To a certain extent the ferocity of mammals appears to increase
in proportion to a decrease in their size. The smaller members of
the weasel family--the weasels--are relatively far more active and
bloodthirsty than the minks, martens, and other larger members of the
group.
If the common weasel should be increased to the bulk of a mountain-lion
and retain its nature and physical prowess, it would be many times
more dangerous than any existing carnivore and the devastations it
would commit would be appalling. Even the tiny insect-eating shrews
are endowed with a fierce and aggressive spirit scarcely equaled among
larger animals.
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