CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 251 
the trail of this weasel through fields and meadows, 
and witnessed the immense destruction which it ocea- 
sioned in a single night. It enters every hole under 
stumps, logs, stone heaps and fences, and evidences 
of its bloody deeds are seen in the mutilated remains 
of the mice scattered on the snow. The little chip- 
ping or ground squirrel, Tamias Lysteri, takes up its 
residence in the vicinity of the grain-fields and. is 
known to carry off in its cheek-pouches vast quanti- 
ties of wheat and buckwheat, to serve as winter ‘stores: 
The ermine instinctively discovers these snug retreats, 
and in the | space of a few minutes destroys a whole 
family of these beautiful little Tamie; without even 
resting awhile until it has consumed its now abundant 
food, its appetite craving for more blood, as if im- 
pelled by an irresistible destiny, it proceeds in search 
of other objects on which it may glut its insatiable 
vampire-like thirst. The Norway rat and the com- 
mon house mouse take possession of our barns, wheat 
stacks, and. granaries, and destroy vast quantities of 
grain. In some instances the farmer is reluctantly 
compelled to pay even more than a tithe in, contribu- 
tions towards the support of these pests. Let, how- 
ever, an ermine find its way into these barns and 
granaries, and there take up its winter residence, and 
the. havoc which is made among the rats and mice will 
soon be observable. The ermine pursues them to their 
farthest retreats, and in a few weeks the premises are 
entirely free from their depredations, We once 
placed a half-domesticated ermine in an outhouse 
infested with rats, shutting up the holes on the 
