canines of the Weasel were so deeply imbedded behind the ear of the rat that
the two dead animals had to be pulled apart.
Pluck in holding on to its victim is characteristic of this gallant little beast.
An instance is reported1 of a Weasel still holding on to a rabbit which was being
retrieved by a dog, and the subject of one of Wolfs most famous drawings, called
‘ The Biter Bit,’ is that of a Weasel killing an owl which has carried it off.2
The following instance of the courage and sagacity of the Weasel is related by the
late W. Borrer in the ‘ Zoologist ’ :
‘ A s a nephew of mine was walking through one of his meadows at Spring-
field, near Dorking, Surrey, about the middle of December last, he saw a kestrel
struggling with something on the ground, and on getting nearer the bird rose
about thirty feet in the air and let something drop. On going to the spot he
found a Weasel hanging on to a dead rat about three parts grown. The Weasel
immediately made off to the hedge some twenty yards distant. My nephew then
picked up the rat, and removing it to another spot retired to a ditch to watch.
He had not been there more than a minute before the Weasel came out and
commenced hunting for the rat, behaving exactly like a dog working a field. The
Weasel was some little time finding it. He repeated the experiment half a dozen
times, moving the rat each time to a different spot, and each time with the same
result, viz. its eventual discovery by the Weasel. He then left the Weasel and the
rat to settle matters between themselves. This appears to me a remarkable instance
of courage and perseverance on the part of the Weasel, especially after his little
aerial trip with the kestrel.’
Being expert climbers Weasels prey largely on small birds, which they
surprise in the foliage or at roost. ' Mr. Ruskin Butterfield tells me of the following
incident, which shows that the Weasel also chases birds in the open:
‘ The incident took place on September 2, 1902, near St. Leonards. While I
was watching a tree creeper ascending a large oak, a Weasel emerged from the
rank herbage at the foot of the tree and ran nimbly up the trunk. At the time
the Weasel came into view, the creeper was about four feet from the ground. Upon
reaching a height of about ten feet the bird stopped, thereby allowing its pursuer
to get within two feet, when it flew away. The Weasel then turned and ran
down the trunk until it was near the ground when it sprang from the tree into
the grass. The agility and grape with which the feat was accomplished very much
^engaged my attention.’
1 FtM , Oct 9,1886. > For a similar instance in which a Weasel killed a kite see Bell, British Quadrufids, end ed. p. 186.