LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



would suppose that a creature so easily suited 

 would find little trouble in obtaining lodgings in 

 any part of this country where burrowing animals 

 of one kind and another are so abundant. 



From what little I have seen of them, I should 

 certainly never credit ermines with being possessed 

 of a frolicsome disposition. But they are said, 

 on good authority, to engage frequently in the 

 most grotesque antics and gamboUings, apparently 

 for their own amusement, though sometimes 

 even approaching their prey in that manner, as 

 if to allay any suspicion of their evil intention, 

 or possibly in the hope that curiosity may tempt 

 their quarry within reach. 



A common habit with them seems to be that of 

 storing up the dead bodies of their victims, after 

 having satisfied their immediate appetites. Dozens 

 of mice and young rabbits and the like some- 

 times have been found packed away in weasels' 

 dens, something which would account for the fact 

 that while following weasel-tracks about the woods 



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