Paula Farkas, age 13, of New York, N.Y.., for her questions
What is an ermine?
This fellow rates high on the list of Best Dressed Animals. His fur is rather short, silky soft and snowy white. Its tail is also white and silky, except for an inch on the end, which is jet black. The ermine wears his exquisite coat as though he had a right to it, and so he has. After all, he belongs to a family of Best Dressed Animals. Ho is cousin to the mink, the martin, the sable and. the otter,
The elegant ermine himself is actually a weasel in winter clothing. The weasels that live in the frozen north may wear white all year round. Those that live where winter snows cover the ground wear brown in summer and white in winter. The weasels of the warm southland wear brown all year round. However, whether he stays brown or changes to white, a weasel always dons a warmer, thicker coat in the fall. and he always wears a black tip on his tail.
In the north the weasel begins to change his brown summer coat with the first snow fall. The summer coat may be dark, light tan or a lovely honey color. Come winter, patches of it begin to fall out. It is replaced with patches of the white, denser fur. For a while he is a pinto animal. The ground, too, is pinto, with patches of brown earth and white snow.
In takes ten digs to threes weeks for the ermine to grow his complete winter coat. By then the ground is entirely blanketed in white. He can run over the snow without being noticed.
The ermine is a handsome animal, apart from his beautiful coat. His small body is long and lithe and very powerful. Every move he makes is graceful. He is highly strung and always alert. Fully grown, the American ermine is about eight inches long plus a three inch tail. He weighs only three to four ounces.
The character of this elegant fellow, however, is another matter. He is the most bloodthirsty small animal that ever stalked the woods and fields. His diet is fresh killed meat. Most animals kill only to eat.
Not so Mr. Ermine. He kills everything in sight.
Once in a great while Mr. Ermine‑will raids a chicken coop, leaving a trail of blood and murder behind him. This bad habit rates him as our enemy. But let's examine all the facts before we decide to get rid of him.
The ermine, like all weasels, is a mortal enemy of rats, mice and other rodents that destroy crops. When he enters a rat hole ho kills every rat, big or little, before settling down to dine. He also kills a larrge quantity of unfriendly snakes When we tot up all the good he does, perhaps we can forgive him for raiding the chicken coop once in a while,
The ermine can swim and climb trees. Summer and winter he must be alert for owls, large snakes and hawks, who hunt him for dinner. His worst enemy, however, is man, who hunts him first because he believes him to be a pest and secondly for his exquisite coat.