THE WEASEL AND THE ADDER.

Of all the sharp-toothed and vindictive little animals that prey upon their comrades and sometimes do service for man, none is sharper or more vindictive than the weasel—a bright-eyed little beast, with a coat of golden-brown fur and a clean white shirt-front. It somewhat resembles the rat, and also the squirrel; but it is, really, the deadly enemy of both.

And of all the hateful reptiles that crawl and coil and sting, there are few more venomous and hateful than is the little olive-brown snake known as the adder—a rattlesnake without rattles, and the untiring foe to mice and birds and moles, thus also occasionally proving of service to man.

Both the weasel, which belongs to the family known as the mustelidæ, or mouse-eaters, and the adder, which belongs to the viperidæ, or viper family, are, as you see, agreed upon one thing—a liking for mice for dinner. And they are just as heartily united upon another subject—their hatred of each other.

So when, as in the above picture, weasel and adder meet in the way, there is certain to be a duel to the death.

The weasel is a spry and fiery-tempered little animal; the adder is treacherous and equally hot-headed. And although, as the rule, the weasel is worsted in such encounters, sometimes the coils of the adder squirm and droop and stiffen as, with one quick snap, the sharp teeth of the weasel seize and break the mottled neck of the snake.