COMMON WEASEL. 185 



almost indifferent to each other's presence^ we took the 

 poor snake away and killed it. 



Far different was this Weasel's conduct when a Mouse 

 was introduced into the cage : it instantly issued from its 

 little box, and, in a moment, one single bite on the head 

 pierced the brain, and laid the Mouse dead without a 

 struggle or a cry. We have observed that when the 

 Weasel seizes a small animal, at the instant that the 

 fatal bite is inflicted, it throws its long lithe body over 

 its prey, so as to secure it should the first bite fail ; an 

 accident, however, which we have never observed to occur 

 when a Mouse has been the victim. The power which 

 the Weasel has of bending the head at right angles with 

 the long and flexible, though powerful neck, gives it 

 great advantage in this mode of seizing and killing its 

 smaller prey. It also frequently assumes this position 

 when raising itself on the hinder legs to look around. 



The disposition which has been attributed to the 

 Weasel of sucking the blood of its prey, has, we believe, 

 been generally much exaggerated. Some persons have 

 positively denied the existence of such a propensity, and 

 our own observation, as far as it goes, would tend to 

 confirm that refutation of the commonly received notion. 

 The first gripe is given on the head, the tooth in ordinary 

 cases piercing the brain, which it is the Weasel's first act 

 of epicurism to eat clean from the skull. The carcase is 

 then hidden near its haunt, to be resorted to when 

 required, and part of it often remains until it is nearly 

 putrid. 



The Weasel pursues its prey with facility into small 

 holes, and amongst the close and tangled herbage of 

 coppices, thickets, and hedgerows. It follows the Mole 

 and the Field Mouse in their runs ; it threads the mazes 

 formed in the wheat-rick by the colonies of Mice which 



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