Martens, polecats, and weasels. 121 



to be actually dangerous to man, as the whole body will, with 

 but slight provocation, proceed to attack anyone who attempts 

 to bar their progress. They have also been observed to com- 

 bme m hunting Rabbits and Hares, which they follow by scent 

 like a pack of hounds in full cry. The curious kind of para- 

 lysis which seizes a Hare or Rabbit when a Stoat, or even the 

 dimunitive Weasel, is on its track, is too well known to need 

 more than passing mention. At such times the hunted Rodent, 

 after running a short distance, stops, incapable of further 

 movement, until its relentless foe comes up and speedily puts 

 a term to its existence. If taken in such a paralysed con- 

 dition, a Rabbit will be found to have its eyes closed, its heart 

 palpitating violently, and its limbs almost useless ; and it is 

 not till left alone for several minutes that it w^ill revive. 



Although, owing to the shortness of its fur, the British Stoat 

 in its winter-dress is of no great commercial value, the longer 

 furred skins from Northern Europe and America, constituting 

 the "ermine " of the fur-trade, have a very high value indeed, and 

 are imported in enormous numbers. The Russian skins are 

 sold in bundles of forty, constituting a " timber," of which the 

 present market price varies from twenty to thirty shillings, al- 

 though as much as nine pounds has been realised. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Poland, to whose work on " Fur-bearing Animals," 

 we are indebted for the foregoing details, over 5,000 Ermine 

 skins were sold in London in 1891 by the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany alone ; while in 1836 the enormous number of 264,606 

 were imported. 



Of late years Stoats have been introduced into New Zealand 

 for the purpose of checking the spread of Rabbits ; no less 

 than 3,0°° Stoats and Weasels having been sent out from 

 Lincolnshire in 1885. 



An albino Ermine with a white coat in summer, and lacking 

 the usual black tip to the tail, is on record. 



