92 MARVELS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD 



that the ferret is utilised by some people for the 

 purpose of killing fowls which are destined to be 

 served at table. During the great European War 

 a number of ferrets were sent out to the troops 

 in Flanders in order to help the men to catch the 

 rats which swarmed in the trenches and dug-outs. 

 One dealer alone sent out from Ashford, in Kent, 

 no less than 500 ferrets, for which he obtained 5s. 

 each, although they usually only fetch Is. each in 

 normal times. 



The mink is another animal which is used as a 

 rat catcher in the same manner as a ferret, and in 

 its native country of America the species has been 

 bred and kept in a semi-domestic state for that 

 purpose. Certain kinds of weasels are also employed 

 to dislodge the pretty little chinchillas from out 

 of their burrows, while the South African zorilla, or 

 Cape polecat, as it is sometimes called, is frequently 

 tamed and kept in the houses of the Dutch Boers 

 for catching rats and mice, as also is the common 

 genet in Southern Europe. 



The Indian mongoose is well known as a catcher 

 of rats, and some idea of the benefit it has rendered 

 to mankind may be judged by stating that some 

 years back the sugar-canes in Jamaica were damaged 

 by a certain species of rat which swarmed over the 

 plantations in such numbers as to make it almost 

 impossible for the inhabitants to continue to grow 

 the crop. Although many remedies were tried 

 to stop the depredations of the rodents, none of 

 them proved successful until, as a last experiment, 

 nine mongooses were imported and let free upon 



