THE SABLE AND WEASELS, 
297 
them in their own retreats; and it is the work of a few 
minutes for this vigorous miner to so enlarge their burrows 
that it can enter and reacli the deepest recesses. The 
badger, like the spermophiles, is mostly confined to the 
western plains. 
The wolverene, glutton, or carcajou {Giilo liiscios) inhab- 
its the forests of northern America and the colder parts of 
Eussia and Siberia as well as the Arctic regions. It is 
heavy and clumsy, with short thick legs, shaggy and two or 
three feet long. Its strength, ferocity, thievishness, and 
cunning as well as gluttonous disposition are notorious; 
hence its name Indian devil." It is now very rare in the 
United States. It brings forth its four or five young late 
in June and early in July in burrows underground. 
The fisher or pekan [Mustela Pennantii) is a hirge, pow- 
ful animal intermediate between the wolverene and marten. 
Large individuals are a foot high and three and a half feet 
long. It frequents deep forests and wooded mountain-sides, 
and nests in hollow trees, and brings forth from two to four 
young about the first of May (Merriam). Its name fisher 
is misleading, as it lives away from water and seldom eats 
fish. 
The marten or American sable {Mustela Americana) which 
is one of the most valuable of our fur animals is about the 
size of a large house cat, though the legs are shorter; it is 
about a foot and a half in length. It preys on partridges, 
rabbits, squirrels, mice, shrews, as well as birds'' eggs and 
young birds. It abounds most in pine forests, and hence 
is often called the pine marten. It nests in hollow trees, 
rarely in the ground, and it has from two to eight young 
in April. 
The weasels are much smaller than the sable, the body 
being slender and the fur turns white in winter. The 
least weasel {Futorius vulgaris) is said to have two or 
three litters in a year, having four or five young at a time. 
It hunts mice, moles, shrews, entering their burrows, and 
also devours small birds and eggs. The ermine or stoat 
