THE WEASEL FAMILY 159 



frolicking outside the nest, not being particularly timid or 

 alarmed at the presence of man. It is a silent creature ordinarily, 

 but when fiercely protecting its young it utters a chuckling, 

 clucking sound. 



The stoat, like the weasel, is famed for its bloodthirsty 

 disposition and unremitting pursuit of its victims. The smaller 

 ones are killed by a bite over the back of the neck ; the larger, 

 like hares or rabbits, by the severance of the blood vessels of 

 the throat, on to which the stoat will hang (sucking blood all 

 the time) pertinaciously, so that it will often allow itself, still 

 attached to its victim, to be picked up by a human being. It 

 swims well, and thinks nothing of attacking and killing the 

 water vole. When swimming, the head and upper part of the 

 shoulders are kept well above the surface of the water, the line 

 of the back being just below, and the tip of the tail just showing. 

 It is equally agile in ascending trees and running along the most 

 slender branches. Its disposition is extraordinarily playful. It 

 will sit up on a tripod made by its hind legs and tail and fence 

 at a companion with its fore paws, or leap vertically in the air, 

 performing a summersault, hop or strut on its hind limbs, 

 throw itself over backwards, stopping every now and then in 

 an erect position to utter little pert coughs, as if shocked at the 

 impudence of its companions or of the observer. These extra- 

 ordinary gambols are said to be part of its system of fascinating 

 its larger and stupider victims like the hare and rabbit. Hares 

 have been observed to gaze with stupid curiosity at this frolic- 

 some creature and its clownish tricks, until at last the stoat in 

 its gambols had approached sufficiently near to dash at the throat 

 of its victim. On the other hand, circumstantial accounts are 

 given of its indulging in these pastimes from a sheer spirit of 

 play, and actually flaying with the rabbits without winding up 

 the performance with any sinister action. This almost reminds 

 the author of this book of the equally strange proximity, in parts 

 of Eastern and Central Africa, of the lion, leopard, cheetah, 

 jackal, and herds of antelopes and zebras. These beasts of prey 

 may, in those rare districts where Europeans have not made 



