Otters and Badgers, which we take as the heads of the three sub-families
into which it is divided. The first of these includes the Pine Marten,
occasionally found in Ireland and Scotland but more commonly in
different parts of Europe; the Sable, which belongs to northern Europe
and Asia; the American Sable, which supplies the English market with
hundreds of thousands of skins annually; the Ermine or Stoat, still to
be found in Great-Britain and familiar in the northern parts of Europe,
Africa and America; the Weasel which has much the same _locale_ as the
Ermine; the Ferret which hails from Africa and which is cultivated in
England for its use in the destruction of vermin; and the Glutton (_Gulo
luscus_) which is found principally in North America. The Polecat is
also a member of this family. It is about seventeen inches long and in
form resembles the weasel. Its colour is deep chocolate. It generally
lives in the neighbourhood of houses on hares, rabbits, and birds. When
pinched for food it will also catch and eat fish. It is remarkable for
an insufferably fetid odour.
The Weasel.
The weasel though thought by some to be incapable of domestication has,
like most other animals who have had the chance, shown itself amenable
to kindly treatment. Mdlle. de Laistre possessed one which she kept in
her chamber, dispelling its strong odours by perfumes. This weasel
displayed towards her extravagant evidence of affection. "If the servant
sets it at liberty before I am up in the morning," she writes, "after a
thousand gambols, it comes into my bed, and reposes in my hand or on my
bosom. If I am up before it is let out, it will fly to me in rapture,
and spend half an hour in caressing me. The curiosity of this little pet
is unbounded, for it is impossible to open a drawer or box, without its
roving through every part of it; if even a piece of paper or a book is
looked at, it will also examine it with attention." This weasel lived
on friendly terms with both a cat and a dog who shared his mistress'
favours. That the weasel can defend himself when attacked is shown by
the following incident told by Mr. Bell: "As a gentleman was riding over
his grounds, he 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 evidently endeavouring to free himself from some obnoxious
thing with his feet. After a short but sharp contest, the kite fell
suddenly to the earth. The gentleman 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 torn through." The length of the common weasel
is about eight inches.
The Common Otter.
There are several genera of Otters. The common otter (_Lutra vulgaris_)
is known throughout Europe and is not uncommon in Great Britain. The
otter lives on fish, for the hunting of which he is admirably fitted. He
is web-footed and has a body of great flexibility and short but
remarkably muscular legs. The Otter was looked upon as a friend by the
peasants living near salmon preserves years ago, for after landing his
prey he was content with but a small portion for himself, and left the
rest which the peasants readily appropriated.
"Otters," says Mr. St. John, "are very affectionate animals; the young
anxiously seek their mother if she should be killed; and if the young
are injured, the parent hovers near them till she is herself destroyed.
If one of a pair be killed, the one that is left will hunt for its mate
with untiring perseverance; and if one be caught in a trap, its
companion will run round and round, endeavouring to set it free, on
which occasions, though so quiet at other times, they make a snorting
and blowing like a horse."
"A labourer going to his work, soon after five o'clock in the morning,
saw a number of animals coming towards him, and stood quietly by the
hedge till they came alongside of him. He then perceived four old
otters, probably dams, and about twenty young ones. He took a stick out
of the hedge and killed one. Directly it began to squeak, all the four
old ones turned back, and stood till the other young ones had escaped
through the hedge, and then went quietly themselves. Several families
were thus journeying together, and probably they had left their former
abode from not finding a sufficiency of food." Otters have often been
tamed and taught to catch fish for their masters. Captain Brown tells of
an otter which was caught when young and trained by James Campbell near
Inverness. "It was frequently employed in catching fish, and would,
sometimes, take eight or ten salmon in a day. If not prevented, it
always made an attempt to break the fish behind the anal fin, which is
next the tail; and, as soon as one was taken away, it always dived in
pursuit of more. It was equally dexterous at sea fishing, and took great
numbers of young cod, and other fish, there. When tired, it would refuse
to fish any longer, and was then rewarded with as much as it could
devour. Having satisfied its appetite, it always coiled itself round,
and fell asleep: in which state it was generally carried home."
Professor Steller says that on killing and skinning a female otter,
which he found at a place at which he had deprived her of her young
eight days previously, he found her quite wasted away from grief at the
loss of her progeny.
The Badger.
There are several varieties of Badger, the Indian and the American being
the most important, respectively of the eastern and western worlds. The
common badger (_Meles taxus_), which is found in different parts of
England, feeds upon roots, bulbs, fruits, and all kinds of vegetables,
as well as small animals, snails and worms. He has also a great fancy
for eggs. He lives in burrows, which form passages having a central
chamber and various anti-chambers, which he makes in sandy and gravelly
soil. He is nocturnal in his habits. "When pursued," says Mrs. Bowdich,
"he constantly impedes the progress of his enemies by throwing the soil
behind him, so as to fill up the passages, while he escapes to the
surface." He is a formidable opponent to his enemies, as his skin is so
tough and his bite so severe, and he displays much sagacity in avoiding
traps and escaping confinement. Mr. St. John placed one in a paved court
for security, but before the next morning he had displaced a stone and
burrowed his way out under the wall. Captain Brown tells an affecting
story of the feeling of a badger for its mate. "Two persons in France
killed a badger and proceeded to drag it towards a neighbouring village.
They had not proceeded far when they heard the cry of an animal in
seeming distress, and stopped to listen, when another badger approached
them slowly. They at first threw stones at it; notwithstanding which, it
drew near, came up to the dead animal, began to lick it, and continued
its mournful cry. The men, surprised at this, desisted from offering any
further injury to it, and again drew the dead one along as before; when
the living badger, determined not to quit its companion, lay down on it,
taking it gently by one ear, and in that manner was drawn into the midst
of the village; nor could dogs, boys, or men induce it to quit its
situation: and to their shame be it said, they had the inhumanity to
kill the poor animal, and afterwards to burn it, declaring it could be
no other than a witch."
The Ratel and the Skunk.
The Ratel (_Mellivora capensis_) of South and East Africa and the Skunk
of Canada belong to this family. The Ratel is a small animal standing
from ten to twelve inches high, with a very tough skin, which is so
loose that, to quote Sparrman, "If anybody catches hold of the Ratel by
the hind part of his neck, he is able to turn round, as it were, in his
skin, and bite the arm of the person that seizes him." Dog-like in
shape, the back and head are covered with a coat of lighter colour than
that of the sides and under part of the body, giving it the appearance
of a garment. The Ratel is the natural enemy of the Bees, his thick skin
rendering him impervious to their attack, and he is said to show great
sagacity in tracing their nests, watching at sundown, with his eyes
shaded by his paws, the homeward flight of the honey makers and then
following them to plunder and destroy. The Skunk is famous for its
offensive smell, which according to Sir John Richardson is emitted by a
deep yellow fluid which it discharges, and which is so strong that it
retains its disgusting odour for many days. It is about eighteen inches
in length, has short legs and a body that is broad and flat. It lives
upon poultry and eggs, small quadrupeds, young birds, and wild fruits.
Godman says: "Pedestrians, called by business or pleasure to ramble
through the country during the morning or evening twilight, occasionally
see a small and pretty animal a short distance before them in the path,
scampering forward without appearing much alarmed, and advancing in a
zigzag or somewhat serpentine direction. Experienced persons generally
delay long enough to allow this unwelcome traveller to withdraw from the
path; but it often happens that a view of the animal arouses the ardour
of the observer, who, in his fondness for sport, thinks not of any
result but that of securing a prize. It would be more prudent to rest
content with pelting this quadruped from a safe distance, or to drive it
away by shouting loudly; but almost all inexperienced persons, the first
time such an opportunity occurs, rush forward with intent to run the
animal down. This appears to be an easy task; in a few moments it is
almost overtaken; a few more strides and the victim may be grasped by
its long and waving tail--but the tail is now suddenly curled over the
back, its pace is slackened, and in one instant the condition of things
is entirely reversed;--the lately triumphant pursuer is eagerly flying
from his intended prize, involved in an atmosphere of stench, gasping
for breath, or blinded and smarting with pain, if his approach were
sufficiently close to allow of his being struck in the eyes by the
pestilent fluid of the Skunk."
The Raccoon and the Coati.
Our next concern is with the family of the procyonidæ which includes
several bear-like animals, the Raccoon and the Coati being the best
known. The raccoon belongs to North America, the coati to Central and
Southern America. The raccoon is an expert swimmer, about the size of a
fox, and of nocturnal habits. "His food," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "is
principally small animals and insects. "Oysters are also a very
favourite article of its diet. It bites off the hinge of the oyster, and
scrapes out the animal with its paws. Like a squirrel, when eating a
nut, the raccoon usually holds its food between its fore-paws pressed
together and sits upon its hind quarters while it eats. It is said to be
as destructive in a farm-yard as any fox, for it only devours the heads
of the murdered fowl. When taken young it is easily tamed but very
frequently becomes blind soon after its capture. The coati (_Nasua
nasica_) is distinguished from the raccoon by a pointed nose. In size it
resembles the cat, its tail being as long as its body. Like the cat it
is a good climber, and preys upon birds. When domesticated, as it is in
Paraguay, the coati is kept in tether, as its climbing habits render it
dangerous to ornaments and furniture. The Kinkajou (_Cercoleptes
caudivolvulus_) of Demerara belongs to this family. The Panda (_Ælurus
fulgens_) constitutes another family. It is cat-like in the face, but
otherwise resembles the bear. It lives in the dense forests which clothe
the declivities of the Himalayas.
The Bear.
After the lion and the tiger the bear is probably the most popular
animal in legend and story. Dr. Gray divides the bears into three
classes: the sea bear, the land bear, and the honey bear. The polar
bear is the sea bear; the brown bear, the black bear, and the grizzly
are land bears, and the Malayan bear is the honey bear. Mr. Wood says,
"Bears and their allies are mostly heavy, and walk with the whole foot
placed flat on the ground, unlike cats and dogs who walk with merely
their paws or toes. They are omnivorous, that is, they can eat either
animal or vegetable food, so that a leg of mutton, a pot of honey, a
potatoe, or an apple are equally acceptable." The bears of Kamtchatka
live principally on fish, which they are adepts in catching. The bear is
found in the polar regions, in Siberia, the Caucasus, the Pyrenees, the
Himalayas, in various parts of Western Asia, in Canada, and the United
States.
[Illustration: Hunting the Polar Bear]
The Polar Bear.
The Polar Bear is eight or nine feet long, and a little more than four
feet in height. He has a long nose, short ears, large legs, and a short
tail. His body and neck are long, and he has five sharp claws on each
foot. His colour is a yellowish white; his hair long and shaggy. He
inhabits Greenland and Lapland, as far north as eighty degrees. He lives
on fish and seals and the bodies of whales, which are thrown ashore or
which he finds in the sea. Dr. R. Brown deprecates the stories of the
polar bear's ferocity which he regards as greatly exaggerated, though he
admits, that when enraged, or suffering from hunger, they are formidable
foes. That they are wary animals the following story quoted from Captain
Brown will show. "The captain of a Greenland whaler, being anxious to
procure a bear without injuring the skin, made trial of a stratagem of
laying the noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a piece of kreng
within it. A bear, ranging the neighbouring ice, was soon enticed to the
spot by the smell of burning meat. He perceived the bait, approached,
and seized it in his mouth; but his foot, at the same time, by a jerk of
the rope, being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his paw,
and deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece he had carried
away with him, he returned. The noose, with another piece of kreng,
having been replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again walked
triumphantly off with the bait. A third time the noose was laid; but,
excited to caution by the evident observations of the bear, the sailors
buried the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug
in the centre. The animal once more approached, and the sailors were
assured of their success. But Bruin, more sagacious than they expected,
after snuffing about the place for a few moments, scraped the snow away
with his paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped unhurt with his
prize."
The polar bear displays a great love for its young and many pathetic
stories are told of its rage and grief at the loss of them. The
following is from Captain Brown's "Anecdotes of Animals." "A Greenland
bear, with two cubs under her protection, was pursued across a field of
ice by a party of armed sailors. At first, she seemed to urge the young
ones to increase their speed, by running before them, turning round, and
manifesting, by a peculiar action and voice, her anxiety for their
progress; but, finding her pursuers gaining upon them, she carried, or
pushed, or pitched them alternately forward, until she effected their
escape. In throwing them before her, the little creatures are said to
have placed themselves across her path to receive the impulse, and, when
projected some yards in advance, they ran onwards, until she overtook
them, when they alternately adjusted themselves for another throw."
The Black Bear.
The Black Bear (_Ursus Americanus_) is about four and a half feet long
and three feet high. He has long feet terminating in five claws each.
His body is short with longish legs, and he has a large head, with small
eyes, and a sharp nose. He has long, soft and woolly hair. His food is
chiefly fruit, such as acorns, chestnuts, grapes, and corn; but when
hungry he will feed on flesh, and attack other animals with courage and
fierceness. He climbs trees, and uses his paws like hands. In winter he
retires to his den, which is usually a hollow in some decayed tree,
where he hybernates until spring. Though of a wild disposition, he can
be tamed, and taught various tricks, in which he displays a good deal of
sagacity and docility. The following story is quoted by Captain Brown
from Captains Lewis' and Clarke's travels to the source of the Missouri,
as a striking instance of the astonishing physical powers of the bear.
"One evening, the men in the hindmost of the canoes, discovered a large
bear lying in the open grounds, about three hundred paces from the
river. Six of them, all good hunters, set out to attack him; and,
concealing themselves by a small eminence, came unperceived within forty
paces of him. Four of them now fired, and each lodged a ball in his
body, two of them directly through the lungs. The enraged animal sprang
up, and ran open-mouthed at them. As he came near, the two hunters who
had reserved their fire, gave him two wounds, one of which, breaking his
shoulder, retarded his motion for a moment; but, before they could
reload, he was so near, that they were obliged to run to the river, and,
when they reached it, he had almost overtaken them. Two jumped into the
canoe; the other four separated, and, concealing themselves in the
willows, fired as fast as each could load. They struck him several
times, which only exasperated him; and he at last pursued two of them so
closely, that they leaped down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet into
the river. The bear sprang after them, and was within a few feet of the
hindmost, when one of the hunters from the shore shot him in the head,
and killed him. They dragged him to the banks of the river, and found
that eight balls had passed through his body."
Of his docility Mrs. Bowdich gives the following amusing, if, at the
time, alarming illustration. "A young English officer, who was
stationed at a lone fortress in Canada, amused himself by taming a bear
of this species. He taught him to fetch and carry, to follow him like a
dog, and to wait patiently at meal times for his share. The bear
accompanied him when he returned to England, and became a great
favourite with the passengers and the ship's company. Bruin, however,
especially attached himself to a little girl about four years old, the
daughter of one of the ladies on board, who romped with him as she would
with a dog. In one of these games of play, he seized her with one
fore-paw, and with the other clambered and clung to the rigging, till he
lodged her and himself in the main-top, where, regardless of her cries
and the agony of her mother, he tried to continue his romp. It would not
do to pursue the pair, for fear the bear should drop the child; and his
master, knowing how fond he was of sugar, had some mattresses placed
round the mast in case the child should fall, and then strewed a
quantity of sugar on the deck; he called Bruin, and pointed to it, who,
after a moment's hesitation, came down as he went up, bringing the child
in safety. He was, of course, deprived of his liberty during the rest of
his voyage." The black bear is hunted for the sake of his skin, many
thousands of skins being sent to Europe every year.
The Grizzly Bear.
The Grizzly Bear is an enormous animal, according to the measurement of
Captains Lewis and Clarke of one they killed, nine feet from nose to
tail, though they claim to have seen one of even larger size. It is said
to attain to a weight of 800 pounds. The fore-foot of the animal already
referred to exceeded nine inches in length, the hind foot being eleven
inches and three quarters, exclusive of the talons, the breadth of the
hind foot being seven inches. The Grizzly does not climb trees, like the
brown and the black bear. He is ferocious when hungry, and when
attacked, and the female will die hard in the defence of her young. Such
is his strength that he can master a bison, and drag him to his
retreat. He is by far the most dangerous brute of North America. He
unhesitatingly pursues both men and animals; but, though he feeds on
flesh, he is capable of subsisting upon roots and fruits. He is very
tenacious of life, and will pursue his enemy after having received
repeated mortal wounds. He is found in the eastern vicinity of the Rocky
Mountains. Though the Grizzly will sometimes move off on the approach of
the traveller, without showing fight, he will at other times attack him
with great ferocity. A man named Nathan Rogers who lived on a ranch in
the mountains about a mile above West Point, near the North Fork of the
Mokelumne, once had a terrific encounter with a grizzly bear. He was out
shooting small game when he was suddenly confronted by an enormous
animal. He fired his only shot into the breast of the bear and then
awaited his attack. The fight was fast and furious, and though in the
end the grizzly was killed, the man only survived in a terrible
condition. Conscious that he must soon have help or perish, he summoned
all his resolution and staggered along, and managed to reach a spring in
sight of a house, when his endurance gave way, and he fell in a dead
faint by the water's edge. Fortunately he was soon discovered by his
son, a lad of some twelve years, who immediately gave the alarm. In
addition to his horrible wounds, the shock to his system was a terrible
one. His left arm, literally mangled and torn to shreds, had to be
amputated at the shoulder. His left clavicle and scapula were fractured,
and the three lower ribs on the right side broken. The flesh and muscles
on his back were so broken and abraded that the vertebræ were actually
visible in places; while, his lower limbs were literally seamed and
furrowed by the crooked claws of the bear's hind feet. The left side of
the bear was literally torn to pieces, there being no less than
twenty-two knife-wounds, nearly every one of which reached to a vital
point. Some idea of his size can be obtained when we state that one of
his fore-paws just covered an ordinary dinner plate.
The Brown Bear.
The Brown Bear (_Ursus arctos_) was the bear of the British Isles, so
long as the British Isles boasted of a bear. This was the baited bear of
the Royal sports, and of the common Bear garden. His last appearance in
Great-Britain in a wild state, however, dates back more than 800 years.
In size, shape, and habits he much resembles the black bear of America.
Like the Malayan bear he is very fond of honey as the following amusing
story as told by Mrs Bowdich will show:
"A countryman in Russia, when seeking honey, climbed a very high tree,
the trunk of which was hollow; and finding there was a large quantity of
comb in it, he descended, and stuck fast in the tenacious substance
there deposited. He was so far distant from home, that his voice could
not be heard, and he remained two days in this situation, relieving his
hunger with the honey. He began to despair of ever being extricated,
when a bear, who, like himself, came for the sake of the honey, slid
down the hollow, hind-part foremost. The man, in spite of his alarm,
seized hold of him; and the bear, also in a great fright, clambered out
as fast as he could, dragging the man up with him, and when clear of his
tail-bearer, made off as fast as possible."
The Malayan Bear.
The Malayan Bear is about four feet long and two feet high. It has a
long tongue which serves it well in extracting honey from the honey
combs in the hollow trunks of trees. Other bears are the Syrian Bear of
Western Asia, the Spectacled Bear of South America and Peru and the
Sloth Bear of India and the Mahratta country.
SUB-ORDER II.
The Pinnipedia.
We come now to the second sub-order of the Carnivora or flesh-eating
animals, the sub-order which includes the Seal and the Walrus. These in
the form of their skulls and in other ways show evident relationship to
the bear, and so appropriately follow him in classification. The family
of the Otaridæ, includes the Eared Seals, the Northern Sea Lion and the
Northern Sea Bear. The Eared Seal is distinguished from the true seal,
as his name implies by the possession of external ears.
Sea Lions.