RACOON FAMILY--PANDA FAMILY--WEASEL FAMILY--FOSSIL CARNIVORA.
THE RACOON FAMILY--Characters of their Skull, Teeth,
&c.--Geographical Distribution--THE RACOON--Its Habit of Washing
its Food--Its External Characters and Habits--Racoon Hunting--The
Crab-eating Racoon--THE COATI--THE KINKAJOU--Its Lemur-like
Appearance, Prehensile Tail, &c.--THE CACOMIXLE--THE PANDA
FAMILY--THE PANDA--Its Character and Habits--The Ailuropus--THE
WEASEL FAMILY--Anatomical Characters--Tail-glands--Division of the
Family into Three Sub-families--Importance of the Mustelidæ as
Fur-producing Animals--THE GLUTTON--Its Characters--Superstitions
Regarding it--Its Cunning--THE MARTEN--THE PEKAN--THE SABLE--THE
WEASEL--THE STOAT, OR ERMINE--The Difference between its Winter
and Summer Dress, and the manner in which the Change takes
place--THE POLECAT--THE FERRET--THE MINK--THE GRISON--THE TAYRA--THE
RATEL--THE COMMON BADGER--Its Habits--Burrowing--THE AMERICAN
BADGER--THE TELEDU--THE CAPE ZORILLA--THE COMMON SKUNK--Its Noxious
Secretion--Hydrophobia produced by Skunk Bite--The Little Striped
Skunk--The White-backed Skunk--THE COMMON OTTER--The Adaptation of
its Structure to Aquatic Life--Use of Tame Otters for Fishing--The
Canadian Otter--The Margined-tailed Otter--THE SEA OTTER--Its
Affinities with the Seals--How it is Hunted--GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE
LAND CARNIVORA--FOSSIL CARNIVORA--The Tendency of these to bridge
over Existing Groups--Appendix to Chapter VI. (Civet Family)--THE
CYNOGALE--THE CYNICTIS--THE MANGUE--THE SURICATE.
THE RACOON FAMILY.[154]
This is a small family of curious Bear-like animals, of small size,
and differing a good deal in external appearance, although agreeing
closely in all essential particulars. They are plantigrade, like the
Bears, and like them are quite devoid of a blind-gut, or cæcum. The
skull is long-snouted, and, though presenting certain resemblances to
that of the Civets, has still the essential Arctoid characters, such
as the well-marked bony ear-passage, and the wide space between the
ear-drum bone and the bony projection on the hinder part of the skull
(paroccipital process). A great difference from the Bear’s skull,
is, however, seen in the swollen and bulb-like ear-drum bone (bulla
tympani), which is as large as that of a Dog.
[Illustration: SKULL OF RACOON.]
The grinding-teeth have on their biting surfaces large and prominent
tubercles, so that they are neither altogether of a crushing, nor
altogether of a mincing character. The molars bear a considerable
resemblance to the hinder molars of the Dog; the canines are compressed
from side to side, have very sharp front and back edges, and are
somewhat outstanding. The number of the teeth is forty,[155] that is,
two less than in the Bears, the missing teeth being the last upper
molar of each side.
[Illustration: HALF OF SKULL OF RACOON, UNDER VIEW.]
The four genera of the Racoon family are found only in the New World;
their northern limit is British Columbia, while southwards they reach
to Paraguay in the central part of South America.
THE RACOON.[156]
Every visitor to the Zoological Gardens must have been struck with the
curious habits of this animal. If any one gives it a bit of bun or
biscuit, the Racoon holds out both its hands for the morsel, and takes
it almost as deftly as a Monkey; it then waddles off to the little
pond in the middle of its cage, dips its prize in the water, and when
it is well soaked, proceeds to devour it. Except in the case of meat,
which the Racoon seems to consider moist enough, the food always has
to undergo this soaking process before it is thought to be fit to eat.
It is from this habit that the Racoon derives its specific name of
_lotor_, “the washer,” and its German appellation of _Waschbär_, or
“washing Bear.”
The Racoon is a decidedly handsome animal, about the size of a large
and very corpulent Cat. The hair is of a brown or grizzled colour, long
and furry, the tail bushy and beautifully ringed. Its body is large
and somewhat unwieldy, its legs short, and its feet armed with strong
claws, suitable for burrowing or climbing. The head is large, the
cheeks prominent and black, and the snout sharp, light-coloured, and
somewhat up-turned--“tip-tilted, like the petal of a flower”--giving
the animal a curious inquisitive look, which is quite borne out by
its character. It investigates every object within reach, animate or
inanimate; the latter, if portable, it is fond of carrying off and
carefully washing.
In the matter of diet it is omnivorous, and seems almost equally fond
of meat, insects, fruit, or bread. It is said also to catch and eat
oysters and crabs, and to confine itself, in the case of the birds it
catches, to the brain and blood. It is a decidedly cunning animal,
and in captivity, when allowed a certain amount of liberty, shows
great talent in stealing fruit and killing fowls. When eating, it very
usually sits up on its haunches and holds the food with both fore-paws.
[Illustration: RACOON.]
The skin of the Racoon forms a valuable fur, and the animal is,
consequently, much sought after throughout the whole of its range,
which extends over a considerable portion of North America. It is
usually caught in traps, but is also hunted by Dogs. The hunt takes
place at night, by the light of torches. The Racoon is pursued until he
takes refuge up a tree, when the Dogs form a circle round the trunk,
and an experienced climber swarms up to the animal’s refuge, pursues
him to the end of a branch, and then, by shaking the branch, makes him
fall to the ground, when the Dogs have another turn. So active is the
Racoon, and so dangerous when roused, that this operation often has to
be repeated two or three times before he is finally caught.
The Crab-eating Racoon (_Procyon cancrivorus_) is a South American
species, differing from the foregoing chiefly in the shortness of its
fur, and its consequently slender shape. It is a far less handsome
animal than its North American relative, which it resembles very
closely both in structure and in habits.
THE COATI.[157]
The Coati is an animal of far less attractive appearance than the
Racoon. The body is proportionally longer, the limbs are short, and the
snout of a remarkable length and very pig-like: in fact, the head of a
Coati reminds one strongly of that of a small dark-coloured Pig pulled
out until the muzzle was two or three times its ordinary length. The
snout is, moreover, very flexible, and the animal perpetually turns it
about in various directions in a highly inquisitive way. The body is
somewhat over half a yard in length, the tail a little shorter.
[Illustration: COATI.]
The fur is short and of a reddish or greyish-brown colour, the muzzle
and feet are black, the tail ringed with black and brownish-yellow.
Like the Racoon, it feeds upon fruit, insects, small birds, &c., and,
like it, is a good climber. The specimens in the Zoological Gardens
are in a constant state of activity, trotting about from one end of
the cage to another, climbing over the tree trunk placed in their
prison, and turning their queer-looking snouts about ceaselessly. The
geographical range of the Coati extends from Mexico in the north to
Paraguay in the south.
THE KINKAJOU.[158]
Looking merely at the exterior of this animal, one would almost feel
inclined to place it, as some of the earlier naturalists did, among
the Lemurs: for, like them, it has a prehensile tail, one which can
be coiled around branches to help its progress, precisely like that
of a New World Monkey. It will be remembered that one member of the
Civet family, the Binturong (p. 95), presents a similar peculiarity.
But the Binturong’s tail is a comparatively imperfect organ, merely
prehensile at the tip, while that of the Kinkajou can be readily coiled
two or three times round a branch. We thus see that the same remarkable
adaptation to arboreal life which is found in the whole group of New
World Monkeys appears in one species from each of two distinct families
of Carnivores, one of which is confined to the Old World, while the
other exists only in the New World. And we shall see the same character
crop up once more, when we come to the group of pouched animals
(Marsupials), in the American Opossums. It must, of course, be clearly
understood that the possession of a prehensile tail is no sign whatever
of any relationship between the animals possessing it. It may be taken
as certain that it was produced quite separately in all the four cases
we have mentioned in relation to the habits of the animal.
[Illustration: SKULL OF KINKAJOU.]
The Kinkajou uses its paws in a wonderfully hand-like manner, and
employs both fore and hind feet to bring food to its mouth. It will
also hold a piece of bread in one hand, and break off pieces from it
with the other, and this in spite of the fact that it has no opposable
thumb, and that its fingers are short and webbed nearly to the claws.
For the rest, it is a pretty, innocent-looking little animal, with a
body about a foot long, and a tail of some eighteen inches, covered
with soft brown fur, and walking on the soles of its fore feet, while
in the hind feet the heel is well raised from the ground. The skull is
remarkable for its rounded form, and for the shortness of its facial
portion: on a superficial examination it looks almost Cat-like. It
feeds upon fruit, eggs, insects, birds, &c. It is found in Mexico,
Guatemala, and in the great forests of Peru and North Brazil.
THE CACOMIXLE.[159]
The Cacomixle, Civet, or ring-tailed Cat, as it is indifferently called
by the miners of the districts where it is found, is a puzzling little
creature, which was, until quite recently, placed in the Civet family,
and, in consequence, was looked upon as one of the chief difficulties
in the way of explaining satisfactorily the present geographical
distribution of animals, for all the other _Viverridæ_ are Old World
forms. Its true place has, however, at last been assigned to it, and
the anomaly is at an end: for, like all other members of the Racoon
family, it is confined to America, where it occurs in California,
Texas, and the higher regions of Mexico.
[Illustration: SKULL OF CACOMIXLE.]
The Cacomixle is about a yard long, two-fifths of this length being
taken up by the tail. Its fur is brown, and its tail beautifully
ringed. Its habits are entirely arboreal, and it makes a moss-lined
nest in hollow trees. It has a curious habit of gnawing the wood round
the entrance of the hole, so that hunters are able to tell whether a
hollow tree is inhabited or not, by the presence or absence of _débris_
of bark and wood at the root. It frequently trespasses into the miner’s
tent “and plunders his provision bag. When caught, as it often is,
it becomes so familiar and amusing, and does so much to relieve the
monotony of the miner’s life, that it is highly valued, and commands
quite a large price.” It is said to be a capital mouser.
[Illustration: CACOMIXLE.]
THE PANDA FAMILY.[160]
This group, which has received a most unfortunate name, as it belongs
to the _Arctoidea_ and not to the _Æluroidea_, contains only two
genera, one of which has been recently discovered, while the other has
been known for many years.
THE PANDA[161]
forms a striking object among the small Mammals. It is a really
beautiful creature, rich red chestnut in colour on the upper surface,
jet black as to the lower surface, the limbs also black, the snout
and the inside of the ears white, the tail bushy, reddish-brown in
colour, and indistinctly ringed. The fact of the under surface being
black while the upper is bright reddish-yellow is remarkable; with
most animals, when there is any difference in colour, it is the under
surface which is lighter. The body and head are about half a yard long,
the tail about a foot. The mode of progression is plantigrade, and the
large curved claws are half retractile. The main anatomical characters
are decidedly ursine, as also are the habits. Mr. Bartlett, who studied
the Panda that found a home for a time at the Zoo, states that, when
drinking, it sucked up the fluid like a Bear, instead of licking it up
as a Dog or Cat would do. When offended it would rush at Mr. Bartlett,
and strike at him with both feet, the body being raised like a Bear’s
and the claws projecting. It also, when angry, made a sharp spitting
noise; at other times it used a “weak, squeaking call-note.” On level
ground it ran in the same manner as the Weasel, Otter, and Kinkajou,
with a sort of jumping gallop, the back being kept much arched.
[Illustration: PANDA. (From the _Proceedings of the Zoological
Society_.)]
The Panda is found in the forests of the Eastern Himalayas, as well
as in Eastern Tibet. It is sometimes known as the Wah, or as the Red
Bear-Cat.
The only remaining member of this family has been discovered within
the last few years in the mountains of East Tibet, by the Abbé David,
and has been called by M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards Ailuropus. It is a
large animal, nearly white, and very Bear-like in external appearance,
although the structure of the skull and teeth shows clearly that its
nearest allies are the Panda and the Racoon.
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 true
_Mustelidæ_) containing the Gluttons, Martens, Weasels, Ferrets, and
Grisons; another (the _Melidæ_) consisting of the Badgers, Ratels, and
Skunks; and a third (the _Lutridæ_) containing the Otters.
[Illustration: 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, besides _many millions_ other
pelts (skins), the following of _Mustelidæ_:--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.”
THE GLUTTON.[164]
The Glutton, or Wolverene, the largest of the Weasel group, is found
over the greater part of the northern regions, both of the Old and New
Worlds, being especially abundant in Siberia and Kamtchatka. It attains
a length of some three feet four inches, ten inches of which go to the
tail. It has a Dog-like snout, a broad or rounded head, short ears, an
arched back, a short bushy tail, and long, dark brown or almost black
fur. A band of pale reddish-brown runs along the sides, and unites with
the corresponding band of the opposite side on the rump.
The skull is very strong and massive, and the jaws bear altogether
thirty-eight teeth. The number of the incisors, canines, and premolars
corresponds with that we have found in the Arctoids; but the molars are
reduced to one on each side in the upper, and two on each side in the
lower jaw.[165] The mode of progression is semi-plantigrade, and the
animal’s movements are, compared with those of its nearest allies, the
Martens and Weasels, slow and clumsy; unlike these, too, it is not a
good climber, although the older accounts of its customs stated that
it was in the habit of climbing trees, and dropping suddenly down upon
large animals as they passed, and then destroying them as they fled in
terror at the unexpected attack. In this, as in many other instances,
the imagination has largely been called into play to supplement what
was deficient in the actual observations of the writers. Probably
few animals have given rise to so many or such wild fables as the
Wolverene. Its name of _Glutton_ is due to the mythical account of its
habits given by an early writer, Olaus Magnus, who says: “It is wont,
when it has found the carcass of some large beast, to eat until its
belly is distended like a drum, when it rids itself of its load by
squeezing its body betwixt two trees growing near together, and again
returning to its repast, soon requires to have recourse to the same
means of relief.” It need hardly be said that this story must be taken
_cum grano salis maximo_.
[Illustration: GLUTTON.]
Besides its great strength, the Wolverene is noted for its excessive
cunning, and the two qualities combined give it a power of
destructiveness of which one would hardly expect any animal below a
schoolboy to be capable. One of its favourite tricks is to frequent the
“Marten-roads”--that is, the lines of traps for catching Martens--and
one by one to demolish the traps, and carry off either the bait or the
imprisoned animal. To make matters worse for the unlucky trapper, the
Glutton’s experience and knowledge of traps in general are so great
that he shows equal skill in avoiding these set for his own benefit
as in despoiling those meant for others; either he takes no notice
of them, or carefully pulls them to pieces, and so gets the bait and
outwits the hunter, without danger to himself. It is only in a trap
constructed with the greatest care, and disguised so as to resemble a
“câche,” or store of hidden food, that the wary beast can be caught.
Mr. Lockhart, an American writer, quoted by Dr. Coues, gives some
really charming instances of his own experience in trying to get the
better of his inveterate enemy. In one case, he had carefully buried
a Lynx’s skin in the snow, to the depth of some three feet; the snow
was arranged so as to present a perfectly undisturbed appearance, and
the Lynx’s entrails and blood were strewed about, and its carcass
left, so as to take off the scent. On returning next morning to
his beautifully-made “câche,” he found the carcass, &c., gone, but
everything else apparently just as he had left it. His joy was great,
but premature; for on digging, no skin was to be found: the Wolverene
had stolen it during the night, but had added insult to injury by
filling up the hole, and putting everything _in statu quo_.
Mr. Lockhart gives another equally astonishing instance of the
Wolverene’s ability:--“At Peel’s River, on one occasion, a very
old Carcajou [the trapper’s name for the Glutton] discovered my
Marten-road, on which I had nearly a hundred and fifty traps. I was in
the habit of visiting the line about once a fortnight; but the beast
fell into the way of coming oftener than I did, to my great annoyance
and vexation. I determined to put a stop to his thieving and his life
together, cost what it might. So I made six strong traps at as many
different points, and also set three steel traps. For three weeks I
tried my best to catch the beast, without success; and my worst enemy
would allow that I am no green hand in these matters. The animal
carefully avoided the traps set for his own benefit, and seemed to
take more delight than ever in demolishing my Marten-traps, and eating
the Martens, scattering the poles in every direction, and câching what
baits or Martens he did not devour on the spot. As we had no poison
in those days, I next set a gun on the bank of a little lake. The gun
was concealed in some low bushes, but the bait was so placed that the
Carcajou must see it on his way up the bank. I blockaded my path to
the gun with a small pine-tree, which completely hid it. On my first
visit afterwards, I found that the beast had gone up to the bait and
smelled it, but had left it untouched. He had next pulled up the
pine-tree that blocked the path, and gone around the gun and cut the
line which connected the bait with the trigger just behind the muzzle.
Then he had gone back and pulled the bait away, and carried it out on
the lake, where he laid down and devoured it at his leisure. There I
found my string. I could scarcely believe that all this had been done
designedly, for it seemed that faculties fully on a par with human
reason would be required for such an exploit, if done intentionally.
I therefore re-arranged things, tying the string where it had been
bitten. But the result was exactly the same for three successive
occasions, as I could plainly see by the footprints; and what is most
singular of all, each time the brute was careful to cut the line a
little back of where it had been tied before, as if actually reasoning
with himself that even the knots might be some new device of mine, and
therefore a source of hidden danger he would prudently avoid. I came
to the conclusion that _that_ Carcajou ought to live, as he must be
something at least human, if not worse. I gave it up, and abandoned the
road for a period.”
One very extraordinary habit of the Wolverene is shared by very few
animals except man. It is stated by Dr. Coues that, when it meets a
man, it will often, if it be to windward, approach within fifty or
sixty yards, and then, sitting calmly down on its haunches, will shade
its eyes with one fore-paw, and gaze earnestly at its enemy. This very
human action it will often repeat two or three times before attempting
to flee.
THE MARTEN.[166]
The Pine Marten is perhaps the most pleasing of the Weasel group, as
far as appearance is concerned. Its long, lithe body attains a length
of over half a yard; its tail is about a foot in length. The legs are
short, though not nearly so short as in the Weasels, and its paws have
five digits, armed with sharp claws. The snout is sharp and beset at
the sides with long vibrissæ. The skin is very beautiful, dark-brown
for the most part, lighter on the cheeks and snout, and on the throat
and under side of the neck a light yellow.
The skull is much more elongated than either a Bear’s or a Glutton’s;
the tympanic bullæ are slightly swollen, and the jugal arches, beneath
which the jaw muscles pass, are comparatively narrow and slender. As
in the Wolverene, there are thirty-eight teeth, eighteen in the upper,
twenty in the lower jaw, and the molars are thoroughly carnivorous in
character, being produced into sharp, trenchant, cutting edges.
The Pine Marten occurs over a considerable portion of Europe and Asia,
and, amongst other places, in Great Britain, where, however, it is
becoming rare. The finest specimens are said to come from Sweden.
This animal is essentially arboreal in its habits, inhabiting chiefly
thick coniferous woods, whence its name of Pine Marten is derived. In
the branches the female makes a nest of leaves or moss, and sometimes
saves herself this trouble by ejecting Squirrels or Woodpeckers, and
occupying the vacant dwellings. For its size it is, like all the
_Mustelidæ_, extremely ferocious and strong. It attacks and kills
Fawns, notwithstanding their superior size; from these down to mice,
nothing comes amiss to it, and nothing is safe from its attacks.
The Beech Marten, or Stone Marten (_Mustela foina_), differs from the
foregoing species in certain characters of the skull and teeth, as well
as in the fact that the throat is white instead of yellow. Its habits
are, on the whole, similar to those of the Pine Marten, but it is more
often found away from woods, on the sides of mountains and rocks, or
in the neighbourhood of farms. Its general distribution is the same
as that of the Pine Marten, but it is decidedly more common than the
latter in Great Britain.
THE PEKAN.[167]
The Pekan, or Pennant’s Marten, is a North American species. It is
much larger than either of the preceding, the body attaining a length
of thirty inches from snout to root of tail, while the tail itself is
about sixteen inches long. The face is more Dog-like than that of the
Common Marten; the skin is brown, becoming lighter in the front part of
the back, and presenting white patches on the chest and belly.
Like the Pine Marten, it is a good climber, but, unlike it, shows
a partiality, not for the driest parts of the wood, but for the
neighbourhood of water. Its chief food seems to be Mice, but it is also
fond of stealing the fish used to bait traps--whence it is often called
the Fisher--and Sir J. Richardson states that its favourite meal is the
Canadian Porcupine, which it kills by a bite on its unprotected belly,
and eats, notwithstanding the quills. Sometimes it is forced, by want
of better food, to eat beech-nuts.
THE SABLE.[168]
This is another species of the same genus, important from the fact that
it is the most valuable of the fur-producing animals. Its skin seems
to have been even more precious in former times than now. A writer in
the sixteenth century states that “forty of the best quality, which is
the quantity usually packed in one bale, have been sold for more than a
thousand pieces of gold.”
The Sable is found in the northern parts of Asia, being especially
abundant between the Lena and Kamstchatka. It differs markedly from the
true Martens in the form of its head, which is conical, the apex of the
cone being formed by the pointed snout, while from its base project the
pointed, and, for a _Mustela_, large ears. The legs and feet, too, are
larger and stronger than in the other species of this genus.
Sable-hunting is, naturally, a very important branch of industry, and
forms the chief occupation of many of the Siberian tribes. The work is
by no means an easy one; it entails miles of travelling in dark woods
and through heavy snow-storms; the track of the Sables may have to be
followed for long distances; and numerous traps must be skilfully set
and visited daily. With all his trouble, the hunter often finds that
“an Arctic Fox, or some other Carnivore, has eaten up the costly booty,
leaving only a few fragments, as if for the express purpose of showing
him how narrowly he has escaped earning forty, fifty, or sixty silver
roubles.”
The American Sable (_Mustela americana_), often called the Marten, is
a closely allied species. It attains a length of eighteen inches, not
including the tail, which measures about a foot more. Its capture gives
the American trapper his staple occupation. It “is ordinarily captured
in wooden traps of very simple construction made on the spot. The traps
are a little enclosure of stakes or brush, in which the bait is placed
upon a trigger, with a short upright stick, supporting a log of wood.
The animal is shut off from the bait in any but the desired direction,
and the log falls upon its victim with the slightest disturbance. A
line of such traps, several to the mile, often extends many miles. The
bait is any kind of meat, squirrel, piece of flesh, or bird’s head.
One of the greatest obstacles that the Sable-hunter has to contend
with in many localities is the persistent destruction of his traps by
the Wolverene and Pekan.... I have accounts from Hudson’s Bay trappers
of a Sable road fifty miles long, containing 150 traps, every one of
which was destroyed through the whole line twice--once by a Wolf, once
by a Wolverene. When thirty miles of the same road were given up, the
remaining forty traps were broken five or six times in succession by
the latter animal.”[169]
[Illustration: SABLE.]
THE COMMON WEASEL.[170]
The Weasel, like the remaining members of the genus _Putorius_, are
very often called “vermiform,” and a better name could scarcely be
applied to them, for anything more worm-like could hardly be imagined
in a hairy quadruped. The legs are extremely short in relation to the
body, which is attenuated in the highest degree, and almost regularly
cylindrical from one end to the other. Then the neck is of most
disproportionate length, and carries the head out so far, that the
fore legs appear as if placed quite at the hinder end of the chest,
instead of in the front of it. The head passes almost insensibly into
the neck, and the neck into the body. The head is flattened, and bears
little glittering savage-looking eyes, and small rounded ears. The
length from snout to root of tail does not exceed eight inches. The
tail is about two inches long. The fur is light reddish-brown above,
and white below; in northern latitudes the brown parts assume a much
lighter colour in winter, so that the Weasel undergoes a change of coat
similar to, but less extensive than, that undergone by the Ermine.
[Illustration: COMMON WEASEL.]
The Weasel is a good climber, and makes use of its skill in this
accomplishment to prey upon birds, their eggs, and young. Rats and
Mice are, perhaps, its staple food. Of these it makes great havoc, and
is therefore a useful hanger-on to the farm-yard, notwithstanding its
occasional depredations in the hen-roost. When it catches a Mouse or
Rat, it gives it one bite on the back of the head, piercing the most
vulnerable part of the brain, and killing instantly. Professor Thomas
Bell says:--“I have observed that when a Weasel seizes a small animal,
at the instant that the fatal bite is inflicted, it throws its long,
lithe body over its prey, so as to secure it should the first bite
fail, an accident, however, which I have never observed when a Mouse
has been the victim. The power which the Weasel has of bending the head
at right angles with the long and flexible, though powerful neck, gives
it a great advantage in this mode of seizing and killing its smaller
prey.” The first part eaten is usually the brain. The stories of the
Weasel’s blood-sucking propensities are probably false, or at any rate
grossly exaggerated.
The Weasel will pursue its prey over fields, in trees, in subterranean
burrows, or across water. Like many of the wild Cats, it kills far
more than is necessary for its support, and in pursuance of its
favourite occupation of slaughter shows an unequalled courage and
pertinacity. Its power of keeping its presence of mind under very
trying circumstances is well shown in the following anecdote related
by Bell:--A gentleman, “while riding over his grounds, 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 it was
evidently endeavouring to force some obnoxious thing from it with
its feet. After a sharp but short contest, the Kite fell suddenly to
the earth, not far from where Mr. Pindar was intently watching the
manœuvre. He 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 cut through.”
THE ERMINE.[171]
The Stoat, or Ermine, is an important species closely allied to the
Weasel, from which it differs chiefly by its greater size, and by the
peculiarities of its colouring. In summer the upper parts vary from
yellowish-brown to mahogany brown, while the under side is white tinged
with sulphur-yellow, except on the throat, which is pure white. The
tail is tipped with black. The brown upper and white under surfaces are
separated by a perfectly distinct line of demarcation, which extends
from the snout to the root of the tail, dipping down at the limbs, so
as to include the outer surfaces of the latter in the dark area. In
winter, on the other hand, the skin is, with the exception of the tip
of the tail, which always remains black, pure white, tinged here and
there with sulphur-yellow. Intermediate states between full winter
dress and full summer dress are often found, and these, curiously
enough, show their half-way character in two ways. Sometimes there is
an alteration in level of the line of demarcation between the white
and brown portions of the skin, the latter being occasionally found
restricted to a narrow strip along the back, but remaining still
without any admixture of white hairs. In other cases, again, the
line of demarcation remains unaltered, but the dark portions become
gradually lighter and lighter, until the final white dress is assumed.
As to the interesting question of the exact manner and cause of
this change, it is sometimes stated that the direct influence of
cold produces a rapid lightening in the colour of individual hairs,
while there are also facts to show that the change is not due to an
alteration in colour of existing hairs, but to a renewal of the coat,
the hairs of one colour being replaced by those of the other. Dr.
Elliott Coues, who has worked up the subject in an able and exhaustive
manner, has satisfied himself that the change may take place in either
way. Some of his specimens, “notably those taken in spring, show the
long woolly white coat of winter in most places, and in others present
patches--generally a streak along the back--of shorter, coarser,
thinner hair, evidently of the new spring coat, wholly dark-brown.
Other specimens, notably autumnal ones, demonstrate the turning to
white of existing hairs, these being white at the roots for a varying
distance, and tipped with brown. These are simple facts not open to
question. We may safely conclude that if the requisite temperature be
experienced at the periods of renewal of the coat, the new hairs will
come out of the opposite colour; if not, they will appear of the same
colour, and afterwards change; that is, the change may or may not be
coincident with shedding. That it ordinarily is not so coincident seems
shown by the greater number of specimens in which we observe white
hairs brown-tipped. As Mr. Bell contends, temperature is the immediate
controlling agent. This is amply proven in the fact that the northern
animals always change; that in those from intermediate latitudes the
change is incomplete, while those from farther south do not change at
all.” The advantage of the change to the animal is manifest; its colour
becomes that of the snow over which it travels in pursuit of game, so
that it is less easily seen and avoided. Unfortunately for it, however,
a similar “protective colouring” is adopted by some of its victims.
[Illustration: WEASEL (1) AND ERMINE (2) IN THEIR WINTER CLOTHING.]
The habits of the Stoat resemble those of the Weasel; it is dangerous
both to the sheep-fold and to the poultry-yard, but partly atones for
its poaching by the immense number of Rats and Mice it is capable of
destroying. Audubon relates that he “once placed a half-domesticated
Ermine in an outhouse infested with Rats, shutting up the holes on the
outside to prevent their escape. The little animal soon commenced its
work of destruction. The squeaking of the Rats was heard throughout the
day. In the evening it came out, licking its mouth, and seemed like
a hound after a long chase, much fatigued. A board of the floor was
raised to enable us to ascertain the result of our experiment, and an
immense number of Rats were observed, which, although they had been
killed in different parts of the building, had been dragged together,
forming a compact heap.”
Both Weasel and Ermine are found over the greater part of Northern
Europe, Asia, and America.
THE POLECAT.[172]
In form this animal does not differ very markedly from the Marten,
except for the fact that its head is broader, its snout blunter, and
its tail very much shorter: the latter being about five and a half
inches, while the head and body together are nearly a foot and a half
long. The neck is considerably shorter, and the body stouter than
in the Weasel and Stoat. The fur is made up of hairs of two kinds,
the shorter woolly and of a yellowish colour, the longer black or
brownish-black and shining. One of its most marked characters is its
horrible stench. This is produced, like the scent of the Civets, in a
pair of glands near the root of the tail, which secrete a yellowish
creamy substance of the most fetid character.
[Illustration: SKULL OF POLECAT. (_After Coues._)]
The Polecat is also known as the Fitchet (Fitchew of Shakspere),
Foumart, or Foulimart: the latter names are said to be a contraction of
“Foul Marten,” thus distinguishing it from the Common or Sweet Marten,
which is a comparatively inodorous animal. The name Polecat is probably
a contraction of Polish Cat.
The Polecat is perhaps even more destructive than the other Mustelidæ,
and is certainly a far greater plague to the farmer. Its ravage
among Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges is immense, and if once it gets
unobserved into a poultry-yard, the fate of a very considerable
number of the inmates is sealed, as it possesses in a high degree
the family love of slaughter for slaughter’s sake. It has been known
to kill as many as sixteen Turkeys in a single night; and, indeed,
it seems a point of honour with this bloodthirsty little creature to
kill everything it can overpower, and to leave no survivors on its
battlefields. It has, too, an unfortunate liking for eggs, as well
as for game and poultry, and in this way alone does great harm to
preserves. There are also many accounts of its fondness of fish; Bell
also quotes an instance in which a female Polecat was pursued to her
nest, and was found to have laid up, in a side hole, a store of food,
consisting of forty Frogs and two Toads, all of which she had skilfully
“pithed,” that is, bitten through the brain, so that, although
retaining a certain amount of vitality, they were effectually prevented
from running away!
[Illustration: 1. POLECAT. 2. FERRET.]
The Polecat is found throughout Northern Europe, not extending
southwards into the warmer parts of the Continent, but being quite at
home in snow-covered regions. It is essentially, like the Marten, a
sub-arctic and temperate animal.
THE FERRET.[173]
This is a domesticated variety of the genus _Putorius_, of African
origin. It shows its Southern nature by being, unlike the Polecat,
unable to endure great cold; even an English winter is enough to kill
it if not properly housed. It is an interesting animal, zoologically,
from the fact that it is a true-breeding Albino, having the white fur
and pink eyes of that peculiar “sport.” It is a little smaller than the
Polecat, with which it will breed with perfect readiness, producing
hybrids intermediate in character between the two parent species.
Ferrets are much used, both in Britain and America, chiefly for killing
Rats and for driving Rabbits out of their burrows. For the latter
function the Ferret is muzzled, to prevent its killing the Rabbit in
the burrow; the latter is either netted or killed immediately, as soon
as it is driven out. The Ferret is also frequently employed to kill
fowls for the table. Its particularly neat method of slaughtering by
one bite in the neck is much admired by Ferret-fanciers, who make quite
a pet of the animal. It, however, never shows the slightest affection
for its master, and has usually to be confined: the necessity of this
is shown in an instance, quoted by Bell, in which a child was attacked
in its cradle, and only rescued after the veins of its neck had been
severed, its face, neck, and arms lacerated, and its eyes so injured
that the sight of one of them was permanently lost.
THE MINK.[174]
This important fur-producing animal is found in the northern parts of
both hemispheres under various specific forms, the most important of
which are the European Mink (_P. lutreola_) and the American Mink (_P.
vison_). Although most nearly allied to the Stoats and Weasels, it
shows a certain resemblance to the Martens in its larger and stouter
body, which attains a length of from fifteen to eighteen inches, the
tail being about seven or eight inches long, and bushy at the tip. Like
most of its allies, it has two kinds of fur--“a soft matted under fur,
mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs.” The colour varies from dull
yellowish-brown to dark chocolate-brown; the upper lip is usually white
in the European, dark in the American species. The scent-glands are
well developed, and their secretion is second only in offensiveness to
that of the Skunk.
The habits of the Mink differ altogether from those of the other
species of the genus. As Dr. Coues observes, “It is to the water what
the other Weasels are to the land, or the Martens to the trees. It is
as essentially aquatic in its habits as the Otter, Beaver, or Musk Rat,
and spends, perhaps, more of its time in the water than it does on
land. In adaptation to this mode of life, the pelage has that peculiar
glossiness of the longer bristly hairs and felting of the close under
fur which best resists the water.” It feeds chiefly upon aquatic or
amphibious animals, such as fish, frogs, crayfish, molluscs, and the
like, but also preys largely upon the smaller Mammals. It is stated
that it is not an indiscriminate slaughterer, but kills only what is
necessary for its actual wants.
In America the Mink has been regularly domesticated and trained as
a Rat-catcher, like the Ferret. “Minkeries” have been established
in connection with farm-yards, and have proved in more than one
instance eminently successful. The animals soon allow themselves to be
handled, and besides becoming good Ratters, bring their owner a very
considerable profit by their fur, for which alone it is well worth
while to breed them, as the expense of keeping them is trifling.
THE GRISON.[175]
This is a Weasel-like animal, found only in South America, and
distinguished from its nearest relations, the Martens and Weasels,
by the fact that the colour of the upper is lighter than that of the
lower surface of its body, the former being grey, the latter dark
brown. Its whole length is rather under a yard; of this not more than
a third is taken up by the tail. It is found in plantations and in the
neighbourhood of buildings, and makes its abode in hollow trees, clefts
in rocks, and holes in the earth.
As to its disposition, some notion may be gained from a tale told by
Bell of a tame specimen in his possession. He says that it “was very
fond of Frogs, but these were not the only animals which were obnoxious
to its voracity. On one occasion, in the winter, I had placed it in its
cage, in a room with a fire, where I had also two young Alligators,
which in general were stupidly tame. On going into the room in the
morning, I found the Grison at large, and one of the Alligators dead,
with a hole eaten under the fore-leg, where the great nerves and
blood-vessels were torn through; and the other Alligator began snapping
furiously at every one who attempted to approach it.”
[Illustration: GRISON.]
THE TAYRA.[176]
This animal may be considered without exaggeration to be one of the
ugliest in the whole Carnivorous order. It is not unlike the Marten
in shape, but of a dark brown colour, and with a low, villainous, and
almost debauched expression of face. The head and body together attain
a length of rather more, the tail of rather less, than half a yard. The
colour of the pelage is dark blackish-brown, becoming lighter on the
head and neck, on the under surface of which there is a yellowish spot.
It is found, like the Grison, in South America, where it extends from
Brazil and British Guiana in the north to Paraguay in the south.
It lives in forests, preying upon small mammals and birds, and does
its hunting chiefly in the morning, starting for work at sunrise, and
returning about midday.
THE RATEL.[177]
This animal, sometimes known as the Honey Badger, is one of the
exceptional animals whose colour is lighter above than below. Its
stiff, wiry hair is ashy-grey on the upper surface, while on the
under surface, the muzzle, limbs, and tail are black. The line of
demarcation between the grey and black is so sharp, that the animal
has the appearance of being really black, but covered, as to its back,
with a grey cloak. It is about three-quarters of a yard long, the tail
taking up about a sixth of the length. In the matter of teeth it is
interesting, as its molars are reduced to one on each side in each jaw:
a reduction equal to that found in the Cats.
It is said to live largely on Bees, and to show a great amount of skill
in tracking to their nest the insects which it observes on the wing.
Sparrmann states that it seats itself on a hillock to look out for the
Bees, and shades its eyes with one fore-paw against the rays of the
setting sun.
[Illustration: RATEL.]
It is a stupid animal, very sleepy during the day, and issuing from its
burrows at sunset to seek for the birds, tortoises, insects, and worms
on which it feeds. It is very tenacious of life, and is well protected
from attacks by the thickness and looseness of its skin, and the thick
subcutaneous layer of fat. It also possesses an additional means, if
not of defence, at least of offence, in its tail glands, the secretion
of which is very strong and pungent as to its odour. It is still
further advantaged by its burrowing powers; it will scratch up a hole,
and disappear into it in an incredibly short space of time.
The Ratels in the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park (where the habits
of all the animals will repay the study of the most casual observer)
exhibit a remarkable peculiarity. We have very frequently watched one
of them run round and round his cage in the usual purposeless manner
of captive animals, but with this peculiarity: when he reached a
particular corner of the den, he quietly, and without effort, turned
over head and heels, and then went on again. On one occasion, after he
had been doing this with great regularity for some rounds, he seemed to
become abstracted, and passed the usual spot without the somersault.
When, however, he had proceeded a few paces, he recollected himself,
stopped for a moment, returned to the exact place, turned over as
usual, and proceeded without further let or hindrance.
There are two species of Ratel, one, the Cape Ratel (_Mellivora
capensis_), occurs in South Africa, the other, or Indian Ratel (_M.
indica_), being found in India.
THE COMMON BADGER.[178]
The Badger is the largest of the indigenous Carnivora of Great Britain;
for although the length of its body is not quite equal to that of the
Fox, in bulk it far exceeds the slender and active Reynard. It is,
indeed, a heavy and somewhat clumsy animal, long and stout-bodied, and
short-legged, with a tapering and mobile snout, and a short scrubby
tail. The long hair is of three colours: black, white, and reddish, the
mingling of the three producing a varying grey hue. The head is white,
except for a black band on each side, which commences a little behind
the nose, and extends backwards, including the eye and ear, the tip of
the latter being, however, white. The lower parts of the body and the
legs are black, the tail grey. The length of the body from snout to
root of tail is about two feet three inches; that of the tail, seven
inches and a half.
It is fond of retired places, such as sheltered woods, and in them
it makes for itself a large burrow or earth “which has but a single
entrance from without, but afterwards divides into different chambers,
and terminates in a round apartment at the bottom, which is well lined
with dry grass and hay.” The Badger is consequently a very skilful
digger, and for this purpose is possessed of strong curved claws. Its
diet is completely mixed: it eats roots, fruit, eggs, small mammals,
frogs, insects, &c. It is quite susceptible of domestication, and is
said to show a vast amount of affection and good temper. As to its
habits, we cannot do better than quote an excellent account of some
half-domesticated Badgers given in a letter to _The Times_ by Mr.
Alfred Ellis, of Loughborough:--“About ten years since, the Badger
was established here, but it was not until the third attempt that my
efforts prospered. The Badgers then introduced, or their successors,
have bred every year, and as not more than one pair remain in permanent
occupation it is probable that there are many more of these animals
in this country than is generally supposed; but their shyness, their
colour, and the short time they require to obtain their food, and
the recesses of the woods in which they delight to dwell, make it no
easy task to study their life and habits. The deep earth in which our
Badgers live is only fifty yards from the window at which I write.
The building of this house two years ago did not disturb them, and
they have shown an increasing confidence and trust. The Badger breeds
later than the Fox, and it was the middle of March this year before
the preparations for the coming family were made. These consisted in
cleaning out the winter bed, and replacing it by a quantity of dry
fern and grass, so great that it would seem impossible the earth could
receive it. In June the first young Badger appeared at the mouth of the
earth, and was soon followed by three others, and then by their mother.
After this, they continued to show every evening, and soon learnt to
take the food prepared for them. The young are now almost full grown,
and, forgetting their natural timidity, will feed so near that I have
placed my hand on the back of one of them. The old ones are more wary,
but often feed with their family, though at a more cautious distance.
Their hearing and sense are most acute, and it is curious to see them
watch, with lifted head and ears erect, then, if all is quiet, search
the ground for a raisin or a date. But the least strange sight or sound
alarms them, and they rush headlong to earth with amazing speed.
“The Badger, like the Bear, treads upon the whole heel, and its walk
closely resembles that animal. They caress each other in the same
grotesque manner while they gambol and play, and at times they utter
a cry so loud as to startle any one ignorant of its source. It is
not unlike the chatter of the Stoat, but many times louder. On fine
evenings we can watch them dress their fur-like coats, or do kind
offices for each other, and search for parasites after the manner of
Monkeys. No creature is more cleanly in its habits. Over their earth
hangs a birch-tree, from which grows a horizontal bough eighteen inches
from the ground. On this they scrape their feet in dirty weather, and
keep their house inodorous by depositing their excrement at one place
for many months and covering it with earth. The hibernation of the
Badger is not like that of the Hedgehog--continuous and complete--but
is irregular, and is probably influenced by the character of the
winter. I have known the mouth of the earth covered with a coat of snow
for fourteen days, and it might have been much longer before they came
forth, while they may sometimes be tracked in a thin snow for a long
distance.”
[Illustration: BADGER.]
“As the winter approaches, the old bedding is replaced by dry fern and
grass, raked together by their powerful claws. This is often left to
wither in little heaps till dry enough for their purpose. Partially
concealed, I have watched a Badger gathering fern and using a force in
its collection quite surprising.
“Bell, in his ‘Quadrupeds’ quotes Buffon as stating that Badgers are
fond of Wasps’ nests. This is true, for, like the Bear, they love honey
and sweet food. I once heard a pair of Badgers fighting, and crept upon
the ground until within a few yards of the angry conflict, but the
bracken hid them from view. Next morning I visited the place. A Wasps’
nest had been stormed and eaten; very little of the comb remained, and
not a dozen homeless Wasps. That summer I myself saw the wrecks of
seven Wasps’ nests taken by the Badgers in one field, and this autumn
they are digging out every one they can find.
“The Badger and the Fox are not unfriendly, and last spring a litter of
cubs was brought forth very near the Badgers; but their mother removed
them after they had grown familiar, as she probably thought they were
showing themselves more than was prudent.”[179]
Although far from common, the Badger is found in many parts of Great
Britain and on the Continent. Closely allied species occur over a great
part of Northern Europe and Asia.
In former times it was in great requisition for the so-called sport of
“Badger-baiting,” in which charming and refined amusement the unhappy
animal was put into a barrel and attacked by an unlimited number of
Dogs, amongst whom it was often able to do considerable execution,
thanks to its sharp teeth and powerful jaws.
THE AMERICAN BADGER.[180]
The distinction between this species and the European Badger consists
chiefly in the shorter and more hairy character of the snout, and in
the fact that the body is of a uniform whitish hue, sometimes shaded
with grey or tawny. The body and head together are about twenty-four
inches long, the tail six inches. It is found throughout the greater
part of North America.
In its shyness, its general mode of life, and its habits, it differs
but slightly from the Common Badger. Although in many parts it is
so numerous that its burrows form a very serious obstacle to the
traveller, yet it is a comparatively rare thing to see a specimen, so
immediately does it retire to its strongholds on the first intimation
of man’s approach. It can, however, be trapped without much difficulty,
and thousands are caught in this way every year. In 1873 the Hudson’s
Bay Company sold 2,700 in London alone. Dr. Coues quotes an interesting
account of the habits of a captive Badger. He says:--“In running, his
fore-feet crossed each other, and his body nearly touched the ground.
The heel did not press on the ground like that of the Bear, but was
only slightly elevated above it.... We have never seen any animal that
could exceed him in digging. He would fall to work with his strong
feet and long nails, and in a minute bury himself in the earth, and
would very soon advance to the end of a chain ten feet in length. In
digging, the hind as well as the fore-feet were at work, the latter for
the purpose of excavating, and the former (like paddles) for expelling
the earth out of the hole; and nothing seemed to delight him more than
burrowing in the ground. He seemed never to become weary of this kind
of amusement; and when he had advanced to the end of his chain he would
return and commence a fresh gallery near the mouth of his first hole.
Thus he would be occupied for hours, and it has been necessary to drag
him away by main force. He lived on good terms with the Racoon, Grey
Fox, Prairie Wolf, and a dozen other species of animals. He was said to
be active and playful at night, but he seemed rather dull during the
day, usually lying rolled up like a ball, with his head under his body
for hours at a time.”
THE TELEDU.[181]
This animal, sometimes called the “stinking Badger,” is found only
in Java and Sumatra, and in those islands only on mountains having
an elevation of more than 7,000 feet above the sea. It is a little
more than a foot long; has a pig-like head, a stout body, very short
legs, and a stumpy tail, not more than an inch long. The feet are
plantigrade. It is of a dark brown colour, with the exception of a
white band running along its back. But one of its chief characteristics
is its power of ejecting, from its tail-glands, a volatile fluid, the
odour of which is said to be even as bad as that of the Skunk.
The Teledu lives in burrows during the day, and comes out at night to
seek its food, which consists chiefly of earth-worms, insects, and
their larvæ.
THE CAPE ZORILLA.[182]
An ally both of the Skunks and Badgers, the Zorilla may be said to take
the place of the former animals in Africa, through the whole of which
continent it extends, reaching also into Asia Minor. The body, which
attains a length of about a foot, is moderately stout, of a shining
black ground-colour, and marked with white bands and spots. The snout
is elongated like that of the South American Skunk (_vide infra_); the
tail is bushy, about eight or nine inches long, and striped or spotted.
The Zorilla lives upon small mammals, birds, and their eggs, as well
as amphibia and crustacea. It is a determined enemy to poultry, and
entails great loss to the inhabitants of the districts where it
is found, but is often tamed, and used to catch Rats and Mice. In
the matter of scent, the secretion in its tail-glands is worthy of
comparison with that of the Skunk itself.
An allied form is the Indian genus _Helictis_, a Weasel-like animal
with a long body, and of a grey-brown colour, white underneath, and
marked along the back with a white stripe. The tail is long and bushy.
This animal is found from Nepaul to Java in the south, and Formosa in
the east.
THE COMMON SKUNK.[183]
This notorious American species is a stoutly-built animal, with short
legs, a long conical head with a truncated snout, and a long bushy
tail. The general colour of the fur is black, or nearly so, but on
the forehead there is a white streak, and on the neck a white patch,
from which two broad bands of the same hue proceed backwards along the
upper surface of the body. The length from tip of snout to root of
tail is something over a foot; the tail itself is less than a foot in
length. The general appearance of the animal is decidedly Badger-like;
it has, in fact, a good deal of resemblance both to the Ratel and to
the Teledu. As in the Weasel, Ermine, and Polecat, there is one molar
on each side of the upper, two on each side the lower jaw; altogether
there are thirty-four teeth. It occurs throughout the whole of the
temperate portion of North America.
We have mentioned that several of the Weasel family enjoy the
distinction of being able to eject a foul-smelling fluid from glands at
the root of the tail. In this accomplishment the Skunk is the undoubted
chief. It can eject its perfume to a considerable distance, and with
unerring aim: and the smell! The “odour of mingled guano and Polecat,”
which, according to Mr. Kingsley, distinguishes the ancient Cornish
dainty squab-pie, is simply nothing in comparison with the horrible
stench emitted by this little animal. It is so durable, that the spot
where a Skunk has been killed will often retain the scent for days, or
even weeks; indeed, Audubon relates that at one place where a Skunk
had been killed in the autumn, the odour was quite perceptible in
the following spring after the snow had melted. Clothes defiled with
the secretion cannot be thoroughly cleansed by any ordinary means:
for even if the scent seems to have disappeared, it will make itself
evident every time the wearer goes near a fire, or into the sun.
Notwithstanding this, furriers have found out a way for effectually
purifying Skunk-skins, which are now a good deal used as furs. In
Britain, where the Skunk is not known in the flesh, these furs are
called by their right names, but in America, where the inhabitants do
not enjoy the same blissful ignorance of this noxious beast, they are
dignified with the appellation of “Alaska sable.”
[Illustration: SKUNK.]
But the scent of the secretion is not its worst feature. Sir John
Richardson quotes Mr. Graham as saying “that he knew several Indians
who lost their eyesight in consequence of inflammation, produced
by this fluid having been thrown into them by the animal,” and
continues, “I have known a dead Skunk, thrown over the stockades of a
trading-port, produce instant nausea in several women, in a house with
closed doors, upwards of a hundred yards distant.” Dogs often suffer
from inflammation of the eyes after being squirted with the fluid, and
appear to be almost distracted with the pain. Curiously enough, the
secretion has been recommended as a cure for asthma. “The story is told
of an asthmatic clergyman who procured the glands of a Skunk, which he
kept tightly corked in a smelling-bottle, to be applied to his nose
when his symptoms appeared. He believed he had discovered a specific
for his distressing malady, and rejoiced thereat; but on one occasion
he uncorked his bottle in the pulpit, and drove his congregation out of
church.”[184]
The efficacy of the secretion as a defensive weapon for the not
otherwise formidable animal is greatly enhanced by the distance to
which it can be ejected. This is probably as much as twelve or fourteen
feet, while the smell itself can be perceived for a comparatively
immense distance.
Besides its perfume, the Skunk has yet another claim to careful
avoidance: its bite has been known in many cases to produce
hydrophobia, in a form quite indistinguishable, according to an
American surgeon, Dr. Janeway, from that induced by the bite of a rabid
Dog.
An allied species, the Little Striped Skunk,[185] is less than a
foot long, and the tail is shorter than the body. The fur is black,
and marked with numerous white stripes and spots. It is found in the
southern part of the United States, and is said to be readily capable
of domestication, proving very serviceable as a Mouser. Of course,
under these circumstances, the glands are removed while the animal is
young.
The White-backed Skunk[186] is the South American form of the genus.
It occurs throughout that Continent as well as in Mexico and the
south-western portions of the United States. It is much larger than the
northern species, attaining a length of from eighteen inches to two
feet, and is further distinguished by its short white tail, which does
not exceed nine or ten inches in length, its pig-like snout projecting
a full inch beyond the mouth, and its white back sometimes marked by a
median black stripe. The rest of the fur is, as usual, black.
Our friend, Mr. Purdie, whose acquaintance with the Skunk in South
America has been of the most practical kind, assures us that when about
to discharge its secretion, the animal invariably faces round, so as
to look its enemy full in the face, throws its tail over its back,
and allows the breeze to carry the fluid in the desired direction.
This method of discharge seems highly unaccountable, and difficult to
reconcile with the anatomical facts; but it would be certainly going
too far to say that it is impossible. Dr. Coues, who has repeatedly
observed the North American Skunk, states that the animal invariably
turns its back to its intended victim.
THE COMMON OTTER.[187]
[Illustration: UNDER VIEW OF SKULL OF COMMON OTTER. (_After
Coues._)]
We now come to the most thoroughly aquatic of the Fissipedia, the
sub-family of Otters, animals which, although quite capable of active
and unembarrassed movement on land, are yet thoroughly at home only in
the water. In accordance with this mode of life, the toes are webbed,
and provided with very short claws, and the tail is long, tapering,
and flattened, so as to serve the precise purpose of the corresponding
appendage in a fish. The length of the head and body is about two
feet, that of the tail, one foot five inches. The fur is of a soft
brown colour, becoming lighter on the under side of the throat and
the breast, and consists of long, coarse, shining hairs, with a short
under-fur of fine texture, well calculated to preserve equality of
temperature as the animal resorts alternately to land or water. The
skull is greatly elongated, and flattened from above downwards; the
facial part of it is small, as compared with the brain-containing or
cranial part. The region of the skull between the eyes is very narrow,
and its floor is wide and thin. In all these points, save the first
mentioned, the skull of the Otter approaches that of the Seal. As
to the teeth, there is one premolar less on each side of the lower
jaw than in the Martens,[188] and both molars and premolars have
sharp-pointed cusps, quite like those of the other _Mustelidæ_.
[Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF SKULL OF COMMON OTTER. (_After
Coues._)]
The habits of the Otter are so entirely aquatic, that in the good
old times it was thought to be a sort of cross between a beast and a
fish, just as the Bat was thought to be intermediate between a beast
and a bird. So deeply rooted was this opinion that the Otter’s flesh
was considered quite fishy enough to be eaten by devout Catholics on
fast days. To this Izaak Walton alludes in a well-known passage in his
“Complete Angler.”
“_Piscator._ ‘I pray, honest huntsman, let me ask you a pleasant
question: do you hunt a beast or a fish?’
“_Huntsman._ ‘Sir, it is not in my power to resolve you; I leave it
to be resolved by the College of Carthusians, who have made vows
never to eat flesh. But I have heard the question hath been debated
among many great clerks, and they seem to differ about it, yet most
agree that her tail is fish; and if her body be fish too, then I
may say that a fish will walk upon land.’”
The movements of the Otters in water are marvellous. They swim about in
families, performing the most astonishing pranks, from mere exuberance
of spirits and excess of energy. Nothing can give a better idea of
their activity, than the description of them in that most delightful of
natural history books and fairy tales, “Water Babies.”
“Suddenly Tom heard the strangest noise up the stream; cooing, and
grunting, and whining, and squeaking, as if you had put into a bag two
Stock Doves, nine Mice, three Guinea-pigs, and a blind puppy, and left
them there to settle themselves and make music. He looked up the water,
and there he saw a sight as strange as the noise; a great ball rolling
over and over down the stream, seeming one moment of soft brown fur,
and the next of shining glass: and yet it was not a ball; for sometimes
it broke up and streamed away in pieces, and then it joined again; and
all the while the noise came out of it louder and louder.
“Tom asked the Dragon-fly what it could be: but, of course, with his
short sight, he could not even see it, though it was not ten yards
away. So he took the neatest little header into the water, and started
off to see for himself; and, when he came near, the ball turned out
to be four or five beautiful creatures, many times larger than Tom,
who were swimming about, and rolling, and diving, and twisting, and
wrestling, and cuddling, and kissing, and biting, and scratching,
in the most charming fashion that ever was seen. And if you don’t
believe me, you may go to the Zoological Gardens (for I am afraid
that you won’t see it nearer, unless, perhaps, you get up at five in
the morning, and go down to Cordery’s Moor, and watch by the great
withy pollard which hangs over the back-water, where the Otters breed
sometimes), and then say, if Otters at play in the water are not the
merriest, lithest, gracefullest creatures you ever saw.”
The Otter makes a sort of nest in hollows in the banks of the river
in which it lives, but does not, as is sometimes stated, construct
complicated burrows: its claws, indeed, are too weak for any such work.
It usually confines itself to rivers, but is sometimes found on the
sea-shore.
Otter hunting was formerly a very favourite sport. It was conducted
with a special breed of Dogs--the Otter-hound--(see p. 141), and the
spear was used for killing the animal when brought to bay.
Otters are quite capable of domestication, and may be taught to catch
fish for their masters. For this purpose they must be caught young,
and gradually brought to live upon bread and milk. When this end is
attained, they are taught to fetch and carry, like a Dog--first sticks,
&c., then a stuffed fish, then a dead one. When this part of their
education is perfect, and they make no attempt to mangle the fish given
to them, they are sent into the water to catch living fish. Otters
are trained for this purpose in India, and also in China, where they
are used by the fishermen of the Yang-tse-kiang. Mr. J. Thomson[189]
says:--“We noticed men fishing with trained Otters in this part of the
river. There were a number of boats, and each boat was furnished with
an Otter tied to a cord. The animal was thrust into the water, and
remained there until it had caught a fish; then it was hauled up, and
the fisherman, placing his foot upon its tail, stamped vigorously until
it had dropped its finny prey.”
There is one peculiar habit of the Canadian Otter[190] which is worthy
of mention. “Their favourite sport is sliding, and for this purpose
in winter the highest ridge of snow is selected, to the top of which
the Otters scramble, when, lying on the belly, with the fore-feet
backwards, they give themselves an impulse with their hindlegs, and
swiftly glide head foremost down the declivity, sometimes for the
distance of twenty yards. This sport they continue apparently with the
keenest enjoyment until fatigue or hunger induces them to desist.”
[Illustration: COMMON OTTERS.]
In the Margined-tailed Otter[191] the skull characters, which we have
mentioned as distinctive of Otters, especially the narrowness of the
region between the eyes, and the shortness of the nasal region, are
so exaggerated, that the animal approaches towards the Sea Otter, of
which we shall speak next. The Margined-tailed Otter, which is found in
Brazil and Surinam, derives its name from a longitudinal ridge on each
side of its conical tail. The fur is of a bright bay-brown colour, both
above and below.
THE SEA OTTER.[192]
[Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF SKULL OF SEA OTTER. (_After
Coues._)]
This interesting animal differs in many important respects from
the Common Otter, and in all such points shows an approximation to
the structure of the Seals. It is a large animal, about three feet
long, not counting the tail, which is about a foot more. Its fur is
dark brown, both on the upper and lower surfaces, and presents a
frosted or silvered appearance, owing to the fact that the long stiff
hairs, which differ greatly from those of the under-fur, are grey or
colourless at the tip. The head is very short, the snout naked; the
eyes extremely small, and placed low down on the sides of the head,
and the whiskers are short, but stout and stiff, and mostly directed
downwards; altogether there is something very Seal-like about the face.
The fore-limbs and feet are small, the paws rather Cat-like in their
rounded form, and the claws are quite hidden by the hair. The hind
feet, on the other hand, are flat and expanded, being no less than six
inches long by four broad, and webbed like a Duck’s feet, or a Seal’s
flippers; they differ, however, from the Seal’s, in the fact that the
toes increase in length from the inner to the outer side; both above
and below they are covered with dense fur, which quite hides the short,
stout claws. The skull is, both in its cranial and facial portions,
much shorter in comparison with its width than in the ordinary Otters;
its base is extremely broad, and both upper and lower jaws bear on each
side only eight teeth, so that there are altogether thirty-two teeth,
or four less than in the Common Otter.[193] This diminution in number
is brought about, as will be seen from the formula below, by reducing
the upper premolars from four to three, and the lower incisors from
three to two on each side. The form of the grinders differs altogether
from what we have found, not only in the Mustelidæ, but in all the Land
Carnivores. Their grinding surfaces present no sharp cusps, or jagged
cutting edges, as in most Carnivorous forms; neither are they provided
with numerous small tubercles and ridges, as in the Bears; but the
surface of each is raised into a small number of rounded eminences,
reminding one of the “roches moutonnées” of a glacial district, or, as
Dr. Coues remarks, differing from the teeth of ordinary Carnivores, as
water-worn pebbles differ from fresh-chipped angular pieces of rock.
[Illustration: UNDER VIEW OF SKULL OF SEA OTTER. (_After
Coues._)]
The Sea Otter is found in the North Pacific, chiefly in the regions of
Kamstchatka and Alaska, and extends as far south as California.
Like the Seal, the Sea Otter is gregarious, being often found “in bands
numbering from fifty up to hundreds. When in rapid movement, they make
alternate undulating leaps out of the water, plunging again as do
Seals and Porpoises. When in a state of quietude, they are much of the
time on their backs. They are frequently seen in this posture, with
the hind flippers extended, as if catching the breeze to sail or drift
before it. They live on Clams, as well as Crabs and other species of
Crustacea; sometimes small fish. When the Otter descends and brings up
any article of food, it instantly resumes its habitual attitude on the
back to devour it. On sunny days, when looking, it sometimes shades its
eyes with one fore paw, much in the same manner as a person does with
the hand.”[194] This curious habit, as we have seen, is adopted also
by the Glutton. The supine position is so habitual that the females
actually sleep in the water on their backs, with the young ones clasped
between their fore paws. While in this position, too, the Otter will
toss a piece of sea-weed backwards and forwards from paw to paw, like a
ball, and the mother play with her offspring for hours together.
The fur is very valuable, and the animal is consequently hunted
regularly; so regularly, that there is every possibility of the species
becoming speedily extinct unless some check is put upon the chase. For
taking some action in the matter, there is the further reason that the
natives of the Aleutian Isles, the chief resort of the animal, are
dependent on its hunting for their subsistence, and it has been shown
that the people have diminished in numbers coincidently with the Otters.
“There are four principal methods of capturing the Sea Otter, namely,
by _surf-shooting_, by _spearing-surrounds_, by _clubbing_, and by
_nets_.”
[Illustration: FEMALE SEA OTTER SWIMMING ON HER BACK WITH YOUNG IN
HER ARMS. (_After Steller._)]
“The surf-shooting is the common method, but has only been in vogue
among the natives a short time. The young men have nearly all been
supplied with rifles, with which they patrol the shores of the island
and inlets, and whenever a Sea Otter’s head is seen in the surf, a
thousand yards out even, they fire, the great distance and the noise of
the surf preventing the Sea Otter from taking alarm until it is hit;
and in nine times out of ten, when it is hit in the head, which is all
that is exposed, the shot is fatal, and the hunter waits until the surf
brings his quarry in, if it is too rough for him to venture out in his
‘bidarkie.’ This shooting is kept up now the whole year round.
“The spearing-surround is the orthodox native system of capture, and
reflects the highest credit upon them as bold, hardy watermen. A party
of fifteen or twenty bidarkies with two men in each, as a rule, all
under the control of a chief elected by common consent, start out in
pleasant weather, or when it is not too rough, and spread themselves
over a long line, slowly paddling over the waters where the Sea Otters
are most usually found. When any one of them discovers an Otter asleep,
most likely, in the water, he makes a quiet signal, and there is not a
word spoken or a paddle splashed while they are on the hunt. He darts
towards the animal, but generally the alarm is taken by the sensitive
object, which instantly dives before the Aleut can get near enough to
throw his spear. The hunter, however, keeps right on, and stops his
canoe directly over the spot where the Otter disappeared. The others,
taking note of the position, all deploy and scatter in a circle of
half a mile wide round the point of departure thus made, and patiently
wait for the re-appearance of the Otter, which must take place within
fifteen or thirty minutes, for breath; and as soon as this happens the
nearest one to it darts forward in the same manner as his predecessor,
when all hands shout and throw their spears, to make the animal dive
again as quickly as possible, thus giving it scarcely an instant to
recover itself. A sentry is placed on its second diving-wake as before,
and the circle is drawn anew; and the surprise is often repeated,
sometimes for two or three hours, until the Sea Otter, from interrupted
respiration, becomes so filled with air or gases that he cannot sink,
and becomes at once an easy victim.
“The clubbing is only done in the winter season, and then at infrequent
intervals, which occur when tremendous gales of wind from the
northward, sweeping down over Saanach, have almost blown themselves
out. The natives, the very boldest of them, set out from Saanach, and
scud down on the tail of the gale to the far outlying rocks, just
sticking out above surf-wash, where they creep up from the leeward to
the Sea Otters found there at such times, with their heads stuck into
the beds of kelp to avoid the wind. The noise of the gale is greater
than that made by the stealthy movements of the hunters, who, armed
with a short, heavy, wooden club, dispatch the animals one after
another without disturbing the whole body, and in this way two Aleuts,
brothers, were known to have slain seventy-eight in less than an hour
and a half.”
[Illustration: SEA OTTER.]
The nets used by the Atka and Attore Aleuts “are from sixteen to
eighteen feet long, and six to ten feet wide, with coarse meshes made
nowadays of twine, but formerly of sinew. On the kelp-beds these nets
are spread out, and the natives withdraw and watch. The Otters come
to sleep or rest on these places, and get entangled in the meshes of
the nets, seeming to make little or no effort to escape, paralysed, as
it were, by fear, and fall in this way easily into the hands of the
trappers, who have caught as many as six at one time in one of these
small nets, and frequently get three.... No injury whatever is done to
these frail nets by the Sea Otters, strong animals as they are; only
stray Sea Lions destroy them.... The salt water and kelp seem to act as
a disinfectant to the net, so that the smell of it does not repel or
alarm the shy animal.”[195]
GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE LAND CARNIVORA, RECENT AND FOSSIL.
From very obvious reasons we have been compelled to describe the
various forms of Land Carnivora of which we have been able to take
account, one by one, beginning with Cats, and ending with the
Otters. But the reader will already have discovered that a linear
arrangement like this gives no true conception of the relations
existing between the various families of which the sub-order is
composed, or of the various genera which are included in the families.
For cross-relationships of the most puzzling and often complicated
description are perpetually turning up: among the Æluroids, for
instance, we found Cryptoprocta to be intermediate between Cats and
Civets, and yet, if we had followed the order indicated by this
relationship, we should have had to ignore the close connection between
Cats and Hyænas, and that between Hyænas and Civets, through the
intermediation of the Aard Wolf.
It is necessary, then, to devise some method of writing down the
names of the families, other than that of placing them one under the
other, if we are to get anything like a clear notion of their mutual
relationships. The method adopted by Professor Flower is perhaps the
most convenient, and following him, we arrange the groups thus:--
FELIDÆ. HYÆNIDÆ. URSIDÆ.
CRYPTOPROCTIDÆ. PROTELIDÆ. CANIDÆ. PROCYONIDÆ. AILURIDÆ.
VIVERRIDÆ. MUSTELIDÆ.
In this scheme we see an expression of the fact that the Dogs
(_Canidæ_) form a central group, from which the families of the
Æluroidea--those to the left--diverge in one direction, and the
families of the Arctoidea--those to the right--in the other direction.
The Civets (_Viverridæ_) and the Weasel family (_Mustelidæ_), being
the least modified of the Æluroid and Arctoid sections respectively,
are placed at the bottom of the table, the Cats (_Felidæ_) and Bears
(_Ursidæ_), being the most modified, are placed at the top. The two
latter families, again, are placed at opposite extremities of the
table, as far from one another as possible, to indicate the great gap
which separates the digitigrade, short-skulled, active, carnivorous
Cats, from the plantigrade, long-skulled, clumsy, herbivorous Bears.
To be quite accurate, such a scheme should take account not merely of
families, but of genera: in our table, for instance, there is nothing
to show the immense amount of specialisation undergone by one section
of the _Mustelidæ_--the Otters--to fit them for aquatic life; but such
a detailed arrangement is quite beyond the scope of the present work.
* * * * *
In considering the chief forms of Carnivora existing at the present
day, we have by no means exhausted this varied and interesting group,
for a number of its members, the forerunners of those now living, have
vanished from the face of the earth, and are known to us only by their
bones, which we find here and there entombed in the strata of which the
crust of our earth is composed.
In the newest, that is the most recently deposited, set of strata,
those which together form the beds of the Pleistocene period, we find
a very curious change in the flesh-eaters inhabiting England. Instead
of having nothing but Wild Cats, Wolves, and Bears--the only wild
beasts known to have existed in the historical period--we have the
enormous Cave Lion (_Felis spelæa_), besides the Cave Bear (_Ursus
spelæus_), and the Cave Hyæna (_Hyæna spelæa_), the last being merely
a variety of the Spotted Hyæna (_Hyæna crocuta_) of the present day.
The presence of the first and last of these would seem to indicate that
the climate of Britain was warmer in the Pleistocene period than it now
is; but the presence of the Glutton, as well as of some non-carnivorous
Arctic animals, tends to the other opinion, namely, that the climate
of England was sub-Arctic. Very probably the Cave Lion and Hyæna were
provided with thick woolly fur, and so, like the Mantchurian Tiger and
the Northern Leopard (see pp. 34 and 42), enabled to bear a degree of
cold experienced by but few of their relatives at the present day.
[Illustration: SKULL OF MACHÆRODUS. (_After Gaudry._)]
In beds of the same age in South America is found a true Cheetah,
a species now confined to the Old World. But the most wonderful
animal belonging to this period is the great Sabre-toothed Tiger
(_Machærodus_), a gigantic animal, with canines six or eight inches
long, and jagged at their edges like a very fine saw. It would almost
seem as if Dame Nature, in producing this terrible beast, had actually
got to the end of her tether in the matter of specialisation for
carnivorous habits; the canines of Machærodus were so long that he
must have had some difficulty in opening his mouth sufficiently wide
to take in anything large, and thus it would seem that he actually
overshot the limit of perfection, and died of over-specialisation.
The canines of the Sabre-toothed Tiger are, however, not its only
peculiarity: there is one less premolar on each side of the upper jaw
than in the modern members of the Cat family, so that the total number
of teeth is reduced to twenty-eight,[196] the smallest number found in
any of the Carnivora.
On descending to the rocks of Pliocene age, we find, amongst many
forms existing at the present day, an animal called _Galecynus_,
about the size of the Fox, and possessing many characters, in its
teeth, limbs, &c., intermediate between those of the Dogs and those of
the Civets. Another genus, _Hyænarctos_, is almost exactly half-way
between Dogs and Bears; its molars have less of a cutting character
than a Dog’s, and less of a grinding character than a Bear’s, and its
front premolars, though much smaller than a Dog’s, do not fall out
altogether, as in the Bear.
In the Pliocene, or Late Miocene strata, remains have been found of
many existing genera, such as Cats, Civets, Hyænas, Dogs, Weasels,
Ratels, and Otters; but amongst these are several genera not occurring
in any of the more recent strata, and all, or nearly all, tending
to bridge over the gaps which separate existing families from one
another. For instance, a perfect gradation between the Hyænas and
Civets is afforded by two genera, _Hyænictis_ and _Ictitherium_; while
_Lutrictis_ shows affinities both with Civets and Otters, _Hemicyon_
with Dogs and Gluttons, and _Dinictis_ with Cats and Weasels. Another
very interesting genus, _Promephitis_, belongs undoubtedly to the
Weasel family, but is intermediate between its three sub-families,
the Weasels proper, Badgers, and Otters. _Simocyon_, again, an animal
about the size of a Leopard, is described as having the canines of a
Cat, the molars of a Dog, and jaws shaped like those of a Bear. Lastly,
_Amphicyon_ is a large plantigrade animal, Bear-like for the most part,
but with trenchant molars, like a Dog’s, and having a small additional
or third molar on each side of the lower jaw, the number of its teeth
being thus brought up to that which may be called the typical Mammalian
number, namely, forty-four.[197]
[Illustration: SKULL OF ARCTOCYON. (_After Gaudry._)]
In the Eocene, or Lower Tertiary, still more remarkable forms occur,
along with several genera existing at the present day, such as the
Cryptoprocta, Civet, Dog, and Marten, all of which are found in the
upper or more recent strata of the Eocene formation. But lower down the
genus _Cynodon_ also connects Dogs with Civets; and in the very lowest
beds occurs a large plantigrade animal (_Arctocyon_), with a very small
brain-case, wide jugal arches, a complete set of forty-four teeth, and
altogether of a generalised character. In the Eocene of North America,
_Limnocyon_ and _Prototomus_ occur low down, and in the Middle Eocene
a form as large as a Lion has been discovered, to which the name
_Limnofelis_ has been given, and also _Orocyon_, and some allies of the
_Hyænodon_.
[Illustration: LOWER JAW OF HYÆNODON. (_After Gaudry._)]
But we have not yet learned all that Palæontology can teach us about
the history of the Carnivora. In the Eocene and Lower Miocene beds
are found animals referred to the genera _Hyænodon_, _Pterodon_,
_Palæonictis_, and _Proviverra_ which, not content with trespassing on
the boundaries between existing families, actually wander outside the
Carnivorous order altogether, and approach so nearly to the Marsupials
(Kangaroos, Opossums, &c.) that many competent anatomists have proposed
to place them in the latter group. The premolars and molars in these
extinct animals have sharp cusps, and increase gradually in size from
before backwards; so that, of the whole grinding series, the first
premolar is the smallest, and the last molar the largest. Now we have
seen that the rule among existing Carnivora is for the last molar to
be a small tooth, and for the largest of the set to be the fourth
premolar in the upper jaw, and the first molar in the lower jaw. On
the other hand, the regular increase in size is very characteristic of
the flesh-eating Marsupials, amongst which the Thylacine, or so-called
Tasmanian Wolf, shows a considerable resemblance, as to its teeth, to
_Hyænodon_ and _Pterodon_, while _Palæonictis_ and _Proviverra_ are
more nearly allied to the Opossums and to the Dasyure, or Tasmanian
Devil. The brain-case in these forms was very small, and a cast of the
interior of the skull of Proviverra, figured by M. Gaudry,[198] shows
that the brain must have had an extremely low character.
[Illustration: SKULL OF PROVIVERRA. (_After Gaudry._)
The roof of the skull is supposed to be cut away to show the form of
the brain, as deduced from a natural cast of the interior of the skull.]
We thus see that a considerable number of the existing genera
of Carnivora took their origin in the Eocene epoch, where they
co-existed with creatures curiously intermediate between the various
existing families, and with others intermediate between Carnivora and
Marsupials. In the rocks of the Secondary period (chalk, oolite, lias,
&c.), none of the Carnivora have as yet appeared, and only Marsupial
remains are found.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI. (VIVERRIDÆ, CIVET FAMILY.)
THE CYNOGALE.[199]
[Illustration: CYNOGALE.]
Although in all essential respects a true Viverrine, the Cynogale, or
Mampalon, differs very considerably in external appearance from all
the members of the family we have hitherto considered. It has none of
a Civet’s lithe and slender appearance, but is stout and plump. Its
tail is very short, not more than six inches long, or a quarter the
length of the head and body, which together attain length of about two
feet. The snout is long and pointed, the muzzle bald, and the ears very
short; the whiskers are decidedly extensive in their development, for
besides the usual hairs on the snout, there are two large bundles of
long bristles on the cheeks, one a little in front of and below the
eye, the other in front of the ear. The limbs are short and stout,
and the digits are five in number, slightly webbed at the base, and
provided with short, retractile claws. The close thick fur is of a
yellowish-brown colour, lighter on the under side of the head, and over
the eyes, and darker on the legs. The mode of progression is nearly
plantigrade.
There is not much known of the habits of the Cynogale, except that it
frequents the neighbourhood of water, and is also a good climber. It is
found in the island of Borneo.
THE CYNICTIS.[200]
This animal, a near relative of the Ichneumons, is found in South
Africa, where it is represented by three species. The head and body
attain a length of about half a yard; the tail of about a foot. The
pelage is smooth, of a reddish colour, darker on the head and limbs;
the tail is bushy, of a greyish colour, and tipped with white. There
are five toes on the fore foot, three on the hind foot.
[Illustration: MANGUE.]
THE MANGUE.[201]
The Crossarchus, Mangue, or Kusimanse, presents a good deal of
resemblance to the Cynogale, but differs from it in having rough fur
and a comparatively long tail. It is also a much smaller animal, not
exceeding fourteen or fifteen inches in length from snout to root of
tail, which latter appendage is about eight inches in length. The
body is thick and stout; the fur brown, becoming lighter on the head;
the ears are short, and the snout is long and flexible, projecting
some distance beyond the mouth, somewhat like that of the Coati. The
secretion of the tail glands is very fetid.
The single species of Crossarchus is found in tropical Africa. Very
little is known of its habits in a wild state; in captivity it soon
becomes tame, and seems to prefer animal to vegetable food.
THE SURICATE.[202]
This is a South African species, and, as in the case of the last two
forms, little or nothing is known of its habits in a state of nature.
It is about the size of the Crossarchus, the body and head attaining
a length of about thirteen, the tail of about six inches. The body is
of a greyish-brown colour, marked along the back with yellowish-grey
transverse stripes. There is a black patch round the eye, bordered by
a lighter area, and the ears and the end of the tail are also black.
As in the Cynogale, the head is rounded, the snout long, and the ears
short. The legs are much longer than in either of the preceding genera,
and the feet are distinguished by being provided with only four instead
of five toes. The claws are very long and curved, and, as might be
judged from this, the animal is addicted to burrowing.
[Illustration: SURICATE.]
There are several of these pretty little animals in the Zoological
Gardens, where their innocent faces and quiet ways distinguish them
very favourably from their relatives, the Ichneumons, which are
perpetually quarrelling in the most outrageous fashion.
WILLIAM KITCHEN PARKER.
THOMAS JEFFERY PARKER.
THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--THE WALRUS, OR MORSE.
Pinnipedia distinctly Aquatic--The Three Families--Their
Common Characteristics--Skeleton--Mobility of
Figure--Feet--Dentition--Skull--Tongue--Stomach--Intestine--Peculiar
Disposition of Blood-vessels of Liver--Lungs--Sense
of Smell--Larynx--Brain--Sense of Hearing--The Walrus
Family--Characteristics--THE WALRUS, OR MORSE--Geographical
Distribution--Fossil Forms--Weight--Size--Appearance in Old Age--Mode
of Walk--Habits--On Guard--In the Water--Attacked--Tusks--Dentition
of the Young--Uses of the Tusks--Food--Long Fasts--Story of “Jamie,”
a Tame Walrus--The Young--Maternal Affection--Massacre--Walrus as an
Article of Diet.
The Walrus, the Sea Lions, and the Seals, collectively termed the
Pinnipedia,[203] or by some Pinnigrada,[204] constitute the second
well-marked group or sub-order of the Carnivora. They are truly
inhabitants of the high seas, the land being to them only an occasional
resort, when procreation or other causes induce short visits, or
temporary residence thereupon. In the previous chapters it has been
noted that certain of the so-called Land Carnivora, the White Polar
Bear, or the Common Otter (_Lutra_), for example, take freely to the
water, and even subsist on finny and other prey derived therefrom,
but nevertheless, as a rule, such Carnivora only peradventure are
semi-aquatic. The one notable instance to the contrary is the Sea
Otter (_Enhydra_), an animal seldom seen on land, though rarely met
with far from rocky reefs and islets. Besides mere habit, the Polar
Bears and Otters in some points of their organisation--particularly the
conformation of the skull of the first, and webbed toes and abundant
under-fur in the two last--show a partial gradation and tendency of
structure towards their strictly marine brethren, the Seal tribe.
The group of the Pinnipedia is one in which considerable interest is
centred, and this for several reasons. Their history, as handed down
by classical lore, has a shade of the mythical, and well shows how
fable has become engrafted on fact. Within the last two centuries
their pursuit has been brimful of incident and adventure. As articles
of commerce, the oil and the furs of certain kinds of the Seal tribe
are of immense importance; whilst the mere hides of all, besides the
Walrus tusks, are commodities of great value. Indeed, to the natives
of the Arctic regions, Seals are indispensable as a means of every-day
existence. But to the naturalist the fact of their being Carnivores
peculiarly adapted to an aquatic life, and the study of their habits
generally, are subjects of intense interest.
Moreover, the gradual, in some instances sudden, diminution of Seal
life at the hand of man, points to a possible early period of their
extinction, as in the case of the Whales and Manatee tribes, and warns,
like the Roman story of the Sybilline books, that if we would read the
history of the past, the knowledge must be culled ere the records are
swept beyond recall.
The three families of the Pinnipedia are denominated in technical
language the Trichechidæ,[205] the Otariidæ,[206] and the Phocidæ.[207]
The first has but one living representative, the Walrus, or Morse;
the second contains the so-called Sea Lions and Sea Bears, more
distinctively known as Eared Seals; in the third family are ranged the
ordinary Seals, contra-distinguished as Earless Seals. Sufficiently
different among themselves in general aspects and habits, as to
be recognised at a glance, the three families, nevertheless, have
characteristic features common to all, wherefrom the sub-order has
received its name. Their toes are united nearly throughout by a
web of membrane, as in a duck’s foot, which converts the paws into
broad, fin-like organs (the flippers), well adapted for swimming
purposes. This feather-footed, pinnipedal condition is associated with
a shortening of the upper segments of the limbs, and such peculiar
attachment especially of the hind-legs as to leave little more than the
feet free. The body is long, usually ample and fleshy at the neck and
shoulders, but narrows taperingly behind towards the rump. The head
is either flattish and elongated or more or less rounded, but in all
cases relatively small to the bulk of the animal. External ears are
absent save in the Otary family, which possess a diminutive, conical,
or pear-shaped ear-conch. The eyes are full, and often expressive,
though usually on land bearing a drowsy look, from their vision being
adapted for a watery medium. Unless as the merest rudiment, there are
no eyelashes or eyebrows. The muzzle is dog-like, but with long, stiff,
though exceedingly mobile moustaches. In the Walrus, however, chiefly
on account of its huge tusks, this part of the face is immensely
dilated, fleshy, and covered with great pliable bristles, like
knitting-needles in calibre; these latter and tusks being adaptations
suited to the animal’s mode of feeding. The skin of the body fits
loosely, and there is a thick layer of oily fat beneath, its amount
depending on general condition, season, and sex. The hairy covering
is of two sorts, a stouter, coarser, and at the roots a much shorter,
softer kind. As it appears ordinarily, the hair seems uniform and
short, and when wetted it clings close to the skin, so that the surface
then is smooth and polished, becoming rougher as it dries. Now, it is
the soft under-wool, which is in great abundance in some of the Sea
Lions only, that constitutes the fur of commerce.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF OTARIA IN THE ATTITUDE OF WALKING.
(_Reduced after Murie._)]