree, which 

 completely hid it. On my first visit afterwards, I found that the beast had gone up to the bait 

 and smelled it, but had left it untouched. He had next pulled up the pine-tree that blocked the 

 path, and gone around the gun and cut the line which connected the bait with the trigger just behind 

 the muzzle. Then he had gone back and pulled the bait away, and carried it out on the lake, where 

 he laid down and devoured it at his leisure. There I found my string. I could scarcely believe that 

 all this had been done designedly, for it seemed that faculties fully on a par with human reason would 

 be required for such an exploit, if done intentionally. I therefore re-arranged things, tying the string 

 where it had been bitten. But the result was exactly the same for three successive occasions, as I 

 could plainly see by the footprints ; and what is most singular of all, each time the brute was careful 

 to cut the line a little back of where it had been tied before, as if actually reasoning with himself that 

 even the knots might be some new device of mine, and therefore a source of hidden danger he would 

 prudently avoid. I came to the conclusion that that Carcajou ought to live, as he must be something 

 at least human, if not worse. I gave it up, and abandoned the road for a period." 



One very extraordinary habit of the Wolverene is shared by very few animals except man. It in 

 stated by Dr. Coues that, when it meets a man, it will often, if it be to windward, approach within 

 fifty or sixty yards, and then, sitting calmly down on its haunches, will shade its eyes with one 

 fore-paw, and gaze earnestly at its enemy. This very human action it will often repeat two or 

 three times before attempting to flee. 



THE MAKTEN.* 



The Pine Marten is perhaps the most pleasing of the Weasel group, as far as appearance is 

 concerned. Its long, lithe body attains a length of over half a yard ; its tail is about a foot in length. 

 The legs are short, though not nearly so short as in the Weasels, and its paws have five digits, armed 

 with sharp claws. The snout is sharp and beset at the sides with long vibrissse. The skin is very 

 beautiful, dark-brown for the most part, lighter on the cheeks and snout, and on the throat and under 

 side of the neck a light yellow. 



* Mustela martes. 



