THE WEASEL AND THE STOAT (THE ERMINE). 79 



then every deer remains stock-still till the cause 

 of the disturbance is arrived at, when they bound 

 away. Slow, cautious movements, then, are a 

 mistake except at very close range, and it is to 

 be observed that all animals that are most expert 

 in hunting, or in evading those who hunt them, 

 adopt this method of alternate ' freezing ' and rapid 

 movement. 



HEARING. 



The hearing of the weasel family is marvellously 

 keen, and it is said that these animals can hear the 

 scream of a mole, a sound so high pitched that 

 the human ear cannot distinguish it.* Weasels 

 are guided very considerably in their hunting by 

 their hearing, and many a time in the dusk of 

 evening one can observe one of these little free- 

 booters sally forth, and, as though undecided 

 which direction to take, sit bolt-upright and listen. 

 At this hour of half-light, the sun having already 

 dipped behind the hills, though a sea of crimson 

 and gold still floods the west, a weasel is very 

 difficult to recognise when seated thus, and having 

 once removed one's eyes from him, it is almost 

 impossible to locate him again. Motionless and 

 straight as a picket-pin, he looks for all the world 

 like one of the dead thistle-stems that surround 

 him, and sometimes for several minutes he will 

 remain thus, taking no notice should a motor 

 vehicle or a farm-cart thunder by only a few paces 

 distant. Then suddenly, having evidently heard 

 sounds too faint for the human ear, he darts off 



* I once caught alive a female mole which was in the act of feeding 

 its young. As I held the animal by the skin of the back it opened 

 its month, and though no sound was audible, the fact that it was 

 'screaming' was indicated by its quickly escaping breath and its 

 general attitude of defence. H. M. B. 



