134 



The Living Animals of the World 



J'l,,:lu.^ I>;i J. .S. Itinll, 



COMMON STOAT. 



■ In aunniwr coat. 



The.--!-- iilltitograiih.s sliow the stoat (ur einiiiie, as it is often calloj) in its sinnmer and winter ( 



In winter coat. 

 Tliis animal gives ns tlie well-lviiown ermine fur. 



It lias tlie same passion for killing for killing's sake shared by the ferret. If a stoat finds a 

 rabbit's nest, for instance, it always murders all the yomig ones. These creatures sometimes 

 contrive to hunt in jiacks, or to migrate in society. They are very fond of their young, which 

 they lay up in old crows' nests, holes in banks, or straw-stacks. They have often been seen 

 to carry them out of danger in their mouths. The length of the head and body is 10| inches, 

 and of the tail GJ inches. The young are usually from five to eight in number, and are born 

 in April or May. They soon move into the long standing-grass, and remain there till it is cut. 

 After that tliey move to the woods and co\ers, and great numbers are trapped. If not, they 

 attack the young pheasants, and do great damage. They can climb well, and are known, as 

 is the 2)olecat. to ascend trees and kill birds on their nests. They also suck eggs. Forty-two 

 pheasants' eggs were taken by Mr. de Winton from one stoat's hole. 



round the 

 It is a large heavy 



Thk Glutton, uk Wol\eiu>'e. 

 This largest and most destructive of all the Weasel Tribe is found all 

 northern edge (jf the Arctic Circle, from Norway to Hudson Bay 



animal, with a short head, sharii claws, long thick fur, and a clumsy gait. Its tusks 

 are very long and sharp; and its appetite, if not so insatiable as the old travellers were 

 told, is sharp enough to keeji it always hunting. It follows the fur-trappers in the 



woods, and, being very cunning, 

 breaks in at the back of their 

 fall-traps, and robs the Imits 

 or the prey caught. When Ijord 

 jNIilton and Dr. CJieadle made 

 the North-west Passage by 

 land, they lost nearly all their 

 furs in this way. (_)nce, having 

 trapped a valuable siher fox, 

 the only one caught by them, 

 they found nothing but shreds 

 of fur left by the glutton. As 

 the marten-hunters' line of 

 traps is perhaps fifty or sixty 

 miles long, the loss and 

 damage caused by the glutton 

 is most mortifying. This 

 animal can only lie caught in 

 steel traps, aiul that with great 

 difficulty. 



^TtrsH^"- 



riuilo hij A. S. Ri'dluud d: &o,is. 



A ennning, de^tnietive 



ivliieli foll..>ys tlie tia|.|.01s 

 in the tra|w. 



1(1 lobs tlicm of t)io animal., tak. 



