Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale (1937:233, 234) quote W. Fry concerning a
weasel which reared six young at Giant Forest, California, in 1919, as
follows: "This parent weasel, after the birth of her young, remained at
the premises for a period of thirty-seven days; during which time, from
actual count, the following numbers of mammal species fell victim to
her: mice [genera not specified] 78; gophers 27; moles 2; chipmunks 34;
wood rats 3; ground squirrels 4. This is a total of 148 animals for
the . . . thirty-seven days . . . not a bird was captured during the
period."
Rats (_Rattus_).--Criddle and Criddle (1925:146), on the farm at
Treesbank, Manitoba, record a long-tailed weasel, on July 2, 1918,
running away from the farm buildings carrying a rat; July 11, 1919,
"Two _longicaudas_ . . . have been seen running off with rats on
several occasions."; July 11, 1920, "There are two large weasels about
the buildings[;]. . . . Each has been noted with rats and this
afternoon one of them was seen running into the woods carrying a rat,
followed by two excited swallows." The authors (_op. cit._:147) add "In
the fall of 1924, Mr. A. Cooper, a prominent poultryman of Treesbank,
observed a large weasel carrying a freshly killed rat which it stored
below ground and then returned towards the poultry-house, causing no
little apprehension to the owner. Within a short time, however, the
weasel reappeared with another rat which it hid as before. In this way
several rodents were accounted for during the afternoon, and Mr. Cooper
assures us that the weasel 'kept up the good work for some days'."
Hamilton (1933:330) in New York State in May, 1927, saw a male weasel
in possession of a rat.
Big jumping mouse (_Zapus major_).--In the Warner Mountains of
California, on Parker Creek, H. C. Bryant frightened a weasel that
dropped a freshly killed jumping mouse (Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale,
1937:232).
Snowshoe rabbit (_Lepus americanus_).--Adolph Murie (1935:321-322)
writes that: "Four miles north of Funkley, Minnesota, early on the
morning of November 13, 1921, . . . watched from the top of a 30-foot
spruce a weasel. .. hunting a varying hare. . . . The ground was
covered with six inches of fresh snow . . . both animals . . . [had]
their [white] winter pelage.
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