88 
too sly and quick in movement to be caught. The bird with 
small, clean-cut teeth marks in the neck or under the wing 
is proof of this enemy.” 
Mr. H. B. Bigelow of Cohasset writes : “ Weasels kill 
some small birds, principally sparrows, along stone walls 
and hedge rows, where I have found several carcasses, prin- 
cipally, however, English sparrows. In Milton I saw a 
weasel stalk an English sparrow along a stone wall. They 
are said to destroy some quail.” 
Weasels are remarkably savage and bloodthirsty animals, 
but seem to feed mostly on mice, shrews and moles, for 
which they hunt daily. When hunting, they quarter over 
the ground much more closely than does the fox, therefore 
they are more likely to stumble on the nests of birds. An 
animal which can kill six fowls in a night, as I have known 
a weasel to do, would easily kill a sitting grouse or any 
smaller bird which it could surprise on its nest at night. 
The weasel is very brave and active. Weasels occasion- 
ally attack even human beings. There is an old story of 
an English girl who was found dead on a moor, her body 
partly eaten by a party of weasels. I was once, when a 
boy, attacked by ten of these creatures. They made the 
occasion quite interesting for me for some minutes, and by 
reason of their great activity all but one escaped unharmed. 
Mr. John Burroughs has observed that weasels can climb 
trees . 1 This makes them much more formidable enemies to 
birds than they otherwise would be; but, as their vision is 
not particularly acute, and as they rely largely on scent, 
they are likely to be often at fault. Fortunately, they are 
not common, but I have never seen any explanation for 
their comparative scarcity. They have many young and 
few enemies, although the larger hawks and owls get some 
of them. They can escape the fox by climbing or hiding. 
Weasels are not often shot, and traps are seldom set for 
them, but many are caught in traps set for other animals. 
It is quite possible that these bloodthirsty, ravenous crea- 
tures are cannibals. Other carnivorous animals, such as 
predaceous beetles, owls and wolves, are cannibalistic. Mr. 
Burroughs records that when a pair of weasels was kept in 
1 “ Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers,” John Burroughs, p. 87. 
