(_Putorius vulgaris._)
This is the smallest beast of prey, but so agile and courageous that
it is regarded as a model of carnivorous animals. It dwells in fields,
gardens, burrows, clefts of rock, under stones or wood piles, and
roams around by day as well as by night. Its slender and attenuated
shape enables it to enter and explore the habitations of the smallest
animals, and, as it is a destroyer of rats, mice, and other noxious
animals, it is useful and deserves protection. It is, however, hunted
by many who do not appreciate its value.
The weasel attains a length of eight inches, including the tail. The
body appears to be longer than it really is because the neck and head
are of about the same circumference as the body. It is of the same
thickness from head to tail.
This animal is found throughout Europe, Canada, and the northern
portions of the United States. Plains, mountains, forests, populous
districts, as well as the wilderness, are its home. It adapts itself to
circumstances, and can find a suitable dwelling-place in any locality.
It is found in barns, cellars, garrets, and similar retreats.
An observer says one who noiselessly approaches the hiding-place of
a weasel may easily secure the pleasure of watching it. He may then
hear a slight rustle of leaves and see a small, brown creature gliding
along. As soon as it catches sight of a human being it stands on its
hind legs to obtain a better view. "The idea of flight seldom enters
this dwarf-like creature's head, but it looks at the world with a
pair of bold eyes and assumes an attitude of defiance." Men have been
attacked by it. A naturalist once saw a large bird swoop down on a
field, pick up a small animal and fly upward with it. Suddenly the bird
staggered in its flight, and then dropped to the ground dead. A weasel
tripped merrily away. It had severed its enemy's neck with its teeth
and thus escaped.
The weasel preys upon mice, house rats and water rats, moles, hares,
rabbits, chickens, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, fish, and crabs.
A litter of weasels numbers eight. The mother is very fond of the
little blind creatures and nourishes them until long after they can see.
Buffon said this little animal was not capable of domestication, but as
a matter of fact, when accustomed to people from childhood, it becomes
very tame and attractive.
A lady tells the following anecdote of her pet weasel:
"If I pour some milk into my hand my tame weasel will drink a good
deal, but if I do not pay it this compliment it will scarcely take a
drop. When satisfied it generally goes to sleep. My chamber is the
place of its residence and I have found a method of dispelling its
strong odor by perfumes. By day it sleeps in a quilt, into which it
gets by an unsewn place which it has discovered on the edge; during the
night it is kept in a wired box or cage, which it always enters with
reluctance and leaves with pleasure. If it be set at liberty before
my time of rising, after a thousand playful little tricks, it gets
into my bed and goes to sleep beside me. If I am up first it spends a
full half-hour in caressing me, playing with my fingers like a little
dog, jumping on my head and my neck with a lightness and elegance
which I have never found in other animals. If I present my hands at
the distance of three feet it jumps into them without ever missing. It
exhibits great address and cunning to compass its ends, and seems to
disobey certain prohibitions merely through caprice. In the midst of
twenty people it distinguishes my voice, seeks me out and springs over
all the others to come at me."
The weasel probably lives from eight to twelve years. It is easily
caught in a trap, with bait of an egg, a small bird, or a mouse. No
other animal is so fitly endowed for hunting mice.
[Illustration: WEASEL.
2/5 Life-size.
FROM COL. F. NUSSBAUMER & SON.
A. W. MUMFORD, PUBLISHER, CHICAGO.
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]
In the attempt to check the rabbit pest in New Zealand, recourse has
been had to the importation of natural enemies, such as ferrets,
stoats, and weasels. In the Wairarapa district some 600 ferrets, 300
stoats and weasels, and 300 cats had been turned out previous to
1887. Between January, 1887, and June, 1888, contracts were made by
the government for nearly 22,000 ferrets, and several thousand had
previously been liberated on crown and private lands. Large numbers of
stoats and weasels have also been liberated during the last fifteen
years.
This host of predatory animals speedily brought about a decrease in
the number of rabbits, but their work was not confined to rabbits, and
soon game birds and other species were found to be diminishing. The
stoat and the weasel are much more bloodthirsty than the ferret, and
the widespread destruction is attributed to them rather than to the
latter animal. Now that some of the native birds are threatened with
extermination, it has been suggested to set aside an island along the
New Zealand coast, where the more interesting indigenous species can be
kept safe from their enemies and saved from complete extinction.