[…] this Beast [the Ichneumon] is not only enemy to the Crocodile and Asp, but also to their Egs, which she hunteth out by the sagacity of her nose, and so destroyeth them […]
1607, Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts, Serpents, and Insects, London: G. Sawbridge et al., published 1658, page 352