122 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



STOAT AT A DRINKING PLACE. 



influence over individual hares and 

 rabbits, for sometimes when they are 

 pursued by their bloodthirsty foe, in- 

 stead of running straight away, and 

 thus escaping, they career round and 

 round in aimless circles, and with 

 terrified screams collapse as if paralysed 

 and wait in helpless fear until pounced 

 upon by their relentless pursuer. This 

 does not always happen, however, for 

 I have seen a rabbit chased from its 

 burrow outstrip its enemy, and by a 

 straight run make good its escape. 

 Neither do they always give in without 

 a struggle when seized. On one occasion, 



whilst crossing a field on my way to 

 visit some friends, I noticed a rabbit 

 tumbling head over heels in front of a 

 burrow, and imagined that it must be 

 caught in a snare. Closer inspection, 

 however, revealed the fact that it had 

 been seized by a Stoat. Running a 

 hundred yards or so to my friend's 

 house I secured a gun and a couple of 

 cartridges. Upon returning to the scene 

 of action I observed the back of the 

 Stoat in a declivity at the mouth of the 

 rabbit's hole. It was working convul- 

 sively as if the animal were mending its 

 grip upon the victim. Raising the gun 

 I fired, and ran up to behold a sight that 

 almost made me doubt the evidence of 

 my senses. The Stoat was firmly held 

 by the fore-quarters in a steel trap, and 

 the rabbit had vanished ! 



Stoats hunt more by sight than 

 scent when pursuing quarry in open 

 country. 



Wonderful stories are told of Stoat 

 packs attacking human beings. I have 

 only encountered one pack consisting of 

 six or seven young ones and their 

 parents, and although the latter gave 

 voice to angry threats, I stood my 

 ground with a stout walking-stick, and 

 they did not venture nearer than within 

 three or four yards. 



