HABITS OF THE POLECAT. 
69 
tinge appearing here and there, especially about the sides ; the belly was of a 
bright tawny; throat, and between fore and hind legs, also the back of both fore 
and hind legs, with the feet, black; the tail also' black; the extremity of ears 
whitish, somewhat as if they had been cut, the tips being unfurnished with 
hair, the muzzle surrounded by a space of a dingy yellow colour. Its general 
appearance was that of a large brown Ferret, but rather longer in the nose, 
larger and more pointed ears, somewhat longer in the legs, and altogether a 
stronger and fiercer-looking animal. This creature, when I got him, was about 
fifteen inches in length, and the tail four or five: the tail is commonly nearly 
one-third as long as the body. After I_had him a year or so, however, he 
attained the length of twenty inches, and his hair became longer and more like 
the fur of the Sable. This little animal was very fierce, and on my first attempt 
to lay hold of him, seized me between the thumb and forefinger of my hand, and 
held firmly, despite my blows, until a hot wire was presented to the extremity 
of his nose. Perceiving, from this, that my little gentleman required prompt 
and rather severe measures to be taken with him, I put round his neck a small 
leather collar, to which I attached a light chain, and having thus well secured 
him, I left him to his own reflections for the next two days, during which I 
allowed him to observe a rigid fast. On the expiration of this period, I found 
him less violent, but still very sulky. Sulky or not, however, I had gained one 
end, he was very hungry, and willing to eat out of my hand already. I was, 
nevertheless, in danger of being bitten, for he took each morsel with such a sudden 
snap, that I was in momentary apprehension of my fingers becoming included in 
the mouthful, and badly as I used to think of the bite of a Rat, this animal’s 
bite is fifty times more severe. A Rat punishes with two incisor teeth only, this 
animal with four canine teeth, besides the incisors, and the canine teeth being in 
the middle of the lever, he bites with far more force than the Rat can, whose 
teeth are at its very extremity. During the first three or four months the smell 
of this creature was very offensive, and would adhere to the hands or clothes of 
any one who handled or caressed him: his cage, although constantly cleaned out, 
stunk horribly, and he had many narrow escapes of being voted a nuisance by 
my unzoological parents ! and expelled the premises. According, however, as he 
became familiarsed, this disagreeable quality became less remarkable; and at 
last, when he grew so tame as to render confinement no longer necessary, it 
nearly altogether left him. While in a good humour it required a very nice sense 
of smelling to detect his presence in a room, were he in a place of concealment; 
but if he met with any bad treatment, or became at all provoked, then, indeed, 
he not only gave strong notice of his presence, but left a scent behind him which 
■perfumed the apartment for at least an hour after his removal. This foetid odour 
depends upon an unctuous secretion which is formed in an almost imperceptible 
