The weasel though thought by some to be incapable of domestication has, like most other animals who have had the chance, shown itself amenable to kindly treatment. Mdlle. de Laistre possessed one which she kept in her chamber, dispelling its strong odours by perfumes. This weasel displayed towards her extravagant evidence of affection. "If the servant sets it at liberty before I am up in the morning," she writes, "after a thousand gambols, it comes into my bed, and reposes in my hand or on my bosom. If I am up before it is let out, it will fly to me in rapture, and spend half an hour in caressing me. The curiosity of this little pet is unbounded, for it is impossible to open a drawer or box, without its roving through every part of it; if even a piece of paper or a book is looked at, it will also examine it with attention." This weasel lived on friendly terms with both a cat and a dog who shared his mistress' favours. That the weasel can defend himself when attacked is shown by the following incident told by Mr. Bell: "As a gentleman was riding over his grounds, he saw, at a short distance from him, a kite pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the kite began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in the air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling irregularly round, whilst evidently endeavouring to free himself from some obnoxious thing with his feet. After a short but sharp contest, the kite fell suddenly to the earth. The gentleman instantly rode up to the spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite, apparently unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through the skin under the wing, and the large blood-vessels of the part torn through." The length of the common weasel is about eight inches.
There are several genera of Otters. The common otter (_Lutra vulgaris_) is known throughout Europe and is not uncommon in Great Britain. The otter lives on fish, for the hunting of which he is admirably fitted. He is web-footed and has a body of great flexibility and short but remarkably muscular legs. The Otter was looked upon as a friend by the peasants living near salmon preserves years ago, for after landing his prey he was content with but a small portion for himself, and left the rest which the peasants readily appropriated.