Practical Game-Preserving. 310 



very soon numbered with the majority. Rabbits are less 

 open to attack than hares, and are comparatively less often 

 destroyed, being more difficult to get at and to cope with. 

 Rarely are rabbits caught whilst sitting out or sleeping; 

 when such a chance occurs the rabbit's discomfiture is 

 brought about in the same way as the hare's, only that 

 generally the particular arrangement of its seat leaves it 

 exposed to an attack in rear. When, however, the vermin 

 discover a solitary one or perhaps two rabbits in a burrow 

 of not too great extent, and there happen to be four or 

 five weasels together, the one which has discovered the 

 presence of the intended prey will screech in an excited 

 manner, and so summon the others which may be near at 

 hand ; they will then all enter the burrow at the different 

 points of ingress, cautiously search until the rabbit is 

 found, and endeavour, whilst preventing its escape, to get 

 it in a corner, where it can be conveniently disposed of, 

 or, maybe, it will be allowed to struggle to the aperture 

 of a hole before its destruction is completed. As far as 

 one can ascertain, this seems the probable way in which 

 weasels capture rabbits in their burrows. 



The weasel is a ruthless destroyer of the mole; pur- 

 suing it through its dark passages under the soil, the swift- 

 ness of the weasel is rather impeded by their smallness, 

 and so the two animals are about upon equal terms, as the 

 mole can often, owing to its superior knowledge, dodge 

 its pursuer. It is quite a common occurrence for the 

 weasel (which seems to have rather a liking for the opera- 

 tion) to chase a mole in this manner, and it is frequently 

 caught in mole-traps. 



Respecting the fur of the weasel, it may be said that 

 in the British Isles it never changes its colour in the winter 

 months ; but this is not uncommon in other countries, and 

 has occurred in the North of Scotland and in England 



