THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
631 
the smallest crevices, render it so successful a hunter of rats and mice, that 
farmers have learned that the occasional appropriation of a chicken is none too 
large a return for its services. It is somewhat fond of birds, and will excel the 
most active boy in robbing birds’ nests. If it once fastens its teeth in an ani¬ 
mal it will never relax its grasp until one of the two is dead. A weasel and an 
owl contended for the contents of a hen’s nest. At first the owl was the 
quicker in reaching the spot, but at the second attempt was attacked by the 
weasel which, though carried into mid-air, held on to the owl till it was 
killed and dropped to the ground. Although the hare is so much fleeter than 
the weasel , it seems to be paralyzed by the mere sight of its “ fell foe,” and 
hence falls an easy prey. 
A weasel has been known to make an unprovoked attack upon the fetlock 
of a horse, and to hold on 
until it had been killed. On 
one occasion at least weasels 
refused to let a boy pass, for 
gathering together they chased 
him back the way he came. 
A hunter falling asleep under 
a tree was attacked by a band 
of weasels , and escaped simply 
because his thick clothing pro¬ 
tected him while he ran. A 
kite swooped down upon a 
weasel and bore it aloft, but 
it soon discovered its mistake, 
for though it had come to 
prey it remained to be preyed 
upon. A weasel brought a frog 
to church, and disregarding the 
reproving looks of the congre¬ 
gation, turned one of the aisles 
into a refectory. The weasel , 
when domesticated, is full of the most intense and futile curiosity, and takes 
a lively interest in every object, action and proceeding. It is said, although 
not authoritatively, that the weasel seeks quarrels with snakes, and manages 
first to kill and then to eat them. 
The Ermine, or Stoat ( Putorius erminea ), has passed into song and story 
as well as into commerce, because of its furry coat, which, though red in summer, 
becomes white in winter. It is found on both continents, is about three-quar¬ 
ters of a foot in length, and wears a bushy, black-tipped tail. Like the skunk, 
the ermine can teach one to “ learn too late that ” stoats “ deceive.” The stoat 
delights in carnage, and is a great rat-killer. 
The Bridled Weasel ( Putorius froenatus) belongs to the Pacific slope. 
The Skunk ( Mephitis americana ), also called pole cat , is a common 
creature throughout America, and is one of the most destructive thieves with 
which farmers have to contend, stealing, as it does, both eggs and chickens. 
It is rather prettily marked with white and black stripes, has a bushy tail, 
and though small in size it has the power of emitting an odor so penetrating 
that no amount of washing or disinfecting can subdue it. 
tibeth and tayra. 
