The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-08-01
THE FERRET.

He follows on till he comes to the rats
nest The rat sits there covering in a cold
sweat of terror. NJ. Ferret pounces upon
him and eats him in twinkling. If there
happen to be young ones in the rest they are
crunched to pieces in no more time than il
would take to swallow them whole. Their
tender bones make nice bite. The ferret
is very savage, hungry animal.
II the rats are smart enough they will not
run into their holes, but will start for out
doors, whore they can run Off and away
Then the house is cleared Of rats. They are
too scarel to come back again, for a while
at least and they find quarters elsewhere.
A well-trained ferret does not pursue them
far outside, but remains on the premises
If there are many rats the hunters stay sew.
eral days They eat rats till they are gorged
SO full they Will not hold another bite.
Then they cuGdle away in some corner and
go to sleep. They sleep until they get
hungry, and then glide about the halls, cell
lars and rooms smelling for more rats
When there ar no more their master takes
them home. Then the hotel proprietor pays
him $50. Ii the house is one of the largest,
more than thai is paid. 1t is said, though 1t
may not be true, that the ferret trainer has
been paid 100000 for clearing rats out Of
houses in New York city in the four years
he has kept these animals
A ferret is trained weasel nothing more
orless Boys and girls who have seen a weasel
have seen ferret in the wild state. Tae ami
mails are rarely as high as large fat rat. But
they arc very long bodied, as long as cat
They are brown, gray, yellow and dirty
white. I. rainer in New York city has some
cream-colored Cnes with pinl, eyes Fer
their size they are as savage as a tiger II
you fasten a rat to stick and poke it into q
pen where dozen ferrets are, four or five
of them will jump at i: and catch on" as
the boys say. You may whirl them around
like stone in sling and they will not let
go. You might pull at them till you would
pull them in two, and then the. first Iii
would still be found WIN tee1h ciinchea INTO
that rat.
A ferret Will lift with his teeth weight
six times as heavy as himself So you see
this fierce little creature is mightier than
man. Ii the place to be cleared or rats is a
factory or It re which is shut up at night
the f,rrets are starved twenty-four or forty
eight hours to make them fierce and hungry.
That is the only way they will work. Then
the keeper takes tn I'm to the house and lets
them lose. They max, the rats Az. II
there are great numbers Of the pests the fer
ret kills them, sucks their blood and eats
merely the brain. Bat he does not leave
the dead boGies in the hole. A gentleman
who called tor the services of the ferret man
lately left the creatures in his store over
Sunday When he went back Monday
morning he found twenty dead rats all piled
up in heap The ferrets drag cut whatever
they do not eat.
If, however, they are wantel for ho,els,
and houses where people stay day and night,
tanner, gentler animals are used. When
teased and picked at. tie cross oes Will
bite. 1t would be no fun to get your finger
in a ferret's mouth. The ones that are let
out in hotels a.e quite harmless when let
alone. But ladies don't think so, some
times. If they see the little creatures
gliding snak Xix, through the halls, they
scream and rai,e the house like this: