308 
VEKTEBEATA. 
Marten.. It is tlio Putois of the French; Foetta and Puzzolo of the Italians; Putoro of the 
Spanish ; litis, Ulk, and Buntsing of the Germans. 
This animal is stouter in proportion than either the common weasel or the ermine, and the 
head is broader ; the nose rather pointed, ears round, and not conspicuous ; neck comparatively 
short; tail inchning to bushy, and rather niore than a third of the length of the body and head. 
There are two kinds of fur in this species — the short is fulvous and woolly, the long is black, brown- 
ish black, and shining. A brown color mingled with yellow, varying according to the proportions 
of these two sorts of fur in the individual, is the result. There are some white marks about the 
mcKith and ears, and the parts which are darkest in color are the head, tail, and feet. The length 
of the head and body is seventeen inches. The anal sack, situated beneath the extremity of the 
rectum, contains a yellowish fetid substance of the consistence of thick cream, which has an odor 
inferior in intensity to that of the skunk, but still proverbial for its offensive quality. 
The polecat is found throughout Europe and Western Asia, but is not a native of America. It 
is most destructive to the poultry-yard and the preserve ; its appetite for slaughter, which seems 
never to be satiated as long as any living thing remains within its reach, rendering it a most ruin- 
ous neighbor to those who rear fowls or keep up a head of game. Not only the young birds fall 
victims to it, but the parents also ; nor are even geese or turkeys safe. We have heard an in- 
stance of a hen and a whole brood of chickens being killed by one of these destroyers in a single 
night; and upon another occasion, seven or eight nearly full-grown turkeys. The brain and the 
blood seem to be the choicest portions. The bodies of the dead are carried off to its haunts, 
which are generally in some copse or wood near a farm, or in the heart of a preserve, whence it 
issues on its deadly errand in the evening, generally soon after sunset, or when it grows dusk. 
No "vermin" is placed with more satisfaction upon "the Keeper's Tree," for none commits more 
havoc, if so much, among the game. Beginning with the egg, it persecutes all the game-birds 
through every period of life, and is a far more determined enemy than the stoat itself to the hare 
and rabbit-warren. The fox, as is well known, will do much to keep down the pheasants, and 
especially the rabbits and hares ; but even this wily and powerful invader is not so mischievous as 
the species of which we are treating. A¥here a fox will kill one, a polecat will immolate ten, to 
say nothing of eggs; no vertebrated animal seems to come amiss to its murderous nature. Bewick 
relates that during a severe storm, a foumart was traced in the snow from the side of a rivulet to 
its hole at some distance from it. As it was observed to have made frequent trips, and as other 
marks were to be seen in the snow which could not easily be accounted for, it was thought a 
matter worthy of great attention. Its hole was accordingly examined, and five eels were discov- 
ered to be the fruit of its nocturnal excursions. The marks in the snow were made by the motion 
of the eels in the quadruped's mouth. In Loudon's Magazine is an account of a female polecat 
that was hunted to her nest, which held five young ones in a comfortable bed of withered grass. 
From a side hole the narrator picked out forty large frogs and two toads alive, but capable of 
sprawling only, for the old polecat had stricken them all with palsy by a bite through the brain of 
each ! Whether she had put them in this condition as a pickle, to preserve them for future use, is 
not known. At all events, the feet suggests the hideously destructive nature of these creatures. 
The nest of this species is generally made in some rabbit-burrow, in the crevice of a rock, or where 
the tangled herbage and brushwood overgrow loose heaps of stones ; there the female drops 
from four to six young in May, or early in June. The courage of the polecat is great, and none 
of the tribe denominated by game-keepers "vermin" so severely tries the "pluck" of a terrier; for 
its flexibility, unless seized in the right place and shaken to death at once, enables it to turn and 
fasten upon the nose of the dog, so as to make the latter not unfrequently desist from the attack. 
There is good evidence that the polecat will breed with the ferret. Inferior to the fur of the 
sable or marten, that of the polecat is nevertheless esteemed, and a considerable exportation of the 
skins annually takes place from the north of Europe, under the name of Fitch. 
The Siberian Polecat, or Chorok, M. Sihirica of Pallas, is about the size of the ferret, and 
has long fur of a bright golden yellow. It is a very hardy species, and in its native country re- 
sides chiefly in the forests. Among the other species are the Vomela, or Peregusna, P. Sarmati- 
rus, .found in Siberia, and the Itatsi, P. itatsi, of a bright chestnut-color, and found in Japan. 
