90 THE COMMON WEASEL. 



their fury, as he found himself quickly losing strength from 

 the violence of his exertions. He had squeezed two to death, 

 while tearing them from him. His hands were much bitten, and 

 were streaming with blood. The account he gave of the begin- 

 ning of the affray was, that he was walking slowly through the 

 park, when he perceived a weasel; he ran at it, and made 

 several unsuccessful attempts to strike it; on coming near the 

 rock above mentioned, he got betwixt it and the animal, and so 

 cut off its retreat ; the weasel squeaked aloud, when an instan- 

 taneous sortie was made by the whole colony, and the attack 

 commenced upon him."* 



" In January, 1818, a man in the parish of Glencairn, Dum- 

 friesshire, was suddenly attacked by six weasels, which rushed 

 upon him from an old dike in a field. Alarmed at such a 

 furious onset, he took to his heels, but he soon found he was 

 closely pursued; and, although he endeavoured to protect him- 

 self by several back- handed strokes with a horsewhip, yet, so 

 eager was their pursuit, that they were about to seize him by 

 the throat, when he hastily snatched up the fallen branch of a 

 tree, with which he killed three of them, and put the other 

 three to flight." f 



Several years ago, a boy was hoeing a young quick-set fence, 

 when several weasels rushed upon him, and attacked his legs 

 with the most determined ferocity ; terrified almost out of his 

 senses, he roared out lustily, and his father, who was near at 

 hand, ran to his help, and beat off the assailants with a hoe. 

 Scarcely, however, had he turned his back, before they made a 

 second attack, as furious as the first, and were obliged to be 

 repelled in a similar manner 5 a third was even menaced before 

 they were finally put to the rout. 



" A young woman, walking from the town of Kirkcudbright, 

 heard some shrill shrieks proceeding from the bottom of a 

 dike over which she was climbing; being a little alarmed at 

 this, she hastened a few steps forward, and upon looking back 



* Brown's Anecdotes of Quadrupeds (Glasgow), 1831, p. 142. 

 f Ibid. p. 141. 



