Peacock: Mammalia of Botlesjord. 



169 



engaged men to sink a well, When it was about twenty 

 feet deep, and still quite dry, it was left one Saturday 

 night securely covered with planks, to prevent any sheep 

 from a flock which were grazing" on the temporary seeds 

 from falling in. On the following Monday morning a bitch 

 Stoat and four half-grown young ones were discovered at 

 the bottom of the well by the returning workmen. The 

 ganger lowered a ladder and was about to descend to kill 

 the 'varmints,' when he remembered that Mr. Allbones, of 

 Brigg, was taking them out to the Antipodes ' in boat 

 loads.' Changing his purpose, therefore, he determined to 

 catch them alive, but how best to take such lithe and active 

 creatures puzzled all the workmen at first. After many 

 useless attempts, a long smock with the sleeves tied up at 

 wrists was used as a trap, and one by one all the Stoats 

 were captured. They were quite unhurt, and were sold at 

 Brigg the same evening for 25s. 

 Polecat. Putorius putorius (L.). Now very rare. One was 

 brought in by a cat called ' Rose ' when she had kittens in 

 1864. I saw one in the Snake Plantation, and caught it 

 later, but its hair was coming off and it was not fit to stuff. 

 Another was caught at Ashby Ville. There were a lot of 

 young ones in Trafiford Strip, a long, narrow plantation, 

 in 1895. 



Common Fox. Vulpes vu/pes (L.). Comes to us generally as 

 a visitor, but it bred in 1893 in Cole's Plantation. No pack 

 of hounds hunting' or ever running into this parish, the 

 farmers and keepers round are 'dead on' them. I only 

 saw three in the shooting season of 1889. We trapped one 

 by his brush one night, and he left it behind and departed, 

 to be taken again the following evening by his pad ; the 

 trap having been reset at another spot in his ' round.' This 

 was close to Ashby Decoy, which is frequently visited by 

 them in the 'ducking season.' When the pond there is 

 frozen over with fine smooth ice, in the morning they some- 

 times catch Ducks in the very middle of the 4 flight.' Once 

 Tom Tacey found a Fox 1 screeved,' i.e., lying on its body 

 with its dislocated limbs extending on either side, in the 

 very centre of the Ducks, which gave their ancient foe 

 a wide berth. 



Squirrel. Sciurus vulgaris L. Common in the woods of the 

 neighbourhood. 1 have seen it eat fungi, and pull to pieces 

 the decayed boughs of trees to eat the larva? of insects at 



1901 June 1. 



