BRITISH MAMMALS 
hunted out of a hedgebank, and killed as it tried to cross the open road 
by a single bite on the head. 
As far as I have noticed, voles when hunted do not lie down and 
give in like a hare or rabbit, but do their best to escape till the end. 
Weasels can climb well and will ascend a tree to some height. I 
once dislodged one from a Martin's nest under the eaves of my house, 
which was apparently used as a snug day-time retreat by the Weasel. 
The hearing and scenting powers of this animal seem much better 
than its eyesight, and if the sound of a mouse in distress is imitated 
by a squeaking noise of the lips, a Weasel may be lured to within the 
distance of a yard or two. I have seen one come close up to me 
on a high road. 
Instances have been known of birds of prey being killed in the 
air by the bites of Weasels on which they had pounced. Bell mentions 
an encounter of this sort, when a Kite had been the aggressor. 
Like the Stoat, the Weasel will occasionally hunt in company, when 
small packs of half a dozen or so will work together like hounds. These 
parties probably consist of the mother and her grown-up family. 
As an instance of the tiny space through which a Weasel can pass 
its slender body, I once found one in a mole-trap with its body behind 
the shoulders encircled by the small perforated piece of metal which 
acts as a trigger, the aperture being only about an inch in diameter. 
The five or six young are born in a nest placed in a hole in a wall 
or old tree. 
In the northern parts of its range in Europe and America the 
Weasel is said to become entirely white in winter, but this change 
of colour does not occur in Great Britain, where the white examples 
recorded from time to time appear to be albinos. 
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