Ferrets Mammals 
bring the rest of them to him. They killed mice 
and chicks (the stunted ones) so quickly that it real- 
ly was not cruel to give them their meat alive. I 
spent a good deal of my time during the summer at 
the window of the ferret cottage, watching their ways 
of playing. They were the greatest wrestlers you 
ever saw, sometimes they would play in twos, some- 
times in threes, sometimes the whole lot would have 
a free-for-all—I had to laugh and laugh. Their noises 
and calls are very interesting—they have a regular 
ferret language. 
During the hot weather I lost two from distemper, 
I think, because I left some sour milk where they 
could get at it. The others I raised and sold at the 
age of five months, at $3 a pair. They are easy to 
tend and I think any boy that is not too much afraid 
of being bitten, could raise them. I would rather lose 
any other pets than my ferrets. 
F. W. SCHMIDT. 
Fernwold, Dec. 18, 1913. 
REFERENCES 
Pages 219-247 AMERICAN ANIMALS, Stone and Cram. 
“Rikki-tikki-tavi,’’ SECOND JUNGLE Book, Kipling. 
Wiitp Animas Every Cuitp SHoutp Know, Rogers. 
A LITTLE DETECTIVE 
The Ferret has an active nose, 
His whiskers match his snout; 
He’s a detective, sharp, who knows 
Just how to ferret out 
What may be hid by friends or foes. 
He’s a Conan Doyle, no doubt! 
131 
