_MARSUPIALS AND MONOTREMES._
BY W. SAVILLE-KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
----
MARSUPIALS.
With the order of the Pouched Mammals we arrive--with the exception of the
Echidna and Platypus, next described--at the most simply organised
representatives of the Mammalian Class. In the two forms above named,
egg-production, after the manner of birds and reptiles, constitutes the
only method of propagation. Although among marsupials so rudimentary a
method of reproduction is not met with, the young are brought into the
world in a far more embryonic condition than occurs among any of the
mammalian groups previously enumerated. There is, as a matter of fact, an
entire absence of that vascular or blood connection betwixt the parent and
young previous to birth, known as placentation, common to all the higher
mammals, though certain of the more generalised forms have been recently
found to possess a rudiment of such development. In correlation with their
abnormally premature birth, it may be observed that a special provision
commonly exists for the early nurture of the infant marsupials. In such a
form as the Kangaroo, for example, the young one is placed, through the
instrumentality of its parent's lips, in contact with the food-supplying
teat, and to which for some considerable period it then becomes inseparably
attached. Special muscles exist in connection with the parent's mammary
glands for controlling the supply of milk to the young animal, while the
respiratory organs of the little creature are temporarily modified in order
to ensure unimpeded respiration. The fact of the young in their early life
being commonly found thus inseparably adhering to the parent's nipple has
given rise to the falacious but still very widely prevalent idea among the
Australian settlers that the embryo marsupial is ushered into the world as
a direct outgrowth from the mammary region.
[Illustration: _Photo by Billington_] [_Queensland._
SILVER-GREY KANGAROO.
In general form the kangaroos are so like one another that one figure would
almost serve for all.]
At the present day, with the exception of the small group of the American
Opossums and the Selvas, the entire assemblage of marsupials, comprising
some 36 genera and 150 species, are, singularly to relate, exclusively
found in Australia, New Guinea, and the few neighbouring islands recognised
by systematic zoologists as pertaining to the Australasian region. What is
more, this region of Australasia produces, with some few insignificant
exceptions, chiefly rodents, no other indigenous mammals.
[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor_] [_Ealing._
BLACK-STRIPED WALLABY.
Female with half-grown young in her pouch.]
[Illustration: _Photo by J. T. Newman_] [_Berkhamsted._
BENNETT'S WALLABY AND THE GREAT GREY KANGAROO.
This photograph illustrates the relative sizes of these two species.]
It is interesting to note that within the limits of this isolated and
anciently founded marsupial order we have an epitome, as it were, of many
of the more important groups of an equivalent classificatory value that are
included among the higher mammalia previously described. In this
relationship we find in the so-called Tasmanian Wolf, the Tasmanian Devil,
and the "Native Cats" carnivorous and eminently predatory forms whose
habits and general conformation are immediately comparable to those of the
typical Carnivora. The Bandicoots, Banded Ant-eater, and Phascogales recall
in a similar manner the higher Insectivora. In the tree-frequenting
Opossums and Phalangers the external likeness and conformity in habits to
the arboreal rodents is notably apparent, several of the species, moreover,
possessing a parachute-like flying-membrane essentially identical with that
which is found in the typical Flying-squirrels. An example in which the
ground-frequenting or burrowing rodents are closely approached is furnished
by the Australian Wombat, an animal which may be appropriately likened to
an overgrown and lethargic Marmot. In this form, moreover, the rodent-like
character of the dentition is especially noteworthy. The higher
grass-eating mammals find their counterparts in the family group of the
Kangaroos, in which, in addition to their essentially herbivorous habits,
the contour of the head and neck, together with the expressive eyes and
large expanding ears, are wonderfully suggestive of the various members of
the Deer Family. The Cuscuses of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, both
in form and habits, somewhat resemble their geographical neighbours, the
Lorises, belonging to the Lemur Tribe, compared with which higher mammals,
however, they possess the advantage of an eminently serviceable prehensile
tail. The Australian Koala, or so-called "Native Bear," has been commonly
compared by zoologists with the Edentate Sloths; while in the most recently
discovered marsupial, the Pouched Mole, we have a counterpart, in both form
and habits, of the familiar European species. Finally, in the small
American section of the Marsupialia, we meet with a type--the so-called
Yapock, or Water-opossum--in which the resemblances to an Otter, in both
aspect and its aquatic habits, are so marked that the animal was originally
regarded as a species only of the Otter Tribe.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
ALBINO RED KANGAROOS.
Albino kangaroos and other Australian animals have been observed to be the
product of special, narrowly limited locations.]
The character of the _marsupium_, or pouch, differs materially among the
various members of their order. It presents its most conspicuous and normal
development in such animals as the Kangaroos, Wallabies, and the Australian
Opossums or Phalangers. In the Tasmanian Wolf and the Bandicoots the pouch
opens backwards. In such forms as the Phascogale, or Pouched Mouse, the
pouch is reduced to a few rudimentary skin-folds, while in the Banded
Ant-eater its position is occupied by a mere patch of longer hairs, to
which the helpless young ones cling. On the same _lucus a non lucendo_
principle there is no trace of a pouch in the Koala, nor in those smaller
species of the American Opossums which habitually carry their young upon
their back. Even in these pouchless marsupials, however, the peculiar
marsupial bones are invariably present, and in all other essential details
their accord with the marsupial type of organisation and development is
fully maintained.
THE KANGAROOS.
The typical and most familiar member of the Marsupial Order is the
KANGAROO--the heraldic mammal of that vast island-continent in the South
Seas, whose phenomenal advance by leaps and bounds, from what scarcely a
century since was represented by but a few isolated settlements, has been
aptly likened to the characteristic progression of this animal. Of
kangaroos proper there are some twenty-four known species distributed
throughout the length and breadth of Australia, extending southwards to
Tasmania, and to the north as far as New Guinea and a few other adjacent
islands.
In point of size the GREAT GREY KANGAROO and the RED or WOOLLY species run
each other very closely. A full-grown male of either species will weigh as
much as 200 lbs., and measure a little over 5 feet from the tip of the nose
to the base of the tail, this latter important member monopolising another
4 or 4½ feet. The red or woolly species more especially affects the rocky
districts of South and East Australia, while the great grey kind is
essentially a plain-dweller and widely distributed throughout the grassy
plains of the entire Australian Continent and also Tasmania. It is to the
big males of this species that the titles of "Boomer," "Forester," and "Old
Man Kangaroos" are commonly applied by the settlers, and the species with
which the popular and exciting sport of a kangaroo hunt--the Antipodean
substitute for fox-hunting--is associated. The pace and staying power of an
old man kangaroo are something phenomenal. Our home country fox-hounds
would have no chance with it; consequently a breed of rough-haired
greyhounds, known as kangaroo-dogs, are specially trained for this sport. A
run of eighteen miles, with a swim of two in the sea at the finish, and all
within the space of two brief crowded hours, is one of the interesting
records chronicled. The quarry, when brought to bay, is, moreover, a by no
means despicable foe. Erect on its haunches, with its back against a tree,
the dogs approach it at their peril, as, with a stroke of its powerful
spur-armed hind foot, it will with facility disembowel or otherwise fatally
maim its assailant. Another favourite refuge of the hunted "boomer" is a
shallow water-hole, wherein, wading waist-deep, it calmly awaits its
pursuers' onslaught. On the dogs swimming out to the attack, it will seize
them with its hand-like fore paws, thrust them under water, and, if their
rescue is not speedily effected, literally drown them. Even man, without
the aid of firearms, is liable to be worsted in an encounter under these
conditions, as is evidenced in the following anecdote.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Reid_] [_Wishaw, N.B._
TASMANIAN WALLABY.
Has softer and thicker fur than its relative of the Australian mainland.]
A newly arrived settler from the old country, or more precisely from the
sister island, ignorant of the strength and prowess of the wily marsupial,
essayed his maiden kangaroo hunt with only a single dog as company. A fine
grey boomer was in due course started, and after an exciting chase was
cornered in a water-hole. The dog, rushing after it, was promptly seized
and ducked; and Pat, irate at the threatened drowning of his companion,
fired, but missed his quarry, and thereupon jumped into the water-hole,
with the intention, as he afterwards avowed, "to bate the brains out of the
baste" with the butt-end of his gun. The kangaroo, however, very soon
turned the tables upon Pat. Before he had time to realise the seriousness
of the situation he found himself lifted off his feet, and soused and
hustled with such vigour that both Pat and his dog most narrowly escaped a
watery grave. A couple of neighbours, by good luck passing that way,
observed the turmoil, and came to the rescue. Between them they beat off
and killed the kangaroo, and dragged Pat to land in a half-drowned and
almost insensible condition. Pat recovered, and vowed "niver to meddle with
such big bastes" again.
The doe kangaroos, while of smaller size and possessing much less staying
power than their mates, can nevertheless afford a good run for horses and
dogs, and are commonly known as "flyers." When carrying a youngster, or
"Joey," in her pouch, and hard pressed by the dogs, it is a common thing
for the parent to abstract her offspring from the pouch with her fore paws,
and to throw it aside into the bush. The instinct of self-preservation
only, by the discharge of hampering impedimenta, is usually ascribed to
this act; but it is an open question whether the maternal one of securing a
chance of escape for her young, while feeling powerless to accomplish it
for herself, does not more often represent the actual condition of the
case.
In proportion to the size of its body the kangaroo yields but a limited
amount of meat that is esteemed for food. The tail represents the most
highly appreciated portion, since from it can be compounded a soup not only
equal to ordinary ox-tail, but by gourmands considered so superior that its
conservation and export have proved a successful trade enterprise. The
loins also are much esteemed for the table, but the hind limbs are hard and
coarse, and only appreciated by the native when rations are abnormally
short. "Steamer," composed of kangaroo-flesh mixed with slices of ham,
represented a standing and very popular dish with the earlier Australian
settlers; but with the rapid disappearance of the animal before the advance
of colonisation this one time common concoction possesses at the present
day a greater traditional than actual reputation.
The hunting of the kangaroo is conducted on several distinct lines, the
method of its pursuit being varied, according to whether the animal is
required for the primary object of food, for the commercial value of its
skin, as a matter of pure sport, or to accomplish its wholesale destruction
in consequence of its encroachments on the pasturage required for sheep-
and cattle-grazing.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
ALBINO RED-BELLIED WALLABY.
Many of the Marsupials, including Kangaroos and the Opossum-like
Phalangers, exhibit a tendency to albinism.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Billington_] [_Queensland._
ROCK-WALLABY.
The Rock-Wallabies, in contradistinction to the Kangaroos, are for the most
part nocturnal in their habits.]
The greatest measure of healthy excitement in hunting the kangaroo, from
the standpoint of pure sport, is no doubt to be obtained when running the
marsupial down with horse and hounds in congenial company, as referred to
on a previous page. The stalking of the animal single-handed on horseback
or on foot, much after the manner of the deer, has also its enthusiastic
votaries, and calls into play the greatest amount of patience and
_savoir-faire_ on the part of the sportsman. It has been affirmed by a
Queensland writer, "To kill kangaroos with a stalking-horse requires the
practice of a lifetime, and few 'new chums' have the patience to learn it.
It is, in fact, only stockmen, black-fellows, and natives of the bush who
can by this method expect to make kangaroo-shooting pay." The horse which
is successfully employed by experienced bushmen for stalking purposes is
specially trained to its work, and, walking apparently unconcernedly in the
direction of the selected quarry, brings the gunners, if they are experts
in the art of keeping themselves well concealed, within easy range. In this
manner two or three kangaroos are not infrequently shot in the same stalk,
the animals having a tendency, on hearing the report of the gun, but not
locating the direction from which it was discharged, to rush about in an
aimless manner, and, as frequently happens, in the immediate direction of
the hidden sportsman. In the good old times it is recorded that an
experienced hand might kill as many as seventy or eighty kangaroos in a day
by this stalking method. The marsupials are at the present date, however,
so severely decimated that even in the most favourable settled districts a
bag of from twelve to twenty head must be regarded as exceptional. Stalking
the kangaroo on foot without the horse's aid is more strongly recommended
to those to whom an occasional shot is considered sufficiently
remunerative. Taking full advantage of intervening bushes and other
indigenous cover, an approach to within a hundred yards or so of the quarry
may be usually accomplished, though not quite so easily, perhaps, as might
be at first anticipated. It is the habit of the kangaroo to sit up
waist-high in the midst of the sun-bleached grass, which corresponds so
closely in colour with its own hide that unless the animal is silhouetted
against the sky-line it readily escapes detection.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
PARRY'S WALLABY.
In attitude of listening.]
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
PARRY'S WALLABY.
Characteristic feeding attitude.]
The conditions under which the kangaroo is obtained for the main purpose of
supplying the human commissariat is perhaps most aptly illustrated in
connection with its chase as prosecuted by the Australian aborigines. In
Tasmania and the Southern Australian States the primeval man is either
extinct or more rare than the kangaroo. In the extreme north and far
north-west, however, he still poses as "the lord of creation," and conducts
his hunting expeditions on a lordly scale. The food-supply of the
Australian native is essentially precarious. Long intervals of "short
commons" are interspersed with brief periods of over-abundance, in which he
indulges his appetite to its fullest bent. A kangaroo drive on native lines
represents to the Australian mind one of these last-named superlatively
memorable occasions. The entire tribe, men, women, and all capable youths,
participate in the sport. Fires are lit by one section of the tribe,
according to the direction of the wind, encircling a vast area of the
country, while the other section posts itself in detachments in
advantageous positions to intercept the terrified marsupials as they fly in
the presumed direction of safety to escape the devouring element. Spears
and waddies and boomerangs, in the hands of the expert natives, speedily
accomplish a scene of carnage, and the after feast that follows may perhaps
be best left to the imagination of the reader. The encroachments of
neighbouring natives on the happy hunting-grounds that time and custom have
conceded to be the sole monopoly of any one particular tribe is most
strenuously resented, and constitute one of the commonest sources of their
well-nigh perpetual inter-tribal battles.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef, Melbourne._
FOOT OF TREE-KANGAROO.
Underside, showing peculiar skin-corrugations and the united second and
third toes.]
A kangaroo battue, as carried into practice by European settlers in those
few remaining districts where the animal is sufficiently abundant to
constitute a pest by its wholesale consumption of the much-prized
pasturage, is far more deadly in its results to the unfortunate marsupials.
Existing sheep-fences, supplemented by a large suitably enclosed yard, are
first specially prepared for the reception of the expected victims. All the
settlers, stockmen, and farm hands from the country round are pressed into
service, and assemble on horseback or on foot at the appointed rendezvous
at break of day. A widely spreading cordon of beaters being told off, a
systematic drive is then commenced, which results in all the animals being
driven towards and collected within the enclosed yard. The culminating
scene is one of wholesale slaughter with club and gun. From these battues
none of the unfortunate animals escape, as they are so closely hemmed in.
The first record of the existence of the kangaroo, coupled with its
characteristic name, is found associated, it is interesting to observe,
with the history of one of the earlier voyages of Captain Cook. The
neighbourhood of Cooktown, in Queensland, claims the honour of supplying
the first example of the animal which was brought to Europe and astonished
the zoologists of that time by the singularity of its form and reported
habits. Captain Cook happened--in July, 1770--to be laying up his ship, the
_Endeavour_, for repairs, after narrowly escaping total wreck on the
neighbouring Great Barrier Reef, in the estuary of the river subsequently
coupled with his ship's name. Foraging parties, dispatched with the object
of securing, if possible, fresh meat or game for the replenishment of the
ship's well-nigh exhausted larder, returned with reports of a strange
creature, of which they subsequently secured specimens. Skins were
preserved and brought to England, but it was some little time before the
zoological position and affinities of the creature were correctly
allocated. By some naturalists it was regarded as representing a huge
species of Jerboa, its near relationship to the previously known American
Opossums being, however, eventually substantiated. The closer
acquaintanceship with the peculiar fauna of Australia that followed upon
Captain Cook's memorable voyage of discovery along the coast-line of that
island-continent soon familiarised naturalists with many other of the
allied species of which the kangaroo constitutes the leading
representative.
Some considerable amount of obscurity is associated with the prime origin
of the animal's almost world-wide title of "Kangaroo." It is most commonly
accepted as representing the native name for the creature in that
Queensland district from whence it was first reported by Captain Cook. No
later investigations and enquiries have, however, in any way established
the correctness of this hypothesis, those explorers who have made a special
study of the dialects and habits of the aboriginal inhabitants entirely
failing to elicit anything even remotely coinciding with the name in
question. It has, in fact, been reluctantly concluded by one of the most
experienced Queensland authorities on these matters that the name
originated as a mere miscomprehension of the information elicited from the
natives. Verbal communication with the native tribes under the most
favourable circumstances is liable to a vast amount of misunderstanding,
and where other than linguistic experts are present it frequently happens
that much mongrel or "pidgin English" gets mixed up with the native terms.
Assuming this to have been the case in the present instance, it has been
suggested that the name of Kangaroo, or "Kanguroo," as it was originally
spelt, implied some form of negation of the knowledge which the enquiring
white man was seeking to elicit, or, maybe, partly even a phonetic and
parrot-like repetition of the constantly recurring query that was doubtless
current among the "handy men" of the _Endeavour's_ commission, such as "Can
you" tell me this or that concerning the many unfamiliar objects that
greeted the eyes of the new arrivals in this strange land. The writer
retains a vivid recollection of a closely analogous manner in which the
rural inhabitants of Vigo Bay, on the Spanish coast, appropriated a common
phrase used by the crew of the yacht with whom he landed there. Having
evidently noted that the two words "I say" prefaced the majority of
Jack-tar's speeches, this catch-phrase was adopted and applied by them as a
greeting and as a reply to almost every interrogation in dumb-show or
otherwise that was addressed to them. An unknown animal submitted to these
rustic Solons would doubtless have been dubbed the "I say"; and had the
land been a new one--say, somewhere in the South Seas--that name would
probably have stuck to it. Applying this interpretation to the kangaroo,
and bearing in mind the fondness of the Australian native to duplicate his
name-words or syllables--e.g. _wagga-wagga_, _debil-debil_, and so
forth--the "Kang-you-you" or a closely resembling phonetic expression would
present itself to the native mind as a much more correct rendering of the
simpler "Can you" or "Kang you" which he had picked up as a catch-phrase
from the _Endeavour's_ crew. In the absence, at all events, of any more
rational interpretation of the mystery, this one would seem to merit
consideration.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BROWN TREE-KANGAROO.
This species represents the group in North Queensland.]
While the kangaroo is being speedily dethroned from the dominant position
it originally occupied in the indigenous Australian fauna, praiseworthy and
highly successful attempts have been made to acclimatise this marsupial on
British soil. At Tring Park, Lord Rothschild's estate, Woburn Abbey, and
elsewhere, troops of these graceful creatures may be seen under conditions
of happiness and liberty scarcely inferior to those by which they are
environed in their native "bush."
[Illustration: _Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin._ _Printed at Lyons,
France._
THE GREAT KANGAROO LEAPING.
In the posture in which this animal is represented the extraordinary size
and strength of the hind limbs and tail are displayed to the best
advantage. Both features are connected with the animal's marvellous powers
of leaping.]
Of smaller members of the Kangaroo Family, there are some thirty distinct
forms, popularly known in Australia as WALLABIES, WALLAROOS, PADDY-MELONS,
POTOROOS, KANGAROO-HARES, KANGAROO-RATS, etc. The wallabies, which
represent the most important group with regard to their larger size and
economic utility, number some fourteen or fifteen species, and are
distinguished, with relation more especially to their habitats or peculiar
structure, as ROCK-, BRUSH-TAIL, and SPUR-TAIL WALLABIES, etc. Among the
rock-wallabies the yellow-footed species from South Australia is
undoubtedly one of the handsomest as well as the largest member of its
group, the uniform grey characteristic of the majority of its members being
in this instance represented by an elegantly striped and banded form, in
which the several tints of brown, yellow, black, and white are pleasingly
interblended. A very fine example of this wallaby was included in the
valuable collection of animals, formerly at Windsor, recently presented to
the Zoological Society by His Majesty King Edward, and is now on view at
the Regent's Park. The successful stalking of rock-wallabies in their
native fastnesses entails no mean amount of patience and agility. Although
these animals are so abundant in favoured localities as to make hard-beaten
tracks to and fro betwixt their rock-dwellings and their pasture-grounds,
one may traverse the country in broad daylight without catching a glimpse
of a single individual. One species, about the size of a large rabbit, is
very plentiful among the rocky bastion-like hills that border the Ord
River, which flows into Cambridge Gulf, in Western Australia. Efforts to
stalk examples in broad daylight proved fruitless; but by sallying out a
little before daybreak, so as to arrive at their feeding-grounds while the
light was still dim, the writer succeeded in securing several specimens.
Many of these rock-wallabies are notable for the length, fine texture, and
pleasing tints of their fur, their skins on such account being highly
esteemed for the composition of carriage-rugs and other furry articles.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
TREE-KANGAROOS.
Examples acclimatised in the Melbourne Zoological Gardens.]
Of the larger brush or scrub varieties, the species known as the BLACK
WALLABY is the most familiar form. It is particularly abundant in the
Southern Australian States, and also in Tasmania. Its flesh is excellent
eating, and, dressed and served up in the orthodox manner of jugged hare,
can scarcely be distinguished from that toothsome dish. Some of the smaller
species, such as the hare- and rat-kangaroos or potoroos, are, as their
names denote, of no larger dimensions than the familiar rodents from which
they are popularly named. Several of these smaller species, including
notably the potoroo, or kangaroo-rat of New South Wales, are addicted to
paying marked attention to the settlers' gardens, and, being to a large
extent root-feeders, have acquired a special predilection for the newly
planted or more fully matured potato crops.
[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_] [_Notting Hill._
GAIMARD'S RAT-KANGAROO.
A species named after the French naturalist, Gaimard.]
The most abnormal group of the Kangaroo Family is undoubtedly that of the
TREE-KANGAROOS, formerly supposed to have been limited in its distribution
to the island of New Guinea, but which has within recent years been found
to be represented by one or more species in Northern Queensland. At the
Melbourne Zoo they have been found, except in the coldest weather, to
thrive well in the open--a moderate-sized tree, with a small fenced-in
enclosure around it, being admirably suited to their requirements, at the
same time providing a most instructive exhibition of their peculiar forms
and idiosyncrasies. Seen at its best, however, the tree-kangaroo, or
"boongarry," as it is known amongst the Queensland natives, is a most
clumsy, melancholy-looking beast, which has apparently found itself "up a
tree," not as the outcome of its personal predilections, but owing to the
_force majeure_ of untoward pressure in the form either of relentlessly
persecuting enemies or the failure of its normal terrestrial commissariat.
Compared with the graceful and superlatively agile tree-frequenting
phalangers, between whom and the ordinary kangaroos it has been sometimes,
but erroneously, regarded as representing a connecting-link, the boongarry
presents a most ungainly contrast. Its climbing powers are of the slowest
and most awkward description, the whole of its energies being concentrated
on its endeavour to preserve its balance and to retain a tight hold upon
the branches of the trees it frequents, and to which it clings with such
tenacity with its long sharp claws that it can with difficulty be detached.
In its wild state, moreover, these claws can be very effectively used as
weapons of defence; and hence the natives, with whom the animal is highly
esteemed as an article of food, are careful to give it its quietus with
their clubs or waddies before venturing to handle it. The tree-kangaroos
inhabit the densest parts of the forests or "scrubs" of New Guinea and
tropical Queensland, and appear to confine their movements chiefly to the
trees of moderate size, or the lower branches only of the taller ones.
The species which constitutes the most natural known connecting-link
between the typical Kangaroos and the family of the Phalangers, next
described, is the FIVE-TOED RAT-KANGAROO, or POTOROO. As its name implies,
it is a small creature of rat-like aspect and dimensions, and possesses,
like a rat, a long, cylindrical, naked, scaly tail. It is the structure of
the feet, however, that constitutes the important distinction. In place of
the four toes only to the hind limbs it possesses the full complement of
five, and the first toe, moreover, is set farther back, and is opposable
for grasping purposes. This animal is from Queensland.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea._
RAT-KANGAROO FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.
One of the small jerboa-like species.]
THE PHALANGERS.
The Phalanger Family of Marsupials, which next invites attention, is
constituted of animals especially adapted to lead an arboreal life, though
among themselves they exhibit very considerable structural variations. The
species usually placed at the head of this group is the essentially droll
and in many respects abnormal form known as the KOALA, or AUSTRALIAN NATIVE
BEAR. Its little podgy tailless body, short thick-set head, and round
tufted ears lend some countenance perhaps to the ursine analogy; but there
the likeness ends.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
KOALA, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEAR AND CUB.
An excellent illustration of the way in which the female koalas carry their
young securely perched on their backs.]
The koala is limited in its distribution to the south-eastern region of the
Australian Continent, and is there found inhabiting the loftiest gum-trees,
on the leaves and flowers of which it almost exclusively feeds. Compared
with the opossum and squirrel-like phalangers, the koala is a very slow and
sedentary little animal, remaining stationary in and browsing upon the
leaves of the same gum-tree for days or even weeks at a stretch. Taking
advantage of this home-staying propensity, examples are established, with
full liberty to wander at will among the large gum-trees, in the Melbourne
Zoological Gardens, and have never abused the confidence reposed in them by
surreptitiously absconding. The young koalas in particular make the most
droll and delightful of household pets, speedily becoming attached to and
following their owners about the premises, or contentedly settling down to
the possession of an allotted corner of the verandah, in which an
improvised perch has been erected and a constant supply of its favourite
gum-leaves is daily assured. One such example, kept in Brisbane,
Queensland, furnished the writer with the material for the photograph on
this page; also of another one that illustrated in an interesting manner
the very singular attitude assumed by the animal when asleep. Instead of
creeping into the hollow trunk or spout of a gum or other tree, as the
opossums and other phalangers are wont to do, the little "bear" simply
sticks tight to his supporting branch, and, tucking in his head and ears
and limbs, converts himself into an apparently homogeneous rounded mass of
fur or moss, and, thus disguised, peacefully sleeps. Seen at some little
distance, in fact, none but a trained eye could distinguish this sleeping
bear from one of the round woody excrescences or bunches of misletoe-like
parasitic growths that are of common occurrence on the trees in every gum
forest. In this way the little creature secures immunity from the attacks
of enemies by mimicking the characteristic peculiarities of its
environment, as obtains so generally among insects and other of the lower
orders of animated nature. A closely analogous sleeping attitude, it may be
mentioned, is assumed by one of the African lemurs or pottos, which have
been dealt with in a previous chapter.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
KOALA, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEAR.
The koala has no tail, and is a stout, clumsily built animal, about 32
inches in length, with thick woolly fur of a greyish colour.]
Although in captivity the koala takes kindly to a mixed diet in which
bread-and-milk and fruit may form substantial elements, it can rarely be
induced to altogether dispense with its customary gum-leaf regimen, and it
is this circumstance that mainly accounts for its rarity in European
menageries. Time and again, however, this interesting animal has put in an
appearance at the Regent's Park; but in spite of Kew Gardens and other
sources being laid under contribution for a supply of gum-tree leaves, its
sojourn there has been but brief. As a matter of fact, the common or blue
gum-tree, which is alone cultivated and available in any quantity in this
country, and which is indigenous to Tasmania, is not the species on which
the koala is accustomed to feed. Of gum-trees there are some hundred
species, every one differing in the peculiarity of its aromatic scent and
flavour, and having its special clientèle among the ranks of leaf-browsing
animals. So far as the writer's observations extended, it was the big
Queensland "white" and "swamp" gums that were especially patronised by the
Australian bears, and these are not grown in England.
Although at first sight, and normally so far as the younger individuals are
concerned, the koala would appear to represent the most perfect embodiment
of peace and goodwill among mammals, he is accredited at a maturer age,
when crossed in love or goaded to resentment by some other cause, to give
way to fits of ungovernable rage. These temporary lapses are, however, very
transient, and our little friend soon recovers his customary bland
placidity. While it is being threshed out, nevertheless, the "burden of
song" delivered by rival claimants for a partner's favours is a remarkable
phenomenon. The circumstance that the vocal duet is commonly executed high
up among the branches of the loftiest gums no doubt adds very considerably
to both the timbre of the "music" and the distance to which it is carried.
The old-time phrase of "making the welkin ring" would undoubtedly have been
applied with alacrity and singular appropriateness by the poets of the
departed century to the love-song of the koala, had they been privileged to
hear it.
Among the examples of the koala which have been in residence at the Zoo,
one of them came to a pathetic end. As told to the writer by Mr. A. D.
Bartlett, the late superintendent, it appears that the little animal, on
exhibition in the gardens during the day, was brought into the house at
night, and allowed the run of a room which, among other furniture, included
a large swing looking-glass. One morning the little creature was found
crushed to death beneath the mirror, upon which it had apparently climbed
and over-balanced. The information that the animal was a female evoked the
suspicion that personal vanity and the admiration of its own image in the
glass had some share in compassing its untimely end. Possibly, however, it
hailed in the reflection the welcome advent of a companion to share its
lone banishment from the land of the gum-tree, and in its efforts to greet
it thus came to grief.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
KOALA, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEAR.
These animals make a peculiarly plaintive cry when molested in any way by
human beings.]
The female koala produces but one cub at a time. At an early period after
its birth this is transferred to its mother's back, and is thus transported
until its dimensions are about one-half of those of its parent. The pair as
shown in the illustration on page 355 presents, under these conditions, an
essentially grotesque aspect.
It is a noteworthy circumstance that, compared with the male, the female
koala is but rarely to be observed wandering abroad during broad daylight.
As with the typical phalangers food is consumed chiefly at night or during
the brief Australian twilight hours. While the male at certain periods,
more especially the months of March and April, is much in evidence in
daytime to both the senses of sight and hearing, as attested to on a
previous page, the female spends the whole or greater portion of the day
clinging as an inert sleeping mass to a convenient branch. "Bear"-shooting
in Australia, as might be anticipated from the description here given of
the animal's habits and temperament, affords but sorry sport. It may
further be remarked that those who have shot at and only disabled one of
these inoffensive little creatures are scarcely likely to repeat the
experiment. The cry of a wounded koala has been aptly compared to that of a
distressed child, but still more pathetic. When fatally shot, it also more
frequently than otherwise clings tenaciously back-downwards, like the South
American sloths, to the supporting tree-branch, and is thus frequently
irrecoverable. With the non-sentimental Australian furrier the koala's pelt
of soft, crisp, ashy-grey fur is unfortunately in considerable demand,
being made up mostly, with the quaint round head and tufted ears intact,
into, it must be confessed, singularly attractive and warm rugs.
The correspondence of the koala in form and habits to the sloths among the
higher mammalia has been previously mentioned. The parallelism might be
pursued in yet another direction. In earlier times the small
tree-inhabiting South American sloths were supplemented by
ground-frequenting species, such as the Megatherium, which were of
comparatively titanic proportions. The epoch of the accredited existence of
these huge ground-sloths was so comparatively recent--the later
tertiaries--that it is even yet not regarded as altogether improbable that
some existing representative of the race may yet be discovered in the
fastnesses of the South American forests, and thus claim a niche in the
pages of a subsequent edition of "LIVING ANIMALS." In a like manner the
little sloth-like tree-frequenting "Australian Bear" had his primeval
ground-dwelling colossi, and there is yet a lurking hope among enthusiastic
zoologists that some surviving scion of the little koala's doughty
forebears may yet turn up in the practically unexplored Central Australian
wildernesses. Some such anticipations, as a matter of fact, stimulated the
hopes and aspirations of the participators in one of the latest of these
exploring expeditions, which, while not successful in this instance in
obtaining so great a prize, secured for science that most interesting and
previously unknown marsupial mammal the Pouched Mole.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
SQUIRREL-LIKE FLYING-PHALANGER OF VICTORIA.
This animal has soft grey fur like that of the chinchilla.]
THE TYPICAL PHALANGERS.
The typical PHALANGERS, or OPOSSUMS, as they are familiarly known
throughout Australia, include a very considerable number of
representatives, ranging in size from that of a small mouse to that of a
full-grown cat. All are essentially arboreal in their habits, feeding
principally on the leaves and flowers of the various gums. They are for the
most part strictly nocturnal in their habits, and make their homes and
retiring-places during the day in the hollow trunks and limbs that are of
such abundant occurrence in the periodically fire-swept Australian forests.
Almost all the larger species are notable for the length, thickness, and
exquisitely fine texture of their fur, a circumstance for which they are
consequently laid under heavy penalties for the sake of their pelts. The
island colony of Tasmania, in the extreme south, with its colder climate,
as might be anticipated, produces the finest qualities of these furs, that
of the BLACK or SOOTY OPOSSUM, which is peculiar to the island, being most
highly prized. The length and furry character of their in many instances
prehensile tails also form a conspicuous feature of this group. Nature, in
fact, apparently distributed caudal material so over-liberally among these
marsupials that the little koala had to make shift without.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
LARGER FLYING-PHALANGER.
A nearly pure white example.]
The group of the Phalanger Family popularly known as FLYING-SQUIRRELS, or
more correctly as FLYING-PHALANGERS, is almost universally admitted to
include some of the most beautiful of living mammals. In external
structure, so far as their peculiar so-called "flying" mechanism is
concerned, these animals coincide in a remarkable manner with the true
flying-squirrels, belonging to the Rodent Order, indigenous to the Asiatic
and American Continents. In neither instance is there flight, in the true
sense of the term, similar to that of birds and bats, but the fore and hind
limbs are connected by a parachute-like membrane, which, outstretched when
the animal leaps from tree to tree, buoys it up and enables its owner to
traverse, in a straight and gradually descending line only, very
considerable distances.
The smaller squirrel-like form common to the south-eastern districts of
Australia, and on account of its predilection for sweets commonly known as
the SUGAR-SQUIRREL, makes a most charming little pet. For the most part
addicted to sleep, and impatient at being disturbed during the day, towards
sundown it wakes up, and is full of frolic. One such example was the
writer's travelling companion for a considerable interval in Western
Australia. While remaining packed conveniently away in a small box
throughout the day, it was accustomed to enjoy the liberty of whatever
apartment its owner occupied in the evening and throughout the night,
returning of its own accord to its sleeping-box with the approach of dawn.
On one exceptional occasion, however, Master Tiny, as this individual was
named, was missing in the morning from his accustomed crib, and a prolonged
search and examination of every corner and article of furniture that could
afford shelter failed to recover him. That the little creature was lost
through some one having unwittingly left the door of the apartment open,
permitting its escape, was the only and much-deplored conclusion that could
be arrived at. Towards evening, however, there was a slight rustle close at
hand, and Master Tiny was discovered emerging, like Minerva from the head
of Jupiter, from the top of one of the old-fashioned china dogs that
decorated the hotel-room mantelpiece. The ornament, seemingly intact from
the front, had the back of the head battered in. Through the resulting
crevice the little animal had managed to squeeze itself, having come to the
conclusion, doubtless, that this newly chosen retreat more nearly resembled
the cavernous shelter of its native tree-spout than its accustomed
artificially constructed box. This singular domicile Master Tiny was
permitted to monopolise for the remainder of his sojourn at that hostelry.
One of the favourite diversions of this little phalanger during the
evenings was to climb up the curtain and cornice of the room he occupied,
and thence hurl himself through the air with outspread parachute to the
writer at the opposite end. The apartment, happening to be the commercial
room of the hotel, some thirty feet in length, gave him good scope for
exercising his characteristic flying leaps. The attitude invariably
maintained during these flights is aptly illustrated in the accompanying
photograph; the body is never poised with the head inclined downwards, as
is commonly depicted in artists' fancy sketches of the animal contained in
popular natural histories. A friend of the writer's in Tasmania, who kept
one of these flying-phalangers as a household pet, was accustomed to leave
a crevice of the window open at night, so that the little fellow could go
in and out as it liked. After the manner of most pets, however, a day
arrived upon which its box was found vacant, a marauding cat or other
disaster having apparently compassed its untimely end.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
LESSER FLYING-PHALANGER.
Illustrating position maintained during its remarkable flying leaps.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
PYGMY FLYING-PHALANGER.
A life-size photograph. The hairs of the tail in this animal are arranged
in two parallel lines, like the vanes of a bird's feather.]
The larger flying-phalanger, the dimensions of our domestic tabby, and with
fur as long and as soft as the Persian variety, is less frequently
domesticated. It has, in fact, an evil reputation for scratching, biting,
and general untamableness. One that was kept for some little time by the
late Dr. Bennett, of Sydney, and brought to England, never entirely lost
its innate savagery. On the voyage from Australia it became sufficiently
tame as to be allowed occasionally to run about on the deck, and was so far
amiable as to lay on its back and permit itself to be tickled. On
attempting to handle it, however, "it displayed its usual savage
disposition, digging its sharp claws and teeth into the bands of its
captor." The writer was fortunate in being the recipient in Queensland of a
couple of these large phalangers which were exceptions to the usual rule.
These specimens--a mother and its young male offspring--also varied in
colour from normal examples, which are usually dark slate or blackish brown
above and whitish underneath. The mother in this instance was a beautiful
cream-white throughout; and her young one, while dark chinchilla-grey upon
the back, limbs, and tail, had white ears and breast. Both were very
friendly, and would of their own accord climb over their owner's person,
seeking in his pockets for hidden lumps of sugar and other acceptable
dainties. As with the smaller squirrel-like forms, they slept throughout
the greater portion of the day, waking to activity and making excursions in
search of their food as soon as the sun went down. The tail of this species
of phalanger is abnormally long and furry, but not prehensile. It was
observed of them that when feeding leisurely on the gum-tree leaves this
appendage was permitted to hang or rest loosely, but that when walking
along the branches they would very frequently coil this member into a tight
spiral coil, like a watch-spring or the proboscis of a butterfly, against
their hindquarters. This phenomenon is apparently unique among mammals.
Although generally seeking the darker retreat of their box for their long
daylight sleep, the female, more particularly, would frequently simply curl
herself up into a furry white ball in one corner of the cage, the head,
limbs, or other features being at such times altogether indistinguishable.
The aid of the magnesium flash-light was successfully called into service
to secure the photographic likeness of this animal, here reproduced, which
was taken while it was enjoying its evening meal.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
COMMON GREY OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER.
The fur of this species is in great demand for the manufacture of
carriage-rugs.]
As previously mentioned, some representatives of the flying-phalanger group
are no larger than mice, and are furnished in a similar manner with a
parachute-like membrane that enables them to take abnormally long flying
leaps, or as it were to sail horizontally through the air. The PYGMY
FLYING-PHALANGER, whose length of body does not exceed 2½ inches, is one of
the most interesting. The tail in this form is also adapted for aerial
flotation, the long hairs that grow upon this appendage being arranged in
two parallel lines like the vanes of a feather. Its distribution is limited
to the south and eastern districts of the Australian Continent. There are
also a number of mouse- and squirrel-like phalangers destitute of the
flying-membrane, which in this respect very closely resemble in external
aspect more typical members of the Rodent Order. One form in particular,
the STRIPED PHALANGER of New Guinea, decorated with broad longitudinal
black and white stripes, is singularly suggestive of some of the variously
striped American squirrels. This interesting island of New Guinea also
produces a little PYGMY PHALANGER with a feather-like tail which, except
for the absence of a parachute or flying-membrane, is the very counterpart
of the Australian kind. Another species, which in shape, size, and more
especially with reference to its long, pointed snout, closely resembles a
shrew-mouse, is found in Western Australia. The tail of this species, known
as the LONG-SNOUTED PHALANGER, is highly prehensile; and it is also
provided with a long, slender, protrusile tongue, with which it abstracts
the honey from Banksias and other flowers, upon which it customarily feeds.
The two large phalangers known as the BLACK and GREY or VULPINE OPOSSUMS,
which are chiefly laid under contribution for the Australian fur supplies,
are provided with prehensile tails, the under side of the extremity of
which grasps the supporting fulcrum and is devoid of hair. The adaptation
of the tail for use as a fifth hand--as in the New World monkeys--is,
however, much more conspicuously manifested in what are known to the
colonists as the RING-TAILED OPOSSUMS, and to zoologists as
CRESCENT-TOOTHED PHALANGERS. In these the tail tapers to a fine point, and
the hair throughout the terminal third of this appendage is so fine and
short that it at first sight presents the appearance of being entirely
naked. This terminal third of the tail, moreover, in the greater number of
species, contrasts with the remaining portion by being white in hue. It
occasionally happens, however, that individuals occur which are entirely
white. One such which came into the writer's possession was obtained from
the Bruni Islands, in the Derwent Estuary, Tasmania, and afterwards became
a great pet with the young people at Government House, Hobart. It is an
interesting circumstance that the Bruni Islands were noted for the
production of albino animals of various descriptions, white kangaroos and
white emus having also been obtained from this locality. Probably some
peculiarity of the soil, and its action on the vegetable food the animals
consumed, played an important part in the unusually frequent occurrence of
this phenomenon.
[Illustration: _Photo by Henry King_] [_Sydney._
AUSTRALIAN GREY OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER.
On account of its "foxy" appearance, this species is also known as the
Vulpine Phalanger.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
FRONT VIEW OF GREY OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER.
Displays the bare under-surface of the prehensile tail.]
The ring-tailed opossums differ essentially from the common opossum or
phalanger and its allies in their life habits. While these latter
habitually take up their abode and bring forth their young in hollow trees,
the ring-tailed species construct a regular nest of interlaced sticks,
leaves, grass, or any other available material for their domicile. The
structure much resembles the nest, or "drey," of our own familiar European
squirrel, and may be perched high up among the tree branches or within only
a few feet from the ground among the scrub thickets. In New Guinea a
variety of these ring-tailed phalangers occurs, not found in Australia,
which has no white tip to its tail, and the ears are very short and wide.
The group as represented by this species leads to the consideration of the
so-called CUSCUSES or typical phalangers indigenous to New Guinea and North
Queensland, though but rarely seen there, which, as an exception to the
Marsupial Tribe, are distributed among the Indo-Malay Islands as far
westward as Celebes. In the cuscuses the tail is altogether naked, and
pre-eminently prehensile throughout almost its entire terminal moiety; the
ears are round and, proportionately, exceedingly small; while the fur is
very short, thick, and woolly. Compared with the opossums or phalangers,
the cuscuses are very dull and sluggish in their movements, creeping slowly
among the branches of the trees to browse on the fruit and leaves which
constitute their principal diet. Like the opossums, however, or even to a
greater extent, they vary this vegetarian regimen with insects or an
occasionally captured bird.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
PROFILE VIEW OF GREY OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER.
The opossums are usually shot by moonlight, as seen silhouetted against the
sky.]
THE CUSCUSES.
The familiar SPOTTED CUSCUS of New Guinea is the most ornate marsupial
mammal. The males, more especially, are as variegated in colour as a
tortoiseshell cat, their tints, moreover, closely corresponding in hue with
those of the feline. No two individuals, however, are precisely alike in
this respect. Usually the ground-colour of the back is a dirty or creamy
white, interspersed with various-shaped blotches of nut-brown or black; the
chin, breast, and under-parts are a purer white, and the limbs grey or
reddish brown, or, as shown in the photograph over-leaf, mottled like the
body. The BLACK CUSCUS of Celebes is, as its name denotes, a much more
sombre-looking animal, and is also the largest species, its dimensions
equalling or exceeding those of a large cat. The uniformly tinted GREY
CUSCUS of Timor, Amboina, and other of the Indo-Malay Islands is very
similar in size and aspect, excepting for the half-naked tail, to the
common ring-tailed phalanger. All the cuscuses are of rare occurrence in
even their most favoured habitats. On one occasion the writer came across
an example of the grey species in the scrub forest of Thursday Island,
Torres Straits. In this instance, however, it is doubtful if the animal was
not an escaped pet brought over from the neighbouring coast of New Guinea.
[Illustration: _By permission of S. Sinclair, Esq._] [_Sydney._
RING-TAILED OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER, AND NEST.
This is the only Australian opossum which builds a regular nest.]
Much interesting information concerning different varieties of the cuscus
is contained in Dr. Alfred Wallace's interesting work "The Malay
Archipelago." An anecdote of one which was brought to this naturalist
during his residence in the Aru Islands--the headquarters of the great bird
of paradise--is thus related: "Just as we had cleared away and packed up
for the night, a strange beast was brought, which had been shot by the
natives. It resembled in size and in its white woolly covering a small fat
lamb, but had short legs, hand-like feet with large claws, and a long
prehensile tail. It was a Spotted Cuscus, one of the curious marsupial
animals of the Papuan region, and I was very desirous to obtain the skin.
The owners, however, said they wanted to eat it; and though I offered them
a good price, and promised to give them all the meat, there was great
hesitation. Suspecting the reason, I offered, though it was night, to set
to work immediately, and get out the body for them, to which they agreed.
The creature was much hacked about, and the two hind feet almost cut off,
but it was the largest and finest specimen of the kind I had seen; and
after an hour's hard work I handed over the body to the owners, who
immediately cut it up and roasted it for supper."
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Croydon._
SPOTTED CUSCUS.
The cuscuses are sleepy animals, with soft, woolly fur, which in this
species is curiously variegated in colour.]
The remarkable tenacity of life possessed by the cuscus is fully attested
to by Dr. Wallace. He says: "They move about slowly, and are most difficult
to kill, owing to the thickness of their skins and tenacity of life. A
heavy charge of shot will often lodge in the skin and do them no harm, and
even breaking the spine or piercing the brain will not kill them for some
hours. The natives everywhere eat their flesh; and as their motions are so
slow, easily catch them by climbing; so that it is wonderful that they have
not been exterminated. It may be, however, that their dense woolly fur
protects them from birds of prey, and the islands they live in are too
thinly inhabited for man to be able to exterminate them."
One of the most notable circumstances respecting the cuscus is the fact
that it is one of the few marsupials whose geographical distribution
extends so far east in the Malay Archipelago as to be found associated with
many of the higher mammalia which are altogether unrepresented in Australia
or New Guinea. The Moluccas, including notably the islands of Silolo,
Ceram, Boru, and many smaller ones, for example, produce no less than three
species of cuscus, and are also the home of a species of baboon, a
civet-cat, a deer, and that remarkable pig the babirusa. One other
marsupial, a little flying-phalanger, is likewise a denizen of these
islands. It has been suggested by Dr. Wallace that none of the foregoing
higher mammals are possibly indigenous to the Moluccas. The baboon, he
remarks, is only found in the island of Batchian, and seems to be much out
of place there. It probably originated from some individuals which escaped
from confinement, these and similar animals being often kept as pets by the
Malay inhabitants and carried about in their praus. The civet-cat, which is
more common in the Philippines and throughout the Indo-Malay region, is
also carried about in cages from one island to another, and not
infrequently liberated after the civet has been abstracted from them. The
deer, which is likewise tamed and petted, its flesh also being much
esteemed for food, might very naturally have been brought by the Malays
from Java with the express object of its acclimatisation. The babirusa,
whose headquarters are in the island of Celebes, is only found in Boru, its
nearest neighbour in the Moluccan group. Dr. Wallace anticipates that these
two islands were in former times more closely connected by land, and that
under such conditions the babirusa may have swum across the intervening
channel. Should these several hypotheses be correct, the Molucca Islands
must be regarded, from a zoological standpoint, as an essentially
Australasian or marsupial-producing region.
THE WOMBATS.
The Wombat Family, claiming the next position in the marsupial galaxy,
constitutes the very antithesis to the light and graceful arboreal
phalangers. There are but three known species, one of these inhabiting
Tasmania and the adjacent islands, while the other two are peculiar to the
southern region of the Australian Continent. In forms and gait their
thick-set tailless bodies suggest a cross between a small bear and a
capybara, and as "bears" and "badgers" they are familiarly known by the
Australian colonists. The badger simile is perhaps the most pertinently
applied with reference to their habit of excavating huge earth-burrows as
dwelling-places, and out of which they customarily emerge only at night to
feed. The TASMANIAN WOMBAT, at all events, is essentially gregarious in its
habits; In the neighbourhood of Swansea, on the east coast, it is, or was,
particularly abundant, forming regular warrens among a light undergrowth of
vegetation, through which travelling on horseback is a distinctly risky
proceeding. The temperament of the wombat is peculiarly placid; and hence,
as it might be anticipated, they are essentially long-lived. One, Charlie
by name, which has been domiciled at the Zoo for the past thirty years, is
still hale and hearty, and evidently disinclined yet awhile to immolate
himself on the altar of fame as a much-needed successor to the antique
effigy which has for so long represented his species in the British Natural
History Museum. Waiting for dead men's shoes is a proverbially tedious
task, and for a coveted wombat's skin evidently more so.
The tough hide, with its thick, harsh fur, of the Tasmanian wombat, or
"badger," as it is locally dubbed, is somewhat highly prized in the land of
its birth. For floor- and door-mats and rugs the pelt is practically
indestructible; and as such, though scarcely a thing of beauty, the special
pride of the thrifty housewife. This animal is also not infrequently made a
household pet, and will waddle as complacently as an over-fed poodle around
the premises after its owner. The wombat, like the large majority of the
marsupial animals, is for the most part nocturnal in habits, and a strict
vegetarian.
The wombats present several interestingly distinct structural
peculiarities. In the first place, their teeth, which are twenty-four in
number, all grow uninterruptedly throughout life, and are consequently
devoid of roots. The incisor teeth are represented by but a single pair in
each jaw, and, having enamel only on their front surfaces, wear away in a
chisel-like form, as in the beavers and other rodents. Superficially in
both form and habits, as well as in the character of their dentition, the
wombats may in fact be aptly likened to some unwieldy representative of the
Rodent Order. Another structural peculiarity of the wombat is that it is
the proud possessor of two more pairs of ribs than any other marsupial.
[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor_] [_Ealing._
COMMON WOMBAT.
A burrowing animal about the size of a small pig.]
Of the three known species, the COMMON WOMBAT of the South and Eastern
Australian States is the largest, attaining to a length of as much as 3
feet. The colour of this form is subject to considerable variation, being
sometimes yellow, yellow more or less mixed with black, or completely
black. Albinism, as in the kangaroos and phalangers, is of apparently rare
occurrence. The hair, while coarse, is less so than in the Tasmanian
species. What is known as the HAIRY-NOSED WOMBAT, inhabiting South
Australia, is intermediate in size between the common and the Tasmanian
varieties; its most distinctive features are the soft and silky character
of its brownish hair, and its longer and more pointed ears. The coarseness
of the hair of the Tasmanian species has been previously referred to; in
colour it is most usually a dark greyish brown, while the ears are small
and rounded.
The flesh of the wombat is somewhat esteemed for food, being regarded by
some as equal to pork, and much resembling it in flavour. The predilection
of tame specimens for milk is very strong, and it has been recorded of one
animal that it was not only in the habit of seeking out the milk-pans and
pushing off the covers in order to drink the contents, but afterwards of
taking a bath in what was left.
[Illustration: _Photo by E. Landor_] [_Ealing._
HAIRY-NOSED WOMBAT.
A form peculiar to South Australia.]
A remarkable habit has been accredited to the wombat which invites
scientific investigation. It is said to be capable of sustaining life for
an abnormally long period under water, and that when in the course of its
travels it meets with a pond or river it does not attempt to swim, but,
deliberately entering the water, walks along the bottom, and so emerges on
the opposite bank.
The animals of Australia living in not very remote geological times
included a near ally of the wombat which equalled a tapir in dimensions.
THE BANDICOOTS.
The Australian BANDICOOTS--not to be confounded with their namesake of
India, which is a big rat--constitute a very distinct little family group.
They number in all some eight or nine species, distributed throughout the
length and breadth of Australia and Tasmania, and found also in New Guinea.
The largest member is about the size of a rabbit; and as its general shape,
long ears, and soft silky hair impart some slight resemblance to that
rodent, it is commonly known as the RABBIT-BANDICOOT. With the
above-enumerated points, however, the likeness ceases--its possession of a
moderately long tail, pointed snout, and feet modified on a plan closely
resembling those of the kangaroo's indicating its essentially distinct
nature. In a second variety, having somewhat the same external contour, but
smaller in size, the fore limbs are very short, and the feet so modified
that only two toes are visible externally. With reference to this peculiar
feature, it is known as the PIG-FOOTED BANDICOOT. In a third kind of
similar dimensions, with harsh brown fur, the ears are comparatively short,
and the snout is so abnormally prolonged that, it has been appropriately
named the LONG-NOSED BANDICOOT. Superficially, in point of fact, this and
other allied species so closely resemble certain of the long-snouted
insectivorous mammals, such as the Tenrec and Solenodon, that they might be
excusably mistaken by the non-scientific for members of the same group. The
bandicoots are chiefly nocturnal, and at all events incorrigible
"sun-downers," turning up for their meals when the evening shadows fall,
and taking a heavy and unwelcome toll of the farmers' potatoes, beets, or
other root, crops. Like the wombat, already described, they are
earth-burrowers. Some of them, however, construct nests above-ground in
long coarse grass or low tangled shrubs, which are so ingeniously built in
accord with their environment as to readily escape detection. Insects and
worms, in addition to a main diet of vegetable matter, contribute to the
bandicoot's somewhat heterogeneous menu.
[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._] [_Aberdeen._
COMMON WOMBAT.
The Wombats may be said to hold the place occupied in other parts of the
world by the Badgers.]
The wood- and root-boring larvæ of a moth which infests the Australian
wattle- or acacia-trees are a very favourite food with several of the
species, and it is worthy of remark that the bandicoots are not alone in
displaying a penchant for this delicacy. Under the title of "bardies" they
are collected and highly esteemed for food by the natives of Western
Australia, who eat them either cooked or raw. These larvæ are, moreover,
acceptable to many European palates, and the writer has witnessed little
faggot-like bundles of them brought round by the natives to the hotels at
Geraldton, Western Australia, for sale or barter to chance customers. It
may be observed in this connection that the analogous wood-boring larvæ of
the goat-moth, which were kept and specially fattened for the occasion,
constituted one of the dainty dishes of the luxurious Romans.
One of the commonest species found in Tasmania is known as the BANDED or
STRIPED-BACKED BANDICOOT, being so named on account of the characteristic
markings of its fur. The general ground-colour of the coat is an almost
equal admixture of black and yellow hairs, the black tint, however,
prevailing on the back, and the lighter one on the sides. The hindquarters
are, however, variegated by the presence of some three or four broad
transverse stripes that are almost entirely black, while the intervening
spaces are a light whitish yellow. A few shorter stripes are sometimes
continued as far as the root of the tail, this appendage also having a dark
line running along its upper surface. The head is of a somewhat lighter
tint than the remainder of the body, while the breast, abdomen, and feet
are white, slightly tinged with grey. The transversely striped pattern of
ornamentation of the hindquarters of this bandicoot is of interest with
relation to the circumstance that a similarly located banded variegation of
the fur occurs also in the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, and in the banded
ant-eater, described in a following section. As a colour-pattern it would
appear to be quite peculiar to these marsupials, no such restriction of the
markings occurring among the higher or placental mammals. In the South
African suricate, a member of the Ichneumon Tribe, in which the nearest
approach to this dorsal banding is met with, the stripes are equally
developed as far forward as the base of the neck.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
LONG-NOSED AUSTRALIAN BANDICOOT.
Bandicoots, although larger, have somewhat the appearance of shrews.]
Both the banded and other species of bandicoots are extremely swift and
active in their movements, and are at the same time noted for the
singularity of their gait. This consists of a half-running and half-jumping
action, induced by the peculiar structure of their feet and greater length
of the hind legs, which are modified on a plan intermediate between that of
the kangaroos and the dasyures, or native cats. The back of the animal
while running being highly arched, adds to the grotesqueness of its
appearance. Like the native cats, the pouch in the bandicoots opens
backwards; it is furnished with eight teats, but not more than two young
are usually produced at a birth.
The striped-backed bandicoot is not infrequently adopted as a household
pet, in spite of its notorious garden depredations. When thus domesticated,
it appears to be capable of developing a strong attachment for its owner.
One that was owned by friends of the writer especially attached itself to
the lady of the house. It was acquired when quite young, having escaped
from the pouch of an adult female which the dogs had killed, and being then
about the size of a mouse. It speedily learned to lap milk, and throve on a
diet of bread and raw potato. As it grew larger it was allowed the run of
the house, and also of the garden, but habitually returned to the
sleeping-quarters selected by itself, and represented by the woolly depths
of its mistress's work-basket. In this haven of rest it slept all day,
scolding and snapping at any intruding hand. Towards dusk it would waken up
and bustle about in a most energetic manner, with the air, in fact, of
having an immense amount of business to transact within the very shortest
limits of time. Its first dart was always towards a corner where a supper
of bread-and-milk and potato was usually placed. This meal discussed, its
evening's occupation commenced of scampering around the room and over every
accessible article of furniture. Nor was it shy of climbing up and resting
for a few seconds on the shoulders of its human friends, being always,
however, in too great a hurry to prolong the visit. Finally, as with all
pets, "Coota," as he was familiarly named, came to an untimely end--not a
cat, however, on this occasion, but, if rumour whispers true, through
over-indulgence in a too liberally furnished meal of custard pudding.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
RABBIT-BANDICOOT.
The largest of the bandicoots; about the size of a rabbit.]
The flesh of this and other species of bandicoots is esteemed for food both
by the natives and the white settlers in Australia. It is noteworthy of the
banded variety, more especially, that the skin adheres so tightly to the
flesh that its removal is a matter of some considerable difficulty. When
full grown, this species measures as much as 18 inches in total length, and
is little inferior to a rabbit with regard to the amount of good meat it
provides for the larder.
THE POUCHED MOLE.
A still more essentially insectivorous marsupial is represented by the
little mammal discovered only a few years since in the wild sandy wastes of
Central Australia. In form and habits it so nearly resembles the familiar
European mole that the title of the POUCHED MOLE has been very suitably
given to it. At the same time, with regard to its remarkable organisation,
it constitutes the sole representative of its peculiar family group. The
first suspicions of the existence of this singular little animal were
raised by the observation of peculiar sinuous three-lined tracks at
irregular intervals on the surface of the sandy regions it inhabits.
After a long quest, with the aid of the aborigines, the first specimen was
discovered reposing under a tuft of coarse porcupine-grass. A further
investigation elicited the fact that its burrowing proclivities were much
less pronounced than those of the ordinary moles, the little creature
progressing alternately over the surface of the sand, and then ploughing
its way, for several feet or yards, two or three inches only beneath the
surface. All efforts to preserve examples of this marsupial alive for
longer periods than three or four days proved abortive; for though the
remains of ants and other insects were found within its viscera, it refused
to feed upon the living supplies that were provided for it. In fact, the
animal itself apparently ran the greater risk of being eaten.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
POUCHED MOLE.
This animal is of a pale golden-red colour, and about 5 inches long. It
spends most of its time burrowing, which it can do with great rapidity, in
the sand of the Australian deserts in search of insects.]
The colour of the pouched mole is for the most part light fawn, varying in
parts to golden yellow. One of its most conspicuous features, as
illustrated in the accompanying photographs, is the abnormal size of the
third and fourth toes of the fore limbs, their peculiar scoop-like
character proving of eminent service to the animal in its customary
sand-burrowing habits.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea._
UNDER SURFACE OF POUCHED MOLE.
Notice the abnormal size of the third and fourth toe of the fore limbs, and
their peculiar scoop-like shape.]
THE TASMANIAN WOLF.
The remaining family of the Australian marsupials constitutes a parallel to
the carnivorous order of the higher mammalia, all its members being more or
less flesh-eaters, and having their dentition modified with relation to
such habits. One of these (the TASMANIAN WOLF, or TIGER of the colonists,
better known to zoologists as the THYLACINE) is an animal of considerable
size. Its dimensions equal those of a wolf or mastiff, with which the
contour of its body and more especially that of the head very nearly
correspond. In common with the true dogs, the thylacine hunts its prey by
scent. This is well attested to by the following incident, as related by
eye-witnesses. While camping out among the hills in Tasmania their
attention was attracted very early one morning by a brush-kangaroo hopping
past their fire in an evidently highly excited state. Some ten minutes
later up cantered a she thylacine with her nose down exactly on the track,
evidently following the scent, and in another quarter of an hour her two
cubs came by also in the precise track. While not very swift, the Tasmanian
"tigers" possess immense staying power, and will keep up a long, steady
canter for many hours on end. Accustomed in its primitive state to run down
and prey upon the kangaroos, wallabies, and other weaker marsupial mammals
indigenous to the regions it inhabits, the Tasmanian wolf speedily acquired
a predilection for the imported flocks of the settlers, and proved almost
as destructive to them as its Old World namesake. To check its ravages, a
price was put upon its head by the Tasmanian Government; and this measure,
in conjunction with the rapid advances towards the complete settlement of
the country which have been accomplished within later years, has compassed
this animal's extermination in all but the wildest and most inaccessible
mountain districts. The colour-markings of this animal are somewhat
striking, the grey-brown tints which characterise the ground-hues of the
body and limbs being varied by a series of dark bands traversing the
buttocks, these being widest in this region, and continued forwards to the
middle of the back. A somewhat similar cross-stripe pattern of
ornamentation occurs in the relatively small member of the same family
described later on as the Banded Ant-eater.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S., North Finchley._
TASMANIAN WOLF.
This photograph shows the great width of gape of this ferocious animal.]
Examples of the Tasmanian wolf have frequently been on view at the Regent's
Park Gardens, a very fine young male specimen being at present located in
the marsupial section. Within a few weeks of its arrival it was on
excellent terms with its keeper, though, owing to its somewhat imperfect
sense of vision during the daytime, it was apt to snap somewhat
promiscuously at those attempting to cultivate its close acquaintanceship.
That a bite from its formidable teeth is not to be lightly risked will be
made abundantly apparent by a glance at the successful yawning pose
photograph secured of this example by Mr. Medland, and here reproduced.
Although the thylacine is at the present time entirely limited in its
distribution to Tasmania, it occurs in the fossil state on the Australian
mainland; while, singularly to relate, the remains of a closely allied form
have within recent years been unearthed in Patagonia. This circumstance,
taken in conjunction with the fact that many other fossil types with
Australian and New Zealand affinities have been discovered in the same
South American strata, has strengthened the supposition maintained by many
zoologists that in bygone ages a vast Antarctic continent, spreading
through the areas now occupied by the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans,
temporarily united the now distinct lands of South America and Australasia.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
TASMANIAN WOLF.
In this photograph are shown nearly all the chief characteristic points of
the Tasmanian wolf.]
THE TASMANIAN DEVIL.
Next in size to the thylacine, but possessing a more unenviable notoriety
for the uncompromising sulkiness and savagery of its disposition, is the
animal which, in virtue of the aforesaid qualities, is known by the title
of the TASMANIAN DEVIL. In shape and dimensions this marsupial carnivore
somewhat resembles a badger; but the head is abnormally large, the masseter
muscles which control the action of the powerful jaws monopolising a very
considerable share of the face area. The limbs are short and also very
powerful, the front paws being well adapted to its burrowing habits. There
is some slight variation in the colours of this marsupial Apollyon; and, as
the aphorism runs concerning his sable namesake, he is not always so black
as he is painted. More or less or in fact mostly black he always is, but
there is usually a redeeming thread or patch of white upon his coat. This
may take the form of a small star-like spot only on the front of its chest,
which not infrequently extends to a narrow crescent-shaped band or line
continued round the neck almost to the shoulders. One or more supplementary
spots of white may also be developed upon the flanks and hindquarters.
[Illustration: _Photo by York & Son_] [_Notting Hill._
TASMANIAN DEVIL.
A small, but stout and powerful animal, very destructive, and absolutely
untamable.]
The destructive propensities of the Tasmanian devil, wherein the farmers'
sheep and poultry are concerned, are in no way inferior to those of the
Tasmanian wolf, and in consequence of their former much greater abundance
the havoc these animals committed was the more serious. Placed, like the
last-named type, under Government ban, these native devils have, in
comparison with the earlier days of colonisation, very considerably ceased
from troubling, and with the ever-progressing march of settlement and
civilisation will probably be altogether exterminated at a no very distant
date. A bag of no less than 150 of these marauders, in the course of one
winter, was recorded from an upland sheep-station some twenty or thirty
years ago. In common with the thylacine, it has been observed that the
Tasmanian devil has a marked predilection for prowling along the seashore
in search apparently of crabs, fish, or any acceptable flotsam and jetsam
that may be cast up by the waves.
Examples of this most unamiable of mammals were brought in alive on several
occasions to the Hobart Museum during the writer's residence in Tasmania,
but in all cases obstinately resisted every attempt towards the
establishment of a friendly footing. Their ultimate relegation to the
specimen-cases was, under the circumstances, unattended by any very
poignant manifestations of regret. A fact brought into prominent notice
during subsequent post-mortem investigations was the extraordinary extent
to which these animals are infested with vermin. Possibly this circumstance
is to a considerable extent accountable for the creature's unconquerable
irritability. The experiment as to whether a course of disinfecting
treatment, by baths or otherwise, would not conduce towards the taming of
this native devil, where all other applied methods have failed, would at
all events be worth the trial. The bath pure and simple is a wonderful
soporific for unruly tempers. As most schoolboys know, a pail of water,
from which the patient is withdrawn when a watery grave is apparently
inevitable, is an unfailing specific for the taming of mice and other
"small deer." The writer's experience with a villainously savage cat which
one night fell incontinently into an uncovered cistern, and was rescued by
him at almost the last gasp, will not be readily forgotten. That cat,
though still a vixen to the ordinary members of the household, forthwith
attached itself affectionately to its rescuer, and would sit for hours
awaiting his arrival on the doorstep when the business of the day was over.
Other fierce creatures, including the Tasmanian devil, would possibly prove
amenable to the judicious application of the "water cure."
THE NATIVE CATS.
The animals common in Tasmania and throughout the greater portion of the
Australian Continent, and familiarly known as SPOTTED or NATIVE CATS, and
to zoologists as DASYURES, enjoy also an unenviable reputation for their
depredations among the settlers' hen-roosts. To look at, these native cats
are the most mild-mannered and inoffensive of creatures. Actually, however,
they possess the most bloodthirsty proclivities, and may be aptly compared
in their habits to the stoats, weasels, polecats, and other Old World
carnivora. There are some five known species, the largest being equal to an
ordinary cat in size, and the smaller ones about half these dimensions. All
of them are distinguished by their spotted pattern of ornamentation, such
spots being white or nearly so, and more or less abundantly sprinkled over
a darker background which varies from light grey to chocolate-brown. In the
commonest form, represented in the accompanying photograph, the ears and
the under surface of the body are also often white. No two individuals,
however, are to be found precisely alike in the pattern of their markings.
The dasyures differ from the two preceding types, the Tasmanian wolf and
the devil, in being essentially arboreal in their habits, living by day and
breeding, as the majority of the Australian opossums, in the hollow
gum-tree trunks, from which they emerge at nightfall to seek their food.
This, in their native state, when hen-roosts are not accessible, consists
mainly of birds and such smaller marsupial forms as they can readily
overpower.
[Illustration: _By permission of S. Sinclair, Esq._] [_Sydney._
SPOTTED DASYURES, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE CATS.
This species is rather smaller than an ordinary-sized cat. All the dasyures
are arboreal in their habits, and very destructive to birds.]
THE POUCHED MICE.
The so-called POUCHED MICE represent a group of smaller-sized carnivorous
mammals which have much in common with the dasyures, but are devoid of
their spotted ornamentation. None of them exceed a rat in size. They number
about twelve or fourteen known species, and are distributed throughout the
greater part of Australia and New Guinea, and extend thence to the Aru
Islands. They are said not to occur in the extreme north of the Australian
Continent. The writer, however, obtained an example of the brush-tailed
species, here illustrated, from the neighbourhood of Broome, in the
farthest north or Kimberley district of Western Australia. This specimen,
which was caught alive in a rat-trap, exhibited astonishingly potent
gnawing powers, almost succeeding one night in eating its way through the
wooden box in which it was temporarily confined. The habits of this species
are omnivorous, and chiefly akin to those of the ordinary rats, it being
accustomed to prowl round the out-buildings at night, picking up any
unconsidered trifles in the way of food that may be left unprotected.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BRUSH-TAILED POUCHED MOUSE, OR PHASCOGALE.
A slender and graceful animal, the largest of the thirteen known species,
and about the size of an ordinary rat.]
Many of the smaller members of this tribe are no larger than mice; and in
one form, known as the JERBOA POUCHED MOUSE, inhabiting Queensland and New
South Wales, the hind limbs are abnormally prolonged, and the animal
progresses by leaps and bounds, after the fashion of the true jerboas, or
its nearer relatives, the ordinary kangaroos and rat-kangaroos.
THE BANDED ANT-EATER.
One of the most interesting from the zoologist's standpoint, and the last
on our list of the Australian marsupials, is the little creature, limited
in its habitat to Western Australia, locally known as the SQUIRREL. The
BANDED ANT-EATER, with reference to its striped ornamentation and
ant-eating habits, is the name by which it is usually chronicled in natural
history works. In size and shape, except for its more pointed snout, its
squirrel-like aspect is certainly somewhat striking. Like the true
ant-eaters of the Edentate Mammalian Order, it, however, possesses a long
protrusile tongue, with which it is accustomed in a similar manner to lick
up the ants which constitute its main food-supply.
The most interesting biological peculiarity of this animal is the abnormal
development of its teeth. These number as many as from fifty-two to
fifty-six, and exceed the dental formula of any other known existing
marsupial. The usual colour of this interesting little animal is a warm
chestnut-brown, banded transversely over the back with white, these stripes
being widest and most conspicuous over the hindquarters. This somewhat
paradoxical marsupial possesses no pouch, the young, when first born and
attached to the nipples in the manner characteristic of ordinary
marsupials, being covered over and concealed among the longer hairs that
clothe the abdominal region. In the dasyures, or native cats, previously
described, the pouch exists only in a rudimentary condition, its function
being fulfilled by merely a few skin-folds; while in the "tiger" and native
devil the pouch, contrary to that of the kangaroos, opens backwards.
In disposition the banded ant-eater presents a marked contrast to that of
many of the preceding types. Caught in its native habitat, it does not
attempt to bite, and soon becomes reconciled to captivity. The peculiar
nature of its diet, however, militates against its being easily transported
over-sea from the Antipodes.
THE AMERICAN OPOSSUMS.
The little group of the American marsupials contains some three or four
generically distinct types whose relationship with the Australian members
of the order is in the direction of the dasyures and bandicoots rather than
with the kangaroos and phalangers. Included in one family, they are
popularly known as Opossums, but differ among themselves very considerably
both in aspect and habits. The most remarkable among them is undoubtedly
the so-called YAPOCK, or WATER-OPOSSUM, an inhabitant of South America, and
ranging in its distribution from Guatemala to Brazil. In both form and
habits this animal so closely resembles an otter that it was referred by
the earlier naturalists to the Otter Tribe. It tunnels holes in the banks
of the rivers it frequents, and feeds entirely upon fish, crustacea, and
aquatic insects. The feet, and more especially the hind ones, are
distinctly webbed; the tail is naked, scaly, and non-prehensile; and the
fur is short and thick, as in the ordinary otters. The ground-tint of the
fur is a light grey: this is diversified by a black or dark brown stripe
that runs down the centre of the back, and expands over the shoulders,
loins, and hindquarters into saddle-shaped patches or bands of the same
dark hue.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BANDED ANT-EATER.
From an anatomical point of view, this is one of the most remarkable of the
pouched mammals.]
The COMMON or VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM, while the only representative of the
Marsupial Order found in the temperate latitudes of the North American
Continent, has a very considerable range of distribution, occurring in
equal abundance throughout the tropical regions of South America. In these
warmer latitudes it differs to such an extent in the character of its fur
and other minor points that it was for some time regarded as a distinct
species, and was distinguished by the title of the CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.
Biologists are, however, now agreed that the supposed species is only a
local variety. As a matter of fact, a very considerable amount of variation
in the colour and markings is found to exist among the individuals of the
most familiarly known northern race. In form the animal may be suitably
compared to a huge rat, nearly equalling a cat in size, with an abnormally
large head and pointed snout. The tail is long, almost naked for the
greater portion of its length, and pre-eminently prehensile. The fur is of
a mixed character, consisting of an undergrowth of a fine, close, woolly
texture, through which protrudes a less dense series of long bristle-like
hairs. The colour of the fur ranges from black to white, and includes all
varieties of intermixture. The face, more especially in the northern race,
is usually much the lightest or altogether white, while in the tropical
South American examples it is more often darker, or it may be completely
black.
The opossum, like the rat, is an omnivorous feeder; and being of so much
larger size, and possessing an insatiable appetite, constitutes itself a
veritable pest to the fruit-grower, the agriculturist, and the
poultry-farmer. In effecting its entrance to hen-roosts or other
food-yielding enclosures, it exhibits an amount of cunning and pertinacity
possessed by no other mammal. Caught red-handed in these depredations, it
has recourse to stratagems which have won for it a reputation that has long
since passed into a household word. Feigning death, or "playing 'possum,"
is a game at which it is well known to be a past-master, but by which it
still frequently succeeds in hoodwinking the unwary, and so saves its skin.
Discovered thieving, and receiving perhaps a haphazard but by no means
disabling blow, it at once collapses, and with film-covered eyes and
protruding tongue is to all intents and purposes dead. It may be kicked
round the premises, and finally probably taken up by the tail and flung
ignominiously outside, without betraying vitality by even so much as a
wink. But no sooner is the coast thoroughly clear of the avenger than the
stiffened limbs relax, the eyes reopen, and Brer 'Possum trots off, as
fresh as ever. Maybe it is the ripening maize or the persimmon-patch that
next engages his attention, and in either case he walks in and feeds right
royally, laying up a goodly store of fat against the approaching winter
months of scarcity.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
YAPOCK, OR WATER-OPOSSUM.
In habits, although not in size and colour, this marsupial may be compared
to a wolf.]
Away from human habitations the opossum is an essentially arboreal animal,
living and breeding for the most part, like his Australian cousins, in
hollow trees, and making excursions therefrom in all directions in quest of
food. His much-mixed natural diet may consist of tender shoots and leaves,
and the wild grapes and the many other berries and fruits the forest
produces. He craves, however, after a due admixture of animal pabulum, and
birds and their eggs, insects, lizards, and the smaller mammals furnish
their quota to his menu. Crustacea, such as crabs and the crayfish which
abound in the American streams and marshes, have an irresistible attraction
for him; and it is on this account that, in the southern area of his
distribution, where these crustacea are so plentiful as to constitute his
main diet, and his face is browned by the more glowing sun, he is known by
the title of the Crab-eater.
Although fattening up against the winter, he, even in his most northern
limits, does not hibernate, but may even be seen leisurely picking his way
over the snow, probably tracking some unfortunate squirrel to its lair,
which in due time is located, dragged out, and devoured. While assimilating
his meal of flesh or fruit, Brer 'Possum likes to have all four hands at
liberty, his hind feet being also graspers; and so he twists his tail round
a convenient branch, and, hanging _perdu_, leisurely enjoys his feast. The
opossum, like the rat--to which it has in aspect and many of its habits
been likened--is a most prolific breeder, as many as from six to sixteen
young being comprised in the litter. When born, they are immediately
transferred to the somewhat capacious pouch, and remain there without
venturing outside until they are about the size of an ordinary mouse.
A third and very distinct type of American opossums is the one represented
on page 380, which, from its mouse-like size and aspect, is commonly known
as the MURINE OPOSSUM. The most distinct feature of this little animal is
that, though a genuine marsupial, it has no pouch, but carries its young on
its back, the little creatures twining their tails round that of their
mother, and so securing a stable anchorage. Although thus loaded up and
transformed for the time being into a sort of combination perambulator and
feeding-flask, the happy but anxious parent pursues the even tenor of her
way among the tree-branches and thicket-growths with almost unabated
agility. This species, in common with MERIAM'S OPOSSUM and the WOOLLY
OPOSSUM and several others which carry their young, to as many as a dozen
in number, on their backs, are denizens of tropical South America. One of
these, named the PHILANDER OPOSSUM, attains to the somewhat larger size of
about 2 feet in total length, the long prehensile tail representing,
however, the greater moiety of these dimensions.
THE SELVA.
South America has one other marsupial--the SELVA--an animal which, while
possessing the dimensions and much of the aspect of an ordinary rat, is
remarkable as differing so materially in the character of its teeth and
other structural points that it cannot be referred to any existing
marsupial family. On the other hand, this type is found to coincide in the
above particulars with species hitherto only known in the fossil state, and
excavated from the same tertiary deposits in Patagonia which have been
productive of the distant ally of the Tasmanian wolf. It is yet hoped by
zoologists that the discovery of other interesting and possibly some
supposed extinct mammals may reward the thorough exploration of the vast
South American forests. The capture in the flesh of some form allied to the
huge ground-sloths, such as the Mylodon and Megatherium, is, however, now
considered to be quite beyond the pale of possibility.
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
YOUNG OPOSSUM (NATURAL SIZE).
This is an interesting photograph, as it is reproduced life-size, and gives
an excellent idea of the animal in its native land.]
MONOTREMES, OR EGG-LAYING MAMMALS.
With this group or order of the Mammalian Class we arrive, as it were, on
the borderland between the mere typical Mammals and Reptiles. In the last
group, that of the Marsupials, it was observed that the young were brought
into the world at an abnormally early and helpless phase of their
existence, and usually consigned, until able to see and walk, to a
variously modified protective pouch. With the Monotremes a yet lower rung
in the evolutional ladder is reached, and we find that the young are
brought into the outer world as eggs, these being in the one case deposited
in a nest or burrow, and in the other carried about by the parent in a
rudimentary sort of pouch until they are hatched.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
WOOLLY AMERICAN OPOSSUM.
This animal is about the size of a large mouse. It carries its young on its
back, their tails being entwined round that of their parent.]
The living representatives of this singular mammalian order are but few in
number, being restricted, in point of fact, to only two distinctly
differentiated family types--the Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater, and the
Platypus. These monotremes, moreover, like the majority of the existing
marsupials, are limited in their distribution to the Australasian region.
The single species of the Platypus is only found in Tasmania and the
southern and eastern districts of the Australian Continent, while the
Echidna numbers some three recognised species, two of which belong to
Australia and Tasmania and the third to New Guinea.
THE ECHIDNA.
The ECHIDNA, PORCUPINE ANT-EATER, or "PORCUPINE," as it is commonly called
by the Australian colonists, would seem at first sight to represent an
animal in which the characters of the hedgehog and the common porcupine are
interblended, the innumerable spines being longer than those of the former,
but less in length than those of the last-named animal. The head, with no
externally visible ears and remarkable elongated beak-like snout, however,
at once proclaims it to be altogether distinct from these. The animal has
no teeth, and the tiny mouth at the termination of the beak-like snout
simply constitutes an aperture for the extrusion of the worm-like glutinous
tongue, wherewith, after the manner of the true ant-eaters, it licks up the
inhabitants of the ants' nests upon which it feeds. For tearing down the
ants' nests and obtaining its customary food, as also for its inveterate
burrowing propensity, the feet, and more especially the front ones, are
provided with strong, blunt, and very powerful claws. The male animal is in
addition armed on the hind feet with a peculiar supplementary spur, which
is, however, still more conspicuously developed in the platypus.
Three distinct species of the echidna are recognised by zoologists. The one
peculiar to the cooler climate of Tasmania is remarkable for its more
slender spines, the much greater abundance of the long bristle-like hairs,
and the thickness of the seal-brown under-fur, as compared with the typical
Australian form. In North-west New Guinea the largest and most aberrant
form is met with. Normally it has only three toes in place of five to each
foot, the spines are very long and thick, the body is deeper and more
compressed, and the animal stands comparatively high upon its feet.
The writer, during his residence in Tasmania, had several examples of the
local species as domestic pets. For the first few days they were very shy
and untractable, burrowing into the earth and seeking to escape, or
presenting an impenetrable _cheval de frise_ of sharp-pointed spines to the
hands that sought to caress them. After a short interval, however, the
creatures became entirely reconciled to human society and the small amount
of restraint to which they were subjected. They would follow their owner
about the garden, or, flattening their bodies and spreading out their limbs
to the greatest extent, lie basking in the sun close to where he might be
seated. They also apparently appreciated being carried, slung across their
owner's arm after the manner of a lap-dog. Living in the near vicinity of
unreclaimed bush-land, it was found possible to keep these echidnas well
supplied with their customary food; they were, in fact, permitted to forage
on their own account. Liberated amidst their normal surroundings, they
would walk leisurely from one ant-hill to another, tearing down the side of
it with their powerful front claws, and appropriating its living contents
with the greatest relish. It was observed, however, in this connection that
the echidna paid attention entirely to the succulent white larvæ and pupal
phases of the insects with which the inner chambers of the ant-hills are
customarily crowded, and that adult ants, as they abounded in the tracts
near at hand or elsewhere, were altogether neglected. In addition to this
natural food these animals were supplied daily with a saucer of either
well-softened bread or porridge and milk, for which they evinced a decided
appreciation, assimilating this food dexterously, though somewhat slowly,
with the aid of their long protrusile tongues. Allowed to wander about the
house, they displayed a most inquisitive turn of mind, peering into every
crevice, and climbing upon every accessible article of furniture.
The echidna usually produces only one egg at a time; it is relatively
small, not larger than a sparrow's egg, but equally and obtusely rounded at
both extremities, and with a white leathery shell like that of a reptile.
For some time previous to hatching, this egg is carried in a skin-fold or
rudimentary pouch in the parent's abdomen, much similar to that possessed
by many of the marsupials. The young one is also retained in this pouch for
some weeks after escaping from the egg. When finally leaving the pouch, it
is between three and four inches in length, and the spines are in an
altogether rudimentary condition.
Examples of the Australian echidna have on several occasions been "in
residence" at the Zoo; while the Hon. Walter Rothschild has been fortunate
in keeping living specimens of both this and the very rare three-toed New
Guinea variety in his admirably appointed menagerie at Tring.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
COMMON OR VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM.
The only marsupial animal found north of Mexico.]
THE PLATYPUS.
The egg-laying mammal known as the DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS differs very
essentially from the echidna both in aspect and habits. It is adapted
especially for an amphibious life, and for feeding on molluscs, worms, and
insects, which it abstracts from the muddy bed or banks of the rivers that
it frequents. The somewhat depressed ovate body is covered with short dense
fur much resembling in colour and texture that of an otter. The tail is
short and flattened like that of a beaver, but in place of being naked and
scaly, as in that animal, is covered, on the upper surface more
particularly, with long, coarse, bristle-like hairs that intercross one
another in all directions. Neither is this tail used, as with the beaver,
as a mason's trowel, it being simply subservient as a steer-oar. The feet
are all four distinctly webbed, the membranes of the front feet in
particular projecting to some distance beyond the extremities of the claws,
and so communicating to these members a singular resemblance to the feet of
a duck. The head of the platypus tapers off from the body without any
conspicuous neck, and terminates in a most remarkable duck-like beak,
having at its base a supplementary membranous ferrule-like structure which
would seem to serve the purpose of limiting the distance into which the
beak of the animal is thrust into the mud during the quest for its
accustomed food, and at the same time protecting the creature's eyes. The
mouth of the adult platypus contains no teeth, simply a few horny plates;
but, singularly to relate, rudimentary teeth exist temporarily in the young
animals. These provisional teeth, moreover, correspond in a marked manner
with those of some ancient types of mammals which occur as fossils in the
tertiary deposits of North America. The platypus, with relation to the
obliteration of its teeth in the adult state, is regarded as a very
exceptionally modified form and not as the immediate prototype of the
ordinary mammals.
The platypus is found in Tasmania and in the south and eastern districts of
Australia only, being altogether unknown in the west and north. Being
especially shy and retiring, and to a large extent nocturnal in its habits,
it is not frequently seen even in districts where it may be rather
abundant. The animal excavates burrows of so great a length as from thirty
to fifty feet in the river-banks that it frequents, and at the extreme end
of these burrows it constructs a loose nest of weeds and root-fibres, which
it uses as its retreat, and also for the production of its eggs and young.
There are invariably two entrances to these burrows, the one being under
water, and the other usually opening into a tangle of brushwood at some
little distance from the water's edge. As many as from one to four eggs and
young may be produced at a time, but two is the more general number. From
the first it would appear that the eggs and young are deposited and nursed
in the nest, not being retained or carried about in a pouch, as observed of
the echidna.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
ECHIDNA, OR ANT-EATING PORCUPINE.
The female echidna can carry two eggs in her pouch, which in due course are
hatched by the heat of her body.]
The late Dr. George Bennett, of Sydney, New South Wales, has probably
placed on record the most detailed account of the ways and life-habits of
these remarkable animals, though it did not fall to him to solve the
much-vexed question as to whether or not they were oviparous. This
discovery, as applied also to the like phenomenon in the case of the
echidna, was the outcome within quite recent years of the researches of Mr.
Caldwell. After much indefatigable exploration, in which he was ably
assisted by the natives, Dr. Bennett obtained from the extremity of an
exceptionally long burrow a mother and pair of half-grown young. The young
ones survived several weeks, and proved most droll and interesting pets. In
playful habits they much resembled puppies, chasing and rolling one another
over, and pretending to bite with their toothless bills. They were also
much addicted to climbing every scalable article of furniture, including
even a tall book-case, which they would negotiate by "swarming" up behind
it as a sweep climbs a chimney, with their backs to the wall and their feet
against the back of the book-case. The sleeping and waking hours that both
these and other examples kept were observed to be very irregular; for while
usually most lively and disposed to ramble after it grew dusk, they would
at other times come out of their own accord in the daytime, or perhaps one
would ramble about while the other slept. When going to sleep, they would
roll themselves up in a perfect ball, the head, tail, and limbs being
closely folded over the abdomen.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
TASMANIAN ECHIDNA, OR PORCUPINE ANT-EATER.
This is the largest variety of the five-toed species; it grows to a length
of 20 inches, and has the fur so long as almost to conceal the spines.]
The food question appears to have presented almost insurmountable
difficulties so far against the permanent acclimatisation of these
interesting animals in any of our European zoological gardens. At the
Melbourne Zoo some considerable success was obtained by fencing off a small
pond abounding with insects and well-established water-plants for their
reception, and in this instance they had also the advantage of being
brought speedily and within a few hours of their capture to their new home.
For their long voyage to Europe the provision of an adequate quantity of
living insects or other aquatic organisms is a by no means easy task. They
have, however, been known to thrive on broken-up river-mussels for the
space of two or three weeks, and would probably have done so for a longer
period. This material might easily be stored for their use on board ship.
An incident concerning the natural predilections of the platypus that fell
within the writer's observation in Tasmania might also be utilised in their
experimental transportation. At the trout- and salmon-rearing establishment
on the river Plenty--of which the writer was at the time
superintendent--the platypuses proved to be most destructive to the spawn
both deposited in the hatching-boxes and upon the natural spawning-beds, or
"redds," and they had in consequence to be systematically destroyed. This
being the case, it is probable that they would be found to thrive well on a
diet consisting to a large extent of the preserved roes or spawn of any
easily procurable fish--such as the Murray perch and cod--and of which
adequate supplies might with facility be stored aboard ship. The admixture
in all cases of a certain amount of sand or mud with their provided pabulum
would appear to be essential for digestive purposes, such material being
always found in considerable quantities in their stomachs when dissected.
A distinguishing feature which the male platypus shares in common with the
echidna is the peculiar spur developed on its hind foot. It is in this
case, however, much larger and sharper, and has been accredited with
aggressive functions and poisonous properties. There can be little doubt,
however, that they are normally used by the animal only as clasping or
retaining instruments during intercourse with the female at the
breeding-season. At the same time, undoubted cases of persons receiving
severe wounds from these animals' spurs have been placed on record. One
such that fell within the writer's cognisance happened on the Murray River,
on the Victorian and New South Wales boundary. A young fisher-lad, on
taking up his nets, found a half-drowned platypus entangled in them, and,
whilst disengaging it, it convulsively gripped his hand between the two
spurs, the points penetrating deeply into the flesh on either side. The
result was a festering wound that refused to heal for many months, and for
such time entirely deprived the lad of his use of that hand.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.
This curious egg-laying mammal, the only representative of its family, is
mainly nocturnal in habits.]
The fur of the platypus, dressed so as to remove the outer and longer
series of hairs, nearly resembles that of the fur-seal in both colour and
texture, and as a rare local product is highly prized for the manufacture
of carriage-rugs and other articles.
With the egg-laying Echidna and Platypus we terminate the Mammalian Series,
and they pave the way to the typical egg-laying animals which follow.
END OF VOL. I.
Note
[1] Since this was in type, Sir Harry Johnston has reported the existence
in the Congo forest, on the borders of Uganda, of a large unknown type
of ruminant, the Akapi of the natives.