Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1882-03-10
4 Peculiar Little Rascal

this interesting little animal.
Probably net more than one out OF a
thousand men knows what ferret is,
and this one would perhaps tell, with
a blush that he was not very well post.
ed on the subject. The writer of this
article has been studying up the ferret
business, and proposes to throw little
light on the subject. He does not wish
the readers of this journal to be cropping
around in ignorance on so vital 4 SUBJ
ject.
In the first place, be it known, the
ferret is a confirmed idiot. He is con-
structed like the mink, but mink
knows thing or two. A mink can
sit down and tell ferret news for six
weeks. Minks are black while ferrets
are pale yellow. The mink was
made different color from the
ferret, to save him the embarrassment
of being taken, part of the time, tor a
fool. The ferret delights to remain IN
dark places. 1t is his nature to crawl
of and hide, and being ignorant, with
out running chance of being detect
ed in the act.
There is one subject, however, in
which the ferretis in the front rank, and
that is, catching hold and hanging on.
In the ferret's favor, here let 1t be said,
he knows all about this. His whole
intellect is conferred on this one idea.
What he does not know includes letting
go. a ferret will grab an object with
his teeth and hang on till he grows to
it.
Ferrets are used by hunters for the
purpose of catching rabbits. The fer.
ret is put in a burrow, and all the rab-
bits will, at the animals approach, rush
from their hole, and let the hunters
shoot them. A rabbit would rather be
shot than see ferret, any day. In case
rabbit stay ed in his hole, and the fer
ret nabbed him The latter beautiful
animal would lay down his prey and
wait till Gabriel had split his horn the
whole length, trying to toot him on
deck for the big gathering. The rab-
bit has not time to transact business
with the ferret. A ferret always clings
to his argument till something gives
way.
Ferrets are trained to to deCile to their
masters in a rather peculiar way. The
manager of ferret takes the animal
by the back of the neck and when 1t
opens is mouth TO bite blows down
its throat. 1t does net like this and
shuts its mouth. The creature never
learns to recognize any person, nor
does it allow affection to warp its bit
ing propensity. The only thing it is
conscious of is desire to keep hur-
ricanes out of its mouth. Nature has
provided him with an instinct to guard
against acquiring wind colo.
An Aurora butcher owned ferret,
which is no compliment to the butcher.
The butcher had an apprentice who
had been possessed of the insane idea
that he could charm the ferret. One
day the apprentice went down into the
basement to have little fun with the
animal, and in the course of the rigma-
role, which he was delivering, he held
it too close to his face. 1t reached out
and fastened to his nose, The butcher
heard a bowling and hooting down stairs
and the bow came tearing up the steps
with the ferret dangling from his pro-
boscis. 1t took half an hour for the
butcher to choke the animal of, and
then part of the youths smelling or
gan went with ferret.
The butcher would take the ferret to
his slaughter house to clean out the
rats which collected and overan the
place. After he had put the ferret un-
der the floor, there would be heard a
scampering about, and Kissing, and
soon the rats would come pouring out
of their holes in the foundation, with
terror depicted on every hneament of
their features, and make for adjoining
farms. One day the ferret was placed
under the floor, but the rats did not
come forth. A fearful combat ragged
for upwards of an hour, and could be
plainly heard. At last the animal
crawled out. with the flesh torn from
it and so fearfully mangled that 1t came
near dying. The rats were too num-
erous for him and had dubbed togeth-
er and cleaned him out.
On another occasion, man was in
the slaughter house yard, on a mule.
He wanted one of the butchers to let
his mule smell of the ferret. The mule
took smell. The ferret took hold Of
the mules nose. The mule gave a
bray that shook the ground, and a kick
and a buck that would make nitro
glycerine explosion appear like quiet
and peaceful affair in comparison
The rider lit on the back of his neck
over In the hog yard. The mule for
the next quarter Of an hour, made SO
much noise that the echoes got fully |
ten minutes behind in trying to keep
up their end of the rumpus, and about
two-thirds ofthe mud in the COW yard
was kept in the air at the same time.
There were not voters enough in this
congressional district to catch that
mule. The ferret kept his hold and
shut his eyes, and enjoyed the difficult
ty to the full capability of his benighted
The mule could not strike
bargain and get quit claim deed un-
til he had signed over the south end
portion of a nostril.