. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. THE MARTEN FAMILY—WEASEL GROUP. 159 A family of Ferrets includes from five to eight young ones, which remain blind during the first two or three weeks of their lives. They are admirably cared for by the mother and are weaned when about two months old, and when this has been done they are old enough to be separated from maternal care and reared by themselves. How Ferrets The Ferret is excellent as an assistant Hunt Rabbits in a Rabbit hunt, but its real useful- and Rats. ness is very slight in comparison with the cost of its mainten
. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. THE MARTEN FAMILY—WEASEL GROUP. 159 A family of Ferrets includes from five to eight young ones, which remain blind during the first two or three weeks of their lives. They are admirably cared for by the mother and are weaned when about two months old, and when this has been done they are old enough to be separated from maternal care and reared by themselves. How Ferrets The Ferret is excellent as an assistant Hunt Rabbits in a Rabbit hunt, but its real useful- and Rats. ness is very slight in comparison with the cost of its maintenance. The hunt is begun in the morning. The Ferrets are carried in a basket or box lined with something soft or in a game pouch. On arriving at the burrow the hunter looks for all the outlets and places before each of them a net about a yard long and fastened to a large ring; then the Ferret enters the principal outlet and this is also closed against egress in a sim- ilar manner. As soon as the Rabbits become aware of the presence of the intruder, they rush out and are caught in the nets and killed. The Ferret itself is prevented from killing them either by a muzzle or by having its teeth filed, and a little bell is suspended from its neck so that its where- abouts may be constantly known. As soon as it reap- pears at the outlet, it is taken up, for if it should enter the burrow a second time, i t would lie down to rest and its master would be com- pelled to wait for it for hours. It is very important that it be taught to respond to a whis- tle or a call. If it does not obey this signal, resort is had to coaxing in order to induce it to come out. An effectual expedient, for instance, is to tie a Rabbit to a pole and thrust it into the burrow. No Ferret can withstand such a temptation; its teeth close on the Rabbit, with which it is •drawn out of the hole. In England the Ferret is more frequently employed to exterminate Rats, and still oftener to fight with these biting rode
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1895
