305 Ground Vermin. 



about half the size of the stoat ; their habits, too, vary to 

 a considerable extent. That the weasel is materially less 

 obnoxious than either of the larger vermin is undoubted, 

 for, besides being a lesser and weaker animal, and con- 

 sequently unable to cope with so many or so large birds, 

 it turns its attention in a direction in which its habits are 

 not so antagonistic to our wishes as they might be were it 

 to follow more closely in the ways of either the polecat or 

 the stoat. 



That the weasel has a predilection for winged game, 

 as far as flesh goes, is obvious, and after that it prefers 

 hares and rabbits, choosing, however, in all cases young 

 birds and other animals where they may be obtained. 

 But far and away is the weasel the most determined and 

 wholesale destroyer of eggs that we have; not discrimi- 

 nating for one moment between the smallest of our wrens' 

 eggs and the large unwieldy production of the goose, the 

 little animal will break the shell and consume a nestful, 

 or, in the case of poultry, a single one, and break and 

 destroy the rest. A determined and agile climber, no nest 

 is secure from its visits, and, equally rapacious in its 

 pursuit of young birds, the nests are not safe even during 

 the time that the young are being reared, and often does 

 the parent bird return to find the destroyer snugly curled 

 up asleep amongst the dead bodies of its prey. It will 

 hunt the mole, the field mouse, and other small mammals 

 in their usual haunts, not only by the eye, but also 

 by scent; and most amusing it is to see one of these 

 flexible, agile little creatures tracing up the scent when 

 at fault. It will quarter the ground like a dog till it hits 

 it off, and, to lose no help from the eye, will occasionally 

 sit up, raising itself on its hindquarters to gain a more 

 extended view. Its perseverance will tire larger and 

 stronger animals, nor will water stop it when its quarry 



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