HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 249 



three litters, which generally consist of five or six, 

 but sometimes seven or eight, and even nine. 



It is apt to degenerate in this country, and lose 

 in some degree its ferocity. Warreners are there- 

 fore obliged to procure an intercourse between the 

 female and the Foumart. The produce is a breed 

 of a much darker colour than the Ferret, partaking 

 more of that of the Foumart. 



The length of the Ferret is about fourteen inches ; 

 that of the tail five : its nose is sharper than that of 

 the Weasel or the Foumart; its ears are round; 

 and its eyes red and fiery: the colour of the whole 

 body is a very pale yellow. 



This animal is naturally such an enemy to the 

 Rabbit, that if a dead Rabbit be laid before a 

 young Ferret, it instantly seizes upon it, although 

 it has never seen one before : if a living Rabbit be 

 presented to it, the Ferret is still more eager, seizes 

 it by the neck, winds itself round it, and continues 

 to suck its blood till it be satiated. When em- 

 ployed in the business of the warren, it must be 

 muzzled, that it may not kill the Rabbits in their 

 holes, but only oblige them to come out, that the 

 warrener may catch them in his nets. If the 

 Ferret be suffered to go in without a muzzle, or 

 should disengage itself from it whilst in the hole, 

 there is a great danger of losing it:' for, after 

 satisfying itself with blood, it falls asleep, and it 

 is then almost impossible to come at it. The most 

 usual methods of recovering the Ferret are, by 

 digging it out, or smoking the hole. If these do 

 not succeed, it continues during the summer among 

 the Rabbit holes, and lives upon the prey it finds 

 there ; but being unable to endure the cold of the 

 winter, is sure to perish. 



VOL. III. 2 I 



