CARNIVORES: MARTENS, WEASELS, ETC. 21 



FISHERS, MARTENS OE SABLE, WEASELS, OTTERS, &c. 



These animals have, in most cases, a slender body, 

 long soft fur, especially in winter, and they are very 

 quick and graceful in their movements, and exceed- 

 ingly destructive to other small animals. 



The American Fisher is about the size of a cat, but 

 with a much more slender body, and is nearly black. 

 The American Sable, or Pine Marten, of the Northern 



Fig. 47. — Weasel. Eig. 48. —American Sable. 



States and Canada, is much smaller than the Fisher, of 

 a blackish brown color, and is celebrated for its beau- 

 tiful and valuable fur, which is generally called the 

 Hudson's Bay Sable. The fur known as the Eussian 

 Sable comes from a very similar animal which lives in 

 Siberia. The Pine Marten delights in dense woods, 

 wliere it pursues and captures hares, birds, and squir- 

 rels, swiftly following the latter even among the tree- 

 tops. Its retreats, especially in winter, are hollow 

 trees, and it is often seen by the hunter sitting with 

 the head jiist out of its hole. If shot while in this 

 position, it falls back into the hole and is lost ; so the 

 hunter, knowing its habits, walks slowly around the 

 tree ; the sable comes out to gratify its curiosity by a 

 look at the hunter, and is then shot and falls to the 

 ground. More than a hundred thousand skins of 

 this animal have been collected in Northern North 

 America in a single year. 



True Weasels vary from five inches to a foot in length, 



