THE
WEASEL.
The Weasel is the smallest vermin of the ferret kind, and is a very noxious little animal, in many particulars resembling the stoat, last described, but is not capable, on account of its size, of doing half so much mischief, though they will destroy young hares, rabbits, and chickens, and, sucking out their blood, leave them behind; but in one instance it is extremely pernicious in chicken-gardens, hen-houses, &c. by sucking the eggs in great abundance; they begin by making a small hole at one end, at which they lick the yolk out, and leave the shell behind, whereas the rats, on the contrary, always drag the eggs out of the nest and carry them away, making a large hole in the egg, and sometimes break the shell in half, in order to get at the yolk, which the Weasel will not; by the above observation you will distinguish what animal has destroyed your eggs, and lay your trap accordingly. In some cases Weasels are serviceable, for they will kill mice, water rats, young house rats, but the old Norway rat they are afraid to attack, shunning him if possible with the greatest assiduity: they will likewise destroy moles, having sometimes catched them in mole traps.
When you have discovered that they have destroyed your chickens, or sucked your eggs, get a hutch or box trap, and bait it with a small bird or egg, for I have catched many by baiting with an egg, and if you should be at a loss to know at which place he enters, make some shrapes, either with sand or fine mould, as before described, and when you have discovered which way he comes, place some small steel traps, and it will be a thousand to one but what you catch him; and when you have taken any of these vermin, make an impression of their feet in some fine sand, and you will be able to distinguish them another time: and if this was strictly observed, it would be possible for you to know if even a mouse had entered your parlour or dining-room, by sifting some sand all over the bottom of the room at night, the last thing you do; then lock the door, and in the morning you will see which way they come in and out; which remark will serve for all these kind of vermin in general. I conclude my account of this creature in describing an odd method by which I have killed them, viz. when I have observed one run into a hedge, by standing at a proper distance from the place, and imitating the squeaking of a mouse, I have enticed the Weasel to come out to the side of the hedge, and then shot him dead, and by this method I have destroyed several of them.
THE
FERRET.
Of these animals there are two kinds or species, the white Ferret and the polecat Ferret, so called from its great resemblance to the polecat, but they are certainly two distinct animals, though by many persons imagined to be one and the same, and confounded together; and as a proof of this distinction, I have had several excellent Ferrets killed by the polecat, when turned into the rabbit burrows, wherein the polecat had taken prior possession.
Ferrets are much used by the warreners in the following manner; when the young rabbits become of a tolerable bigness or growth, they go to the holes where they have been observed, with a dog-Ferret, and turn him in with a long small line round his neck, and the other end of the line in their hands; if he goes a considerable way in, and finds no game, they draw him out again, and put him into another hole; and when they perceive by the line that he has struck at one of them, the line is gently drawn out, and he will bring the rabbit out in his mouth; the Ferret’s throat is then pressed, or squeezed close, in order that he may quit his prey, and then he is turned in again, this method the reader may practise with success, and take all the young rabbits out of their burrows, be their number never so great, but one caution is necessary to be observed, which is, not to lay the rabbits, as you take them, in the wind of the Ferret, this will baulk your sport, for if he scents or winds them, he will not keep in the ground; in the course of my practice I have tried a great number of holes, in some of which he has gone six or seven fathom in almost straight or horizontal angles, generally about three or four feet deep under the earth before he found his prey, but these are too great lengths to draw them, and would be losing too much time, but if you find the rabbits at about three fathom deep, it will answer your purpose, though you may try different angles or holes, and take your game at the nighest; the above method is what is termed drawing them with a Line-Ferret.
In the winter season, when you are endeavouring to take the rabbits, and you cannot get them to bolt or come out of their holes, the following expedient may be put into execution, in order to take great numbers of them together; make use of the Line-Ferret as before, turn him into one of the holes or angles till he finds them, but let him not remain there long enough to lay hold of the rabbits, then put him in at another, and so in like manner into all, and in the nighest angle you find them, there turn in the Ferret, and let him lie while you can sound him; what is meant by sounding is, you must listen about where you think the line goes, with your ear to the ground, and where you hear him dig a trench cross the hole, just behind the place where you sounded down to the line, then follow the line till you come to him, and in all probability you will take a great number of rabbits, and this is the reason of trying the Ferret in so many different angles before you let him lie, for by this method they are driven together, for if you was to let him lie at first, perchance you might have the trouble of digging for only a single rabbit, for they do not keep in any great degree together till driven so by the means aforesaid; but remember not to muzzle your Line-Ferret.
Another method of catching them is, by what is termed starting or bolting; to this end take the bitch or the Ferret and muzzle and use it in this manner, where there are any rabbits in burrows or at hedges, which you intend to destroy; when you first approach to the place, remember to take the wind of it, and fix a small purse-net, made for the purpose, called a Flan, in some countries, at each hole, do this as still and silent as possible, then put in the Ferrets at the lee-side of the burrow, in order that you may have the wind of the rabbits, and stand at the lee-side yourself, not making the least noise, for though many persons have a notion, that do what you will the rabbits will not start, yet this is a mistake, for if they hear a noise above ground they will fly down into their lower holes, till they can run no further, then the Ferret gets behind them and scratches them till they bleed, in which situation it is impossible for him to get before to drive them out into the net, and this is the reason I enjoin a strict silence, for then he catches them in their upper angles, on which they bolt out immediately, for they never lie in the lower ones till they are disturbed above ground; it is therefore a mistaken notion of a great many people, to hunt and drive in all the rabbits they can find before they put the Ferrets into the ground, but this method is entirely wrong, if you intend to start or bolt them, for if they are once driven to ground, it is ten to one if they move, but will lie and be scratched to death: but if you hunt them with a Line-Ferret, you will then have nothing to do but to sound your Ferret and dig them out as before directed.
I shall here beg leave to make a remark relative to a bad practice of the warreners, who make too frequent use of Ferrets, which method I entirely disapprove of; for, was I in possession of a warren, which I occupied for my livelihood, I would never put a Ferret into the ground at all, as it does a warren infinite prejudice and damage; it makes the rabbits forsake their own home, and run away, and lie out till they are killed, for they have a fixed antipathy against entering into the ground where there is the least smell of the Ferret; they have the same dislike to other vermin, and the Ferret is as bad as any of them; my own method of catching rabbits is, by nets made into pound pitches, and then you may sort them as you think proper, the best you may turn over the net and the worst you may kill; on the contrary, the Ferret has no respect to either, but will destroy the good as well as the bad.
The Ferret, as has been before observed, in many instances resembles the polecat, and if one should get away from his hutch, and get into the garden or field, if you should chance to get him again, he becomes so wild that you can scarcely venture to touch him. I have catched them at the hen-house, in a farm-yard, where they come to kill the fowls, for being set by some people to drive out the rats, they sometimes lose one, when he preys about as the polecat does; and will sometimes feed upon young rats, but as to the old ones those he does not choose to face, for I have had several good Ferrets as could be, all beat by an old rat, which they will not touch, except they are very sharp set and hungry; this experiment I have made by keeping one fasting for a day and a night, and then he killed an old fierce rat and eat him presently. This affords a useful lesson, for if you are going to make use of your Ferrets for any business, keep them fasting for some time before, they being of a very sluggish disposition, and when their bellies are full they will not hunt after any thing, or work in the least: I have often turned them into holes after rats, when, if they find a nest of young ones, they will eat them, and if sufficient to satisfy their hunger, they will hunt after no more prey, but fall asleep, for they only go in search of it to serve themselves, and when their bellies are full, you may hunt by yourself; this is the true nature of the Ferret.