47 
THE POLECAT ( Mustela putorius, ) 
Has so strong and disagreeable a smell that it is become 
proverbial ; his skin is stiff, hard, and rugged, and when 
well prepared, lasts long in garments. His tail is not 
above three inches long. The breast, tail, and legs are of 
a blackish colour, but the belly and sides yellowish. He 
keeps in secret corners at tops of houses, and is a disas- 
trous pest to the poultry-yard. Some of these animals 
frequent the woods and destroy a great quantity of birds ; 
and some others, forsaking the haunts of man, retire to 
the rocks and crevices of the cliffs on the sea-shore, pre- 
ferring a meagre and scanty diet with security, to the 
daintiness of chicken-flesh and eggs, attended with trouble 
and fear. Rabbits, however, seem to be their favourite 
prey, and a single Polecat is often sufficient to destroy a 
whole warren ; for with that insatiable thirst for blood 
which is natural to all the weasel tribe, it kills much more 
than it can devour ; and twenty rabbits have been found 
dead, which one Polecat had destroyed, and that by a 
wound which was hardly perceptible. The Polecat is the 
same with the Fitchct or Foumart, the hair of which is 
made into fine brushes and pencils for the use of painters. 
This small animal is fierce and bold. When attacked by 
a dog, it will defend itself with great spirit, attack in its 
turn, and fasten upon the nose of its enemy with so keen 
a bite, as frequently to oblige him to desist. 
