Of agoutis there are several species. The larger agouti, mara, or
Patagonian cony--twice the size of a hare--are seen three or four
together, hopping quickly one after the other in a straight line across
the Pampas. It is somewhat like a hare, but has the external covering
of a hog, its long coat concealing its little stump of a tail. It has
also the hog's voracious appetite.
It is fond of occupying the burrows of the bizcacha when it finds them,
but when they do not exist it is compelled to make a house for itself.
It here stores away the food it does not require for present use. When
eating, it sits up like the squirrel, using its fore-paws to convey the
food to its mouth. Its hind-legs being very long, it leaps over the
ground at considerable speed. As it is very fond of the sugar-cane,
wherever plantations exist it is hunted without mercy, and driven from
the district.
The smaller agouti, rather less than a rabbit, generally inhabits forest
districts; and as it is there a nocturnal animal, it spends the chief
part of the day in its hiding-place--usually the cleft of a rock or the
hollow of a decaying tree--twenty or thirty creatures congregating
together. Here their nests are formed of soft leaves, where the young
are placed till they are able to accompany their parents on their
predatory expeditions. It is a gentle little creature, and when caught,
instead of attempting to bite, only gives vent to a piteous cry.
The larger agouti, or mara, is sometimes classed between the agoutis and
the pacas. It is more easily tamed than the smaller species, and the
fur is handsomer--of black, white, and golden brown.