The Polecat. 61 
THE POLECAT. (Mustela putorius.) 
The strong and disagreeable smell of this animal is pro- 
verbial; its skin is stiff, hard, and rugged, and when 
well prepared, is very desirable as clothing. It is about 
seventeen inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which 
is about six inches. The breast, tail, and legs are of 
a blackish colour, but the belly and sides yellowish* It 
sometimes conceals itself in secret corners about houses, 
and is then a disastrous pest to the poultry-yard. These 
animals usually frequent the woods and destroy a great 
quantity of game; and some, forsaking the haunts of 
man, retire to the rocks and crevices of the cliffs on the 
sea shore, preferring a meagre and scanty diet with 
security, to the daintiness of chicken-flesh and eggs, 
attended with trouble and fear. Rabbits seem to be 
their favourite prey, and a single Polecat is often suffi- 
cient to destroy a whole warren ; for with that insa- 
tiable 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 Pole- 
cat had destroyed by a wound hardly perceptible. The 
Polecat is the same with the Fitchet 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 him in turn, fastening upon 
the nose of its enemy with so keen a bite, as frequently 
to oblige him to desist. When heated or enraged, the 
smell it emits is absolutely intolerable. 
