A POLECAT HUNT.
[To THE EDITOR Or TIM "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—Tbe graphic description of a weasel bunt in the South Of Ireland given in your issue of April 24th will be read with interest by aU who have enjoyed a similar, though not Identical, sport in the North of Eugland,—a foumart, or pole- cat, hunt. The habitat of this animal is on the moorlands, Whence he descends at night to forage on the lowlands, returning before daylight. While the dew is yet on the grass, Ills trail is hit off by a pack trained for the purpose, not the charming end dainty beagles so lovingly described in your article, but a very scratch lot of workmanlike terriers, and he is tracked te his lab-, whose garrison usually capitulates to a storming party armed with picks and shovels. Should this occur during the breeding season, a number of maimed frogs will be found inside, a foot having been bitten off each to prevent escape. Though polecats are properly elassed as vermin, and should be kept down in numbers, their extermina- tion is greatly to be deprecated, as they are useful to cross with ferrets, when the latter have degenerated from inbreeding. I observed the other day with great regret that a marten-cat had been shot in Wales. These rare animals, like the golden eagle, and perhaps eventually the heron, are threatened with extinction in the British Isles,-1 am, Sir, &c., W. J. GARNETT.
Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue, W.C.
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