114 Impertinence of Weasels.  [CHAP. VII. 
placed at bay. The three latter stand up on their hind 
feet in a menacing attitude. Sometimes they suddenly dart 
forward and give battle when they see no other way of es- 
cape. This is especially the case with the females when 
they have their young about them. Edward once saw a 
weasel, after hiding her family among a cairn of stones, as- 
cend to the top, and, muttering something all the while, by 
her threatening attitude and fierce showing of her teeth 
dared any one to approach her under penalty of immediate 
attack. 
A bite of a weasel, or polecat, or badger, or otter is any 
thing but agreeable. The bites of the weasel and the pole- 
cat are the worst. There seems to be some poison in their 
bites, for the part bitten soon becomes inflamed, and the 
bite is long in healing. The whole of this group of animals 
are of the same bold, fearless, and impetuous disposition. 
They are also remarkably impertinent and aggressive, not 
hesitating to attack man himself, especially when they see 
him showing the slightest symptoms of cowardice. Take 
the following illustrations, communicated by Edward him- 
self : 
“ Returning one morning from an excursion in the Buchan 
district, when between Fraserburgh and Pennan, I felt so 
completely exhausted by fatigue, want of sleep, and want 
of food (for my haversack had become exhausted), that I 
went into a field near the road, lay down by a dike-side, 
and fell fast asleep. I had not slept long, however, when I 
was awakened by something cold pressing in betwixt my 
forehead and the edge of my hat. There were some small 
birds in my hat which I had shot, and they were wrapped 
in wadding. On putting up my hand to ascertain the 
meaning, I got hold of a weasel, which had been trying to 
force its way in to the birds. I threw him away to some 
distance among the grass, and went to sleep again. The 
fellow came back in a few minutes, and began the same 
trick. I gripped him hard this time, and tossed him across 
