Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-07-01
THE WEASEL.
AN ACTIVE LITTLE RASCAL,
WITH a BAD REPUTATION.
The Personiflcntion OF Courage and
Ferocity-one Kind Aids White
Another Injuries the Farmer
IA Chicken Destroyer.

ject of this sketch, the weasel. 1t
makes little matter that the truth is
much in favor of this ferocious, little
scourge of field mice, barn mice aud
poultry-the sins committed by it in the
chicken house ure too much for any
other balance in its favor.
There are two kinds of weasels in this
country, the little brown weasel, which
never molests the poultry, land the ''stoat''
or ''ermine" weasel. The little fellow,
however, is much more abundant than his
large relative, and gets all tho blame for
his wrongdoing, too; but 1t is so small,
soslender of body, and cute, that it does
not often get caught by Its human enc
mics. Both forms are common to
America and Great Britain, also, and the
tales which they have inspired are un-
ending in their variety and length.
AS the full incarnation of brutal
courage and intense ferocity, united
with rare strength for so small body,
the weasel stands as the best type. 1t
fears nothing except man; it will attack
q natural enemy ten times It's size, like
the fox, and fly into the face of Reynard
with such vindictivc fury that tho bigger
beast usually beats retreat.
The stoat is always brown On its upper
parts, with dirty white under, and its
tail always tipped with jet black. This
is its summer plumage, and it does not
change unless in winter it lives in n
region where snow is habitual during
several months; then it is pure white oil
over, with its black-tipped tail. The
little weasel, on the other hand, is red
above, pure white beneath, with red tail
to match its back, aud never changes its
colors year in and year out, unless he,
too, ranges into cold, snowy regions
then he dons the pure white garment
that gives his larger relative its distinc-
| tive name of ''ermine."
The weasel is q night prowler, and
though its name is as familiar rs the
name of any one creature in the English
language can be, yet it is seldom seen SO
as to give anyone clear idea of its be-
havior. One Of tho best life sketches
extant is the picture drawn by Macgilli-
vray, who, writing from his study in
Scotland, "the ermine appears in En-
gland generally to be less common than
the weasel, but in Scotland, even to the
couth of the Firth of Forth, it is Ger
tainly of moro frequent occurrence than
that species; and for one weasel l have
seen five or six crmines
sit frequents Stony places and thick
cts, among which it finds secure retreat,
and its agility enables it to nutstep even
q dog in short race, and the slimness oil
Its body allows it to enter very small
aperture. Patches of furz in particular
afford it perfect security, and it some
times takes possession of q rabbits bur.
row. 1t preys on game and other kinds
from the grouse and ptarmigan, down
ward, sometimes attacks poultry ant
snakes, their eggs, aud is determined
enemy to rats and mice, and moles
Young rabbits and hares frequently be-
come victims to its rapacity, and ever
| full-grown individuals are sometimes de-
stroyed by it. Although in general il
does not appear to hunt by scent, yet it
has been seen to trace its prey like a
dog, following Its tracks with certainty.
Its motions are elegant, and its appear
ance extremely animated. 1t moves by
leaping or bounding, and is capable OF
running with great speed, although it
seldom trusts itself beyond the immsdi-
ate vicinity of cover.
"Under the excitement of pursuit.,
however, its courage is surprising, for it
will attack, seize by the throat, and
cling to grouse, hare or other animal
strong enough to carry it off, and it does
not hesitate on occasion to betake itself
to the water. Sometimes when met
within q thickct or stony place, it will
stand and gaze upon the intruder as il
conscious of security, and although its
boldness has been exaggerated in the
popular stories which have made their
way into books of natural history, it
cannot be denied that, in proportion to
its size, it is at least rs courageous as
the tiger or the lion."
While the ermine or stoat is q very
doubtful aid to the farmer, it is certain
that the little red weasel Is one; il
lives upon mice of every description in
the field, rats, moles aud small birds; it
should not be molesoed in barns, ricks,
or granaries, in which situations it is OF
the greatest service in destroying the
colonies of mice which infest them. Bell
says "tbose who have been impressed
by the multitudinous numbers in which
these little pests (mice) are found, in
wheat rick especially, and have seen the
manner in which the interior is some
times drilled, as it were, in every direc.
ton by their runs, can only appreciate
the amount of their depredations, and
surely the occasional abduction of a
chicken or duckling, supposing it to be
even more frequently charged against
this little fellow than it is, would be but
q trifling set of against the benefit of its
destruction OF those swarms of small
thieves" Mr.. Bell adds as ground for
his defense of the weasel, that q friend
of his assured him that at most three
bushels of different species of mice had
been killed out of one wheat rick or
stack; this is number that will not
surprise some of our farmers who have
witnessed thorough mouse hunt in q
grain stack of wheat where the mice
have taken up their quarters in earnest.
"Great good this little, red weasel
| certainly does and ifs tisuoI mnda NJ