His smallest cousin is the Least Weasel.
The latter is not much longer than a Mouse. In winter he is all
white, even the tip of his tail. In summer he is a purer white
underneath than his larger cousins. All of the Weasels are alike
in habits. When running they bound over the ground much as Peter
Rabbit does.
"In that part of the West where Yap Yap the Prairie Dog lives is
a relative called the Blackfooted Ferret who looks like a large
Weasel. He is about the size of Billy Mink, but instead of the
rich dark brown of Billy's coat his coat is a creamy yellow. His
feet are black and so is the tip of his tail. His face is whitish
with a dark band across the eyes. He is most frequently found in
Prairie dog towns and lives largely on Yap Yap and his friends.
His ways are those of Shadow and his cousins. There is no one
Yap Yap fears quite as much.
"The one good thing Shadow the Weasel does is to kill Robber the
Rat whenever they meet. Robber, as you know, is big and savage
and always ready for a fight when cornered. But all the fight
goes out of him when Shadow appears. Perhaps it is because he
knows how hopeless it is. When Shadow finds a barn overrun with
Rats he will sometimes stay until he has killed or driven out
the last one. Then perhaps he spoils it all by killing a dozen
Chickens in a night.
"It is a sad thing not to be able to speak well of any one, but
Shadow the Weasel, like Robber the Rat, has by his ways made
himself hated by all the little people of the Green Forest and
the Green Meadows and by man.
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