470 
Vermin of the Farm. 
creature, it has its natural enemies, and few people are aware 
probably that its chief enemies are the badger and the fox. 
Where they dwell hedgehogs are not likely to become too 
numerous. 
Graver doubts arise in including in the same category with 
the hedgehog the little weasel, Miistela vulgaris (fig. 6). It is true 
that it is a strictly carnivorous animal, bloodthirsty, active, and 
very courageous, often attacking creatures larger than itself ; 
Fio. 6. — The Weasel, Mustela vulgaris. 
but, like other animals, man included, it has a spcdaliU, and 
that is a natural antagonism to rats, mice, and voles. 
So frequently have we witnessed its pertinacity in mouse- 
hunting, that, on this score alone, we should be inclined to 
forgive him for occasionally carrying off a chicken. We would 
even go a step farther. We have known stackyards in which 
weasels were repeatedly seen and left unmolested. Hens with 
chickens were daily pecking about the yard, but no chickens 
were missed. It appeared .that so long as the weasels could 
get mice and rats, they jareferred fur to down or feathers.' 
Many a time have we seen a weasel carrying a dead field vole in 
> This is otherwise with the stoat, which is often confounded with the 
weasel, and people frequently “ put the saddle on the wrong horse.” 
