48 THE FERRET AND THE MINK. 
it destroys, and appears to commence its repast by eating the brains. If 
several victims should come in its way, it will kill them all, suck their blood, 
and eat the brains, leaving the remainder of the body untouched. 
This animal is not only farnous for its bloodthirsty disposition, but for the 
horrid odour which exhales from its body, and which seems to be partially 
under the control of the owner. When the Polecat is wounded or annoyed 
in any way, this disgusting odour becomes almost unbearable, and has the 
property of adhering for a long time to any substance with which it may 
come in contact. 
The Polecat does not restrict itself 79 terrestrial game, but also wages war 
against the inhabitants of rivers and ponds. Frogs, toads, newts, and fish 
are among the number of the creatures that fall victims to its rapacity. Even 
the formidably defended nests of the wild bees are said to yield up their 
honeyed stores to the fearless attack of this rapacious creature. 
As to rabbits, hares, and other small animals, the Polecat seems to catch 
and devour them almost at will. The hares it can capture either by stealing 
upon them as they lie asleep in their “forms,” or by patiently tracking them 
through their meanderings, and hunting them down fairly by scent. The 
rabbits flee in vain for safety into their subterranean strongholds, for the 
Polecat is quite at home in such localities, and can traverse a burrow with 
greater agility than the rabbits themselves. Even the rats that are found so 
plentifully about the waterside are occasionally pursued into their holes and 
there captured. Pheasants, partridges, and all kinds of game are a favourite 
prey with the Polecat, which secures them by a happy admixture of agility 
and craft. So very destructive are these animals, that a single family is quite 
sufficient to depreciate the value of a warren or a covert to no small extent. 
The Polecat is a tolerably prolific animal, producing four or five young at 
a litter. The locality which the mother selects for the nursery of her future 
family is generally at the bottom of a burrow, which is scooped in light and 
dry soil, defended if possible by the roots of trees. In this subterranean 
abode a warm nest is constructed, composed of various dried leaves and of 
moss, laid with singular smoothness. The young Polecats make their appear- 
ance towards the end of May or the beginning of June. 
The FERRET is well known as the constant companion of the rat-catcher 
and the rabbit-hunter, being employed for the purpose of following its prey 
into their deepest recesses, and of driving them from their strongholds into 
the open air, when the pursuit is taken up by its master. The mode in which 
the Ferret is employed is too well known to need a detailed description. 
It is a fierce little animal, and is too apt to turn upon its owner and wound 
him severely before Le suspects that the creature is actuated by any ill inten- 
tions. I once witnessed a rather curious example of the uncertainty of the 
Ferret’s temper. A lad who possessed a beautiful white Ferret had partially 
tamed the creature, and thought that it was quite harmless. The Ferret was 
accustomed to crawl about his person, and would permit itself to be caressed 
almost as freely as a cat. But on one unfortunate morning, when its owner 
was vaunting the performances of his proféeée—for it was a female—the 
creature made a quiet but rapid snap at his mouth, and drove its teeth through 
both his lips, making four cuts as sharply c’ Sned as if they had been made 
with a razor. 
ON account of its water-loving propensities, the MINK is called by various 
names that bear relation to water. By some persons it is called the Smaller 
Otter, or sometimes the Musk Otter, while it is known to others under 
a title of the Water-Polecat. It also goes by the name of the NUREK 
ISON. 
The Mink is spread over a very large extent of country, being found in the 
