307 Ground Vermin. 



repel the attacks without incurring injury, while women 

 and children have been known to suffer rather severely 

 from their ferocity. 



The habits of the weasel and general mode of life differ 

 considerably from those of the polecat and the stoat, while 

 its haunts are still more at variance with those of its 

 relatives; indeed, as far as habitation goes, the weasel 

 lives in a community not unlike that adopted by the rabbit. 

 Whilst the polecat is nearly solitary, and the stoat more 

 sociable than the former, so is the weasel, in the same 

 comparison, more so than the stoat, and more open in the 

 selection of its favourite places and spots in which to 

 form its lair. 



Its nest, or place in which the young are born and 

 reared, is generally chosen in some snug corner, well calcu- 

 lated to keep it dry and warm. It is formed of dead 

 leaves and grass, with moss and odds and ends of a soft 

 and dry nature, and, for preference, is made in a crevice 

 in a hedge, bank, the hollow of a tree, between or under 

 a heap of large stones, or in a hole in a stone wall. Some- 

 times, having turned out the rightful occupier, it will take 

 possession of a bird's nest, which may be suitably 

 situated, and bring up its young in this. The female 

 brings forth at each birth from four to six young, 

 and the number of litters in a year is always two, and 

 sometimes three or even four. The greater part of the 

 food it obtains is carried to the nest, and deposited in its 

 near neighbourhood in some nook doing duty for the 

 store-house, but not such a well-kept one as the stoat's. 

 It will also occasionally form a burrow for its nest, but 

 usually prefers the easier ones mentioned already. When 

 it does scoop out a home for its young, this rather 

 laborious undertaking is made in some dry sandy soil, and 

 is rarely of great extent. It has rather a liking for the runs 



X 2 



