THE WEASEL. 39 



However, his fears and anxieties were all in vain, 

 as is often the case with such matters, and a mole- 

 heap was never seen in the garden. We therefore 

 concluded that the creature must have burrowed 

 under the garden wall, and so have got away. 



Sometimes the fur of the mole takes other tints 

 besides that greyish black that is worn by most 

 moles. There are varieties where the fur is of an 

 orange colour ; and I have in my own possession a 

 skin of a light cream colour. 



A perpetual thirst seems to be on the mole, for it 

 never chooses a locality at any great distance from 

 water ; and should the season turn out too dry, and 

 the necessary supply of water be thus diminished or 

 cut off, the mole counteracts the drought by digging 

 wells, until it comes to a depth at which water is 

 found. 



I should like to say something of the Hedgehog, 

 the Stoat, and other wild animals ; but I must only 

 take one more example of the British Mammalia, 

 the common Weasel. 



WEASEL. 



Gifted with a lithe and almost snake-like body, a 



