There is good evidence as to "p a ck s ” of Weasels being seen together, but
from the behaviour of my pair in captivity I should judge the adult Weasel to
be essentially a solitary animal. Each had his own comer in the cage, which he
defended v i et arm is against his fellow. Frequently they fought, and in the end
one killed the other; yet at times they played like puppies. The game was- a
kind of hide-and-seek,'one taking cover, waiting till the other approached, “ yapping”
at him, and, if he took t© flight, pursuing him round the cage and up
and down its wire-netting skies As in the case of dogs, it was easy to distinguish
these mock combats from real thing.
‘ As regards the eharaefctmtie attitudes of the Weasel, which, from a photographic
standpoint, I was greedy concerned in observing, I was surprised at the
rarity of the “ sitting-up” which in the case of stoats and Weasels is a
commonplace of illustration i Have never seen this position (full front with the
fore paws clear of suppe^ii than momentarily adopted by stoat, Weasel, or
SS* characteristic methods of running. In one he
keeps his body very low ^raight, and I never succeeded in following the
is a series of bounds, and at the top of each
bound his body is stroagfy .iif-ched, all four feet being clear of the ground. Like
h® sleeps coiled head to tail, and on more than
# & confuting the proverb. In hunting he probably
« p p r would often run sniffing round their cage
W I f the food was inserted while their back
er it evidently more by smell than sight. Their
l i extraordinary. A stoat can easily tow a full-
W««scl is equally proficient with a large dead rat. In
s* *4 vsel fastens at the side of the throat, and to worry
his victim more effective !> and jerks like a whip-lash from side to side of
its back. Once the tjjj'o-v. is secured, the victim is helpless either to bite,
shake off, or scratch off bi-< i’||^t-'^ssor.
‘ I do not consider that a Weasel would be a match for a full-grown rat
under anything like fear condst?o©5, and I valued my Weasels too highly to try
the experiment. I imagine the rat would comer himself, sit up, and beat down
the Weasel’s attack with his fore paws; but that a Weasel would cheerfully attack
a full-grown rat there can be no question—he would cheerfully attack an elephant’
The female Weasel is wonderfully brave in defence of her young, and will