WEASEL FAMILY. 
61 
Ferret After much discussion and difference of opinion, zoologists are 
agreed that the ferret is merely a variety of the polecat, somewhat 
modified by the effects of long-continued captivity. It is usually smaller and more 
slender than the polecat, and is generally of a yellowish white colour, with pink 
eyes, but there is also a brown variety known as the “polecat-ferret.” Ferrets are 
bred chiefly for rabbit and rat-hunting, both in Europe and the United States. 
Although they learn to know their masters to a certain extent, they are un¬ 
trustworthy animals, and should be handled with caution. The ferret has no 
strong local attachments, and, therefore, requires to be strictly secured. It is also 
very susceptible to cold. As is the case with many domesticated animals, ferrets 
are more prolific than their wild allies, the number in a litter usually varying 
the ferret natural size). 
from five to ten. The young are born in the spring; but it is said that there 
may sometimes be two litters in the year. 
In rabbit-catching the ferret is usually sent into the hole either muzzled or 
attached to a coil of string, by which it can be withdrawn. If allowed to enter a 
rabbit-hole unmuzzled, or without a string, ferrets are very likely to remain in 
such good quarters, and to slaughter the occupants one after another. The usual 
plan is to stop all the entrances to the burrows by means of small bag-like nets, in 
which the rabbits are caught when they bolt; but sometimes they are allowed to 
bolt freely, and are either shot or coursed with dogs. In ferreting it is essential 
that those who are present should be perfectly silent, as otherwise the rabbits will 
prefer to be eaten alive by the ferret in their holes rather than attempt to escape. 
It is also important that no one should stand immediately in front of the entrance 
to the hole. When a ferret enters a burrow in which there are several rabbits, a 
