List of the Fauna of the County. 167
chased for some distance, appear to resign themselves to
their fate without further efforts to escape; whether they are
paralysed by fear or exhaustion, or both, I am not sure, but
they certainly sit still and allow the little hunter to attack
them without attempting to defend themselves except by
screams. In winter, in this country, I have often observed
the change to white to have occurred, but more frequently
the change is not complete, some red marks still remaining
on the head or shoulders. The number of young is about
four or five, and more playful little creatures than a family
of young stoats it would be difficult to find.
Mustela putorius. The Polecat.—This destructive animal,
both to poultry and game, is becoming very rare in Essex, in
many districts being quite extinct, even in spots where a few
years since I remember it as being pretty frequently met
with. There is very little difference in appearance between
the dark ferret and the polecat, and the probability is that
the ferret is simply a domesticated polecat, but domesticated
in a warmer climate than ours ; and this, no doubt, accounts
for the greater susceptibility to cold in the domesticated
animal. A part of this tenderness is doubtless due to the
warmer conditions under which ferrets are reared; for I
always found my ferrets, which were reared in an open pig-
stye, were not the shivering creatures one usually sees, and
I often observed them tumbling and rolling in the snow
apparently without discomfort. The food of the polecat is
as varied as is that of the other members of this family, and
also includes fish, frogs, and other reptiles, according to some
authorities.
Martes foina. Common Marten.—This very graceful
creature is now I fear extinct in Essex,4 but as it is exclu-
sively nocturnal it may have escaped notice. In its habits it
differs from the other members of this family, they almost
universally confining their hunting manoeuvres to the ground;
but the marten climbs trees with more than the agility of the
4 [The last recorded Essex specimen of the Marten was killed in
Epping Forest in 1853. See 'Transactions,' i. 95.—Ed.]