THE WEASEL AND THE STOAT (THE ERMINE). 99 



overstocking. Added to this is the huge mortality 

 that occurs by family disagreement, a litter of 

 seven or eight youngsters finally dwindling to 

 about three ere they have finished running to- 

 gether. Again, the weasel is no respecter of sex, 

 and a male weasel meeting a female is just as 

 likely to kill her in endeavouring to realise his 

 desires as he is to add to the number of his 

 kind. These repulsive facts account for the limita- 

 tion placed upon an entirely repulsive creature. 

 The weasel is the weasel's worst foe ; traps and 

 guns contribute little in keeping down his numbers 

 compared with the measures nature has brought 

 to bear, and did not such measures exist, the 

 weasel population would multiply till the exter- 

 mination of other life alone brought their numbers 

 to a halt. 



BREEDING OF THE WEASEL. 



The weasel makes a nest of leaves and moss, 

 locating it among the roots of a fallen tree, in 

 the bank of a hedgerow, in the foundations of 

 a dry rubble wall, or in a rabbit-burrow. Gesta- 

 tion occupies just under six weeks, and the young 

 are blind for nine days after birth. They are 

 totally dependent on their mother for four weeks ; 

 at six weeks they are well able to fend for them- 

 selves. The female weasel is a devoted mother, 

 and has been known to return in the face of 

 gun-fire, at the cost of her life, as it proved, 

 to pick up one of her young too badly injured 

 to follow her to safety.* 



Naturalists disagree as to how many litters are 

 produced per season. Some state emphatically 

 not more than two ; others infer that four litters 



Personal observation. H. M. B. 



