286 tHE Zoologist. 



sui generis ; not, as in the case of fox or hare, pursued in broad 

 daylight while the animal is just ahead of the hounds, but at 

 early dawn when the Polecat, nocturnal in its habits, has travelled 

 a considerable distance during the night, and is perhaps safe in 

 his lair before the hounds are laid on. 



Mr. Thomas Farrall, in reply to my enquiries some time 

 since, sent the following account of Polecat hunting in Cumber- 

 land. It was published in 'The Field' of May 5th, 1883, and 

 is the more interesting for the information it conveys on the 

 subject of this animal's haunts and habits. He says : — 



" Hunting the Polecat, or Foumart, has long been a favourite sport 

 on the lowlands of Cumberland. Mr. Thomas Ruston, of Aspatria, an 

 enthusiastic sportsman, has hunted this animal for nearly fifty years, and 

 within that period packs of hounds for this particular branch of sport have 

 been stationed at Ellenborough, Isell, Wigton, and Thrustonfield. The 

 only pack now kept for the pnrpose is that owned by Mr. Joseph Langcake, 

 of ' The Outgang,' Aspatria. 



" Polecats may be hunted either by day or by moonlight, but William 

 Barnes, who hunts Mr. Langcake's pack, prefers the latter. The hunting 

 season commences with February, the chief months being March and 

 April (the breeding season), and lasts until the meadows are well clothed 

 with grass, and likely to sustain injury from the trampling of too ardent 

 sportsmen. At this time of year, male Foumarts have been known to 

 travel many miles in the course of a night, so that it is far more easy to 

 drop upon one as he takes his ' walks abroad,' than to surprise him in his 

 lair. On being pursued, he instinctively makes for his native ground, but, 

 if hotly pressed, will, if possible, take refuge in any drain which chances to 

 be in the immediate locality. Once sub terra he is very difficult to unearth. 

 A little explanation is here needed. It must not be supposed that the 

 Polecat enters a pipe which is discharging water. The run he takes is 

 what is known as an old sod or stick drain, put down in the moss in the 

 primitive days of agriculture ; and the land having since been drained 

 deeper with pipes or tiles, the original water-courses are left dry, and form 

 famous places of refuge for any small animal which goes to ground. Thus 

 the chances of killing in such a place are not very great. 



11 At a wayside inn near Maryport is a splendid case of stuffed Polecats 

 killed by the Ellenborough hunt at intervals extending over a period of 

 thirty years." 



In 1883, at the date of Mr. Farrall' s communication, Polecats 

 were reported to be plentiful in the district embracing the sandy 

 slopes of the Solway, the mosses of Abbey Holme, and the 



