470 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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FOOTPRINTS OP A WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE 



When reduced to scale, the large tracks on 

 the left side are life size, showing the animal 

 making the ordinary bounds of about 3 inches 

 between each set of tracks. In speeding, the 

 space may increase to 12 inches. The tail usu- 

 ally shows in the deermouse track, and this, 

 with the pairing of the fore paws, is a strong 

 characteristic (see pages 419 and 428). 



predatory work and are undoubtedly the most 

 perfectly organized machines for killing that 

 have been developed among mammals. Their 

 keen eyes are constantly alert to observe every- 

 thing about them, their ears are attuned to. 

 catch the faintest squeak of a mouse or cry of 

 any other small animal, and their powers of 

 scent are very great. Winn limiting they dart 

 in and out of the holes of rodents, among 

 crevices in the rocks, or through brush piles, 

 pausing now and then to stand upright on their 

 hind feet, the head swaying to and fro as they 

 peer about. The squeak of a mouse starts 

 them instantly in search of it, and like a dog 

 they trail rabbits and other rodents by scent. 



As a rule, weasels are terrestrial, but in 

 wooded country they climb trees and leap from 

 branch to branch with all the ease of squirrels. 

 In most localities they are not common, but 

 now and then, where conditions are peculiarly 

 favorable, they become numerous. At one 

 naturalist's camp in the upper Yukon they were 

 surprisingly abundant, so much so that more 

 than forty were caught in a few days in traps 

 set among broken rocks. There they were ex- 

 tremely bold, hunting for their prey among the 

 rocks within a few feet of the trappers. 



The prey of weasels includes almost every 

 kind of small rodent and bird living within 

 their territory. They feed especially upon 

 northern hares, cottontails, conies, ground 

 squirrels, chipmunks, tree squirrels, wood rats, 

 mice, lemmings, quail, ptarmigan, spruce and 

 ruffed grouse, ducks, and numberless other 

 small species. They are also very destructive 

 to domestic fowl, often killing thirty or forty 

 in a night. They unhesitatingly attack rodents 

 many times their own weight. 



Once when hunting on the open plain near the 

 southern end of the Mexican table-land, I saw 

 at some distance what appeared to be a brown 

 ball rolling about on the ground. This was 

 soon determined to be a weasel fastened to one 

 of the large and powerful pocket gophers of 

 that region. The weasel had its teeth set in the 

 back of the neck of the gopher, while the latter 

 was blindly trying to tear itself loose. I fired 

 an ineffectual shot at the weasel and it vanished 

 like a flash in the open tunnel of the gopher. 

 As I drew near, the gopher, still in fighting 

 mood, faced me with bared teeth. Later, When 

 I removed its skin, I found that the weasel had 

 torn loose the attachment of the heavy neck 

 muscles to the back of the skull until only a 

 thin layer remained to protect the spinal 

 column. This had been accomplished without 

 breaking the thin, but extremely tough, skin of 

 the gopher. 



When a weasel is attacking an animal which 

 resists, like a large ground squirrel, it raises 

 its head and sways its long neck back and 

 forth, its eyes glittering with excitement as it 

 watches for an opening to spring forward and 

 seize its prey. Its attack is always aimed at 

 a vital point, commonly the brain, the back of 

 the neck, or the jugular vein on the side. 



Weasels dig their own burrows under the 

 shelter of slide rock, ledges, stone walls, stumps, 

 and outbuildings, or they occupy hollow trees 

 and the deserted burrows of other animals. In 



