344 WEASELS. 



which signifies a Weasel. Their extremely long bodies and very short legs, together 

 with the astonishing perfection of the muscular powers, give them the capability of 

 winding their little bodies into the smallest possible crevices, and of waging successful 

 battle with animals of twenty times their size and strength. 



There are many species which are known to be ranged under the banners of this 

 family, all of which are remarkable for their boldness and their ferocity, and many of 

 which have gained much fame from their agility. Some of them, such as the badger 

 and the ratels, are plantigrade in their manner of walking ; /. e., they place the whole 

 of the foot flat on the ground when they walk. Others, such as the stoats, polecats, 

 and otters, are digitigrade, /. e., they only place the tips of the toes on the ground in 

 walking. Nearly all the Weasels are excellent climbers, being able to run up the per- 

 pendicular trunks of trees with perfect ease, and to pervade the branches in search of 

 their prey. They can also leap to a considerable distance ; a circumstance which is 

 worthy of notice, because their short legs would seem to be very little adapted for such 

 an accomplishment. 



In the engraving on page 343, the various British members of the Weasel tribe are 

 depicted. 



In the foreground is seen a group of common Weasels, one of them emerging from a 

 cleft in the earth. Just above them a stoat is represented as having killed a hare, and 

 engaged in drinking the blood as it flows from the fatal wound. Another stoat is as- 

 cending the tree. On the branches of the tree several martens are crouching. In the 

 river a pair of otters are engaged in the capture of their finny prey, and a badger is 

 standing on the river-bank. 



The teeth of the Mustelidae are eminently predaceous in their character : the canines 

 being long, sharp, and slightly curved backwards, while the molars are studded with 

 points and edges in a manner somewhat similar to those of the cat. 



Still, the teeth are not so exclusively carnivorous as those of the cats, as in the molar 

 teeth there is a slight approach to the structure which permits vegetable-feeding animals 

 to masticate their food. Although their outer sides are furnished with the sharp-cut- 

 ting edges that distinguish the carnivorous from the herbivorous teeth, their inner side 

 are supplied with more or less rounded ridges, resembling in some degree the correspond- 

 ing portions in the teeth of the vegetable-feeding animals. This modification of the 

 grinding teeth is most conspicuous in the last molar tooth of the upper jaw, which pre- 

 sents a tolerably wide and smooth surface to the action of the teeth that meet it in the 

 lower jaw, and causes the substances that are subjected to their action to be crushed, 

 as by the molar teeth of vegetable-feeding animals, and not only to be cut or lacerated, 

 as would be the case if the teeth were wholly of the carnivorous nature. 



The skull of every member of the Weasel tribe presents a peculiarity by which it 

 may be distinguished, without much difficulty, from that of a feline orviverrine animal. 

 The space between the orbit of the eye to the " occipital foramen," as the large aperture 

 at the base of the skull is termed, is extremely large in proportion to the size of the 

 skull itself, and gives to that portion of the structure a peculiar and characteristic 

 aspect. The hinder portion of a Weasel's skull appears to be so elongated, when com- 

 pared with the similar portion of a cat or a genett, that there is but little difficulty in 

 distinguishing them. 



In absolute size, they are not very formidable ; but their nature is so fierce, their 

 habits so sanguinary, and their muscular powers so highly developed, that they are 

 most dangerous neighbors to a farm or a poultry-yard ; and their courage is so deter- 

 mined, that when attacked they are no insignificant enemies even to man himself. 

 They are nocturnal in their habits, passing the greater portion of the day in their dark- 

 ened abodes, where they sleep away the unwelcome hours of light, and sally out in the 

 evening for the purpose of procuring their nightly food. They are not, however, 

 exclusively nocturnal, for it is a very common event to see a stoat or a Weasel engaged 

 in the pursuit of its prey even during the brightest hours of the daylight ; but 

 as a general fact, they do not leave their homes until the shades of evening begin 

 to fall. 



The feet of the Weasels are furnished with five toes, and are armed with sharp and 



