THE WEASEL FAMILY.[162]
This family, including the Weasels, Martens, Skunks, Gluttons, Otters, Badgers, &c., is the most heterogeneous assemblage of all the Carnivorous group. Its members have a very wide geographical distribution, being found in all parts of the world, except the West Indies, Madagascar, and the Australian region. They differ very much among themselves, but have, nevertheless, certain important characters in common, such as the structure of the ear-drum bone, which in essential respects resembles that of the Bears, as also do the organs of digestion. They all possess, beneath the root of the tail, anal glands, organs of similar nature to the civet-producing glands of the Viverridæ, but secreting a more or less noxious fluid. The number of animals in this family is very great, and it will be impossible to treat of any but the principal species. As a matter of convenience, the members of the group are often split up into sections, one (the trueMustelidæ) containing the Gluttons, Martens, Weasels, Ferrets, and Grisons; another (theMelidæ) consisting of the Badgers, Ratels, and Skunks; and a third (theLutridæ) containing the Otters.
SKELETON OF WEASEL.
SKELETON OF WEASEL.
Many of these animals are looked upon as “vermin,” but among them are some of the most valuable of the fur-producing animals: the Ermine, Sable, Mink, and Marten. These are all inhabitants of the Northern hemisphere, and the business of trapping them is a very important branch of industry, as may be gathered from the fact, quoted by Dr. Elliott Cones,[163]that “during the century 1769–1868, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold at auction in London, besidesmany millionsother pelts (skins), the following ofMustelidæ:—1,240,511 Sables; 674,027 Otters; 68,694 Wolverenes; 1,507,240 Minks; 218,653 Skunks; 275,302 Badgers; 5,349 Sea-Otters. In 1868 alone, the Company sold (among many thousand others), 106,254 Sables; 73,473 Minks; 14,966 Otters; 6,298 Skunks; 1,104 Wolverenes; 1,551 Badgers; 123 Sea-Otters; besides which were also sold in London, in the autumn of the same year, about 4,500 Sables; 22,000 Otters, &c.”