A BROWN BEAR IN SEARCH OF INSECTS.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.A BROWN BEAR IN SEARCH OF INSECTS.The photograph shows a bear feeding on insects, possibly large ants, which he licks up from the ground, after scratching them out with his claws.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.A BROWN BEAR IN SEARCH OF INSECTS.The photograph shows a bear feeding on insects, possibly large ants, which he licks up from the ground, after scratching them out with his claws.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
A BROWN BEAR IN SEARCH OF INSECTS.
The photograph shows a bear feeding on insects, possibly large ants, which he licks up from the ground, after scratching them out with his claws.
Mr. Watts Jones writes an interesting account of his sensations while being bitten by one of these bears: "I was following up a bear which I had wounded, and rashly went to the mouth of a cave to which it had got. It charged. I shot, but failed to stop it. I do not know exactly what happened next, neither does my hunter who was with me; but I believe, from the marks in the snow, that in his rush the bear knocked me over backwards—in fact, knocked me three or four feet away. When next I remember anything, the bear's weight was on me, and he was biting my leg. He bit, two or three times. I felt the flesh crush, but I felt no pain at all. It was rather like having a tooth out with gas. I felt no particular terror, though I thought the bear had got me; but in a hazy sort of way I wondered when he would kill me, and thought what a fool I was to get killed by a stupid beast like a bear. The shikari then very pluckily came up and fired a shot into the bear, and he left me. I felt the weight lift off me, and got up. I did not think I was much hurt.... The main wound was a flap of flesh torn out of the inside of my left thigh and left hanging. It was fairly deep, and I could see all the muscles working underneath when I lifted it up to clean the wound." This anecdotewas sent to Mr. J. Crowther Hirst to illustrate a theory of his, that the killing of wild animals by other animals is not a painful one.
Rustem Pasha, once Turkish Ambassador in England, had an accident when brown bear shooting in Russia, and writes of it in the same sense: "When I met the accident alluded to, the bear injured both my hands, but did not tear off part of the arm or shoulder. In the moment of desperate struggle, the intense excitement and anger did, in fact, render me insensible to the feeling of actual pain as the bear gnawed my left hand, which was badly torn and perforated with holes, most of the bones being broken."
There is good reason to believe that when large carnivora, or beasts large in proportion to the size of their victims, strike and kill them with a great previous shock, the sense of pain is deadened. Not so if the person or animal is seized quietly. Then the pain is intense, though sometimes only momentary. A tigress seized Mr. J. Hansard, a forest officer in Ceylon, by the neck. In describing his sensations afterwards, he said: "The agony I felt was something frightful. My whole skull seemed as if it were being crushed to atoms in the jaws of the great brute. I certainly felt the most awful pain as she was biting my neck; but not afterwards, if I can remember." Sir Samuel Baker says he has twice seen the sloth-bear attack a howdah-elephant. Lord Edward St. Maur, son of the Duke of Somerset, was killed by one. Mr. Sanderson, the head of the Government Elephant-catching Department, used to hunt bears in the jungle with bull-terriers. Against these the bear was unable to make a good fight. They seized it by the nose; and as its claws were not sharp like those of the leopard, the bear could not get them off.
This bear seldom produces more than two or three young at a birth. The young cub is very ugly, but very strong, especially in the claws and legs. A six weeks' old cub has been turned upside-down in a basket, which was shaken violently, without dislodging the little animal clinging inside.
POLAR BEARS.Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.POLAR BEARS.Though Arctic animals, polar bears can endure great heat. During a "heat wave" at Hamburg, Herr C. Hagenbeck found two of his leopards suffering from heat apoplexy, but the polar bears were enjoying the sun.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.POLAR BEARS.Though Arctic animals, polar bears can endure great heat. During a "heat wave" at Hamburg, Herr C. Hagenbeck found two of his leopards suffering from heat apoplexy, but the polar bears were enjoying the sun.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.
POLAR BEARS.
Though Arctic animals, polar bears can endure great heat. During a "heat wave" at Hamburg, Herr C. Hagenbeck found two of his leopards suffering from heat apoplexy, but the polar bears were enjoying the sun.
The Isabelline Bear and Himalayan Black Bear.
The former animal is a medium-sized variety of the brown bear. The coat in winter is of a beautiful silver-tipped cinnamon colour. TheHimalayan Black Bearhas a half-moon of white on its throat. The habits of both do not differ markedly from those of the brown bear of Europe.
Recently black bears have been most troublesome in Kashmir, attacking and killing and wounding the woodcutters with no provocation. Dr. E. T. Vere, writing from Srinagar, says: "Every year we have about half a dozen patients who have been mauled by bears. Most of our people who are hurt are villagers or shepherds. Bears have been so shot at in Kashmir that, although not naturally very fierce, they have become truculent. When they attack men, they usually sit up and knock the victim over with a paw. They then make one or two bites at the arm or leg, and often finish up with a snap at the head. This is the most dangerous part of the attack. One of our fatal cases this year was a boy, the vault of whose skull was torn off and lacerated. Another man received a compound fracture of the cranium. A third had the bones of his face smashed and lacerated. He had an axe, but said, 'When the bear sat up, my courage failed me.'"
TWO POLAR BEARS AND A BROWN BEAR.Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.TWO POLAR BEARS AND A BROWN BEAR.Although this is a photograph from life, it is scarcely a very natural scene; as a matter of fact, all three animals belong to Herr Carl Hagenbeck's remarkable menagerie.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.TWO POLAR BEARS AND A BROWN BEAR.Although this is a photograph from life, it is scarcely a very natural scene; as a matter of fact, all three animals belong to Herr Carl Hagenbeck's remarkable menagerie.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari][Florence.
TWO POLAR BEARS AND A BROWN BEAR.
Although this is a photograph from life, it is scarcely a very natural scene; as a matter of fact, all three animals belong to Herr Carl Hagenbeck's remarkable menagerie.
The Malayan Sun-bear.
These small, smooth-coated bears have a yellow throat-patch like a mustard plaster, and are altogether the most amusing and comical of all the tribe. They are almost as smooth as a pointer dog, and are devoted to all sweet substances which can be a substitute for honey, their main delicacy when wild. There are always a number of these bears at the Zoo incessantly begging for food. When one gets a piece of sugar, he cracks it into small pieces, sticks them on the back of his paw, and licks the mess until the paw is covered with sticky syrup, which he eats with great gusto. This bear is found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is only 4 feet high, or sometimes half a foot taller. It is more in the habit of walking upright than any other species.
The Polar Bear.
Ice-bearis the better name for this, the most interesting in its habits of all the bears. It is an inhabitant of the lands of polar darkness and intense cold, and one of the very few land animals which never try to avoid the terrible ordeal of the long Arctic night, which rolls on from month to month. It can swim and dive nearly as well as a seal, climbs the icebergs, and goes voyages on the drifting ice, floating hundreds of miles on the polar currents, and feeding on the seals which surround it. Of the limits of size of the ice-bear it is impossible to speak with certainty. From the skins brought to this country the size of some of them must be enormous. One which lived for more than thirty years at the Zoo was of immense length and bulk. When the first discoverers went to the Arctic Seas, dressed in thick clothes and skins, the polar bears took them for seals. On Bear Island, below Spitzbergen, a Dutch sailor sat down on the snow to rest. A bear walked up behind him, and seized and crushed his head, evidently not in the least aware of what kind of animal it had got hold of. When the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition was wintering in Franz-Josef Land, the bears were a positive nuisance. They were not afraid of man, and used to come round the huts at all hours. The men shot so many that they formed a valuable article of food for the dogs. The flesh is said to be unwholesome for men. The power of these bears in the water is wonderful; though so bulky, they are as light as a cork when swimming, and their strong, broad feet are first-class paddles. Whenever a dead whale is found near the shore, the polar bears assemble to feed upon it. In the various searches for the Franklin Expedition they pulled to pieces nearly all the cabins erected to hold provisions for the sledge-parties. In one case it was found that the bears had amused themselves by mounting the roof of a half-buried hut, and sliding down the snowy, frozen slope. Cubs are often brought home in whaling- and sealing-ships, after the mothers have been shot. There is a ready sale of them for Continental menageries. Herr Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, by purchasing them quite young, has induced bears to live on good terms with tigers, boar-hounds, and leopards.
POLAR BEAR.Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.POLAR BEAR.This bear is the most formidable of all aquatic mammals. It is almost as much at home in the water as a seal.
Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.POLAR BEAR.This bear is the most formidable of all aquatic mammals. It is almost as much at home in the water as a seal.
Photo by J. W. McLellan][Highbury.
POLAR BEAR.
This bear is the most formidable of all aquatic mammals. It is almost as much at home in the water as a seal.
The manœuvres of an ice-bear in the water are marvellous to watch. Though so bulky a beast, it swims, dives, rolls over and over, catches seals or fish, or plays both on and under the water with an ease and evident enjoyment which show that it is in its favourite element. One favourite game of the ice-bear is to lie on its back in the water, and then to catch hold of its hind toes with its fore feet, when it resembles a half-rolled hedgehog of gigantic size. It then rolls over and over in the water like a revolving cask. Its footsteps are absolutely noiseless, as the claws are shorter than in the land-bear's, and more muffled in fur. This noiseless power of approach is very necessary when it has to catch such wary creatures as basking seals. A very large proportion of the food formerly eaten by ice-bears in summer was probably putrid, as they were always supplied with a quantity of the refuse carcases of whales and seals left by the whaling-ships. This may account for the bad results to the sailors who ate the bears' flesh. Now the whaling industry is so little pursued that the bears have to catch their dinners for themselves, and eat fresh food.
HALF-GROWN POLAR BEARS.Photo by the New York Zoological Society.HALF-GROWN POLAR BEARS.When young polar bears are brought to England or New York on board ship, they arrive with coats almost as yellow as a sponge. It takes a week's bathing to restore the pure white colour.
Photo by the New York Zoological Society.HALF-GROWN POLAR BEARS.When young polar bears are brought to England or New York on board ship, they arrive with coats almost as yellow as a sponge. It takes a week's bathing to restore the pure white colour.
Photo by the New York Zoological Society.
HALF-GROWN POLAR BEARS.
When young polar bears are brought to England or New York on board ship, they arrive with coats almost as yellow as a sponge. It takes a week's bathing to restore the pure white colour.
The Arctic explorer Nordenskiöld saw much of the ice-bears on his voyages, and left us what is perhaps the best description of their attempts to stalk men, mistaking them for other animals. "When the polar bear observes a man," he writes in his "Voyage of the Vega," "he commonly approaches him as a possible prey, with supple movements and a hundred zigzag bends, in order to conceal the direction he means to take, and to prevent the man feeling frightened. During his approach he often climbs up on to blocks of ice, or raises himself on his hind legs, in order to get a more extensive view. If he thinks he has to do with a seal, he creeps or trails himself forward on the ice, and is then said to conceal with his fore paws the only part of his body that contrasts with the white colour of the snow—his large black nose. If the man keeps quite still, the bear comes in this way so near that it can be shot at the distance of two gun-lengths, or killed with a lance, which the hunters consider safer."
When a vessel lies at anchor, a polar bear sometimes swims out to it, to inspect the visiting ship; it has also a special fancy for breaking open and searching stores of provisions,boats abandoned and covered over, and cabins of wrecked ships. One bear which had looted a provision depôt was found to have swallowed a quantity of sticking-plaster. The ice-bear has been met swimming at a distance of eighty miles from land, and with no ice in sight. This shows how thoroughly aquatic its habits and powers are. Polar bears do not hug their victims, like the brown bear, but bite, and use their immense feet and sharp claws. It has been said that when one catches a seal on the ice it will play with it as a cat does with a mouse. The size of these bears varies very much. Seven or eight feet from the tip of the nose to the tail is the usual length; yet they have been known to exceed even 13 feet in length. This would correspond to an immense difference in bulk and weight. An ice-bear was once found feeding on the body of a white whale, 15 feet in length, and weighing three or four tons. The whale could not have got on to the ice by itself, and it is difficult to imagine that any other creature except the bear could have dragged it there from the sea, where it was found floating. When hunting seals, polar bears will chase them in the water as an otter does a fish, but with what result is not known. Besides stalking them in the manner described above, they will mark the place at which seals are basking on the rim of an ice-floe, and then dive, and come up just at the spot where the seal would naturally drop into the water. Those shot for the sake of their skins are nearly all killed when swimming in the sea. The hunters mark a bear on an ice-floe, and approach it. The bear always tries to escape by swimming, and is pursued and shot through the head from the boat. When the females have a cub or cubs with them, they will often attack persons or boats which molest them; otherwise they do not willingly interfere with man, except, as has been said above, when they mistake men for seals or other natural prey.
THE ICE-BEAR'S COUCH.Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.THE ICE-BEAR'S COUCH.A favourite attitude of the polar bear is to lie stretched on its stomach, with the hind and fore legs extended flat. The head often lies between the fore paws. Notice the hair on the feet, which keeps the animal from slipping when on the ice.
Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.THE ICE-BEAR'S COUCH.A favourite attitude of the polar bear is to lie stretched on its stomach, with the hind and fore legs extended flat. The head often lies between the fore paws. Notice the hair on the feet, which keeps the animal from slipping when on the ice.
Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.
THE ICE-BEAR'S COUCH.
A favourite attitude of the polar bear is to lie stretched on its stomach, with the hind and fore legs extended flat. The head often lies between the fore paws. Notice the hair on the feet, which keeps the animal from slipping when on the ice.
The instances recorded of the affection shown by these animals for their young are somewhat pathetic. When theCarcasefrigate, which was engaged on a voyage of Arctic discovery, was locked in the ice, a she-bear and two cubs made their way to the ship, attracted by the scent of the blubber of a walrus which the crew had killed a few days before. They ran to the fire, and pulled off some of the walrus-flesh which remained unconsumed. The crew then threw them large lumps of the flesh which were lying on the ice, which the old bear fetched away singly, and laid before her cubs as she brought it, dividing it, and giving each a share, and reserving but a small portion for herself. As she was fetching away the last piece, the sailors shot both the cubs dead, and wounded the dam. Although she could only just crawl to the place where the cubs lay, she carried the lump of flesh which she had last fetched away, and laid it before them; and when she saw that they refused to eat, laid her paws on them, and tried to raise them up, moaning pitifully. When she found she could not stir them, she went to some distance, and looked back, and then returned, pawing them all over and moaning. Finding at last that they were lifeless, she raised her head towards the ship and uttered a growl, when the sailors killed her with a volley of musket-balls.
THE SMALLER CARNIVORA.
THE RACCOON FAMILY.
COMMON RACCOON.Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.COMMON RACCOON.This is the typical representative of the Raccoon Family. It is found in most parts of the United States, and also in South America.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.COMMON RACCOON.This is the typical representative of the Raccoon Family. It is found in most parts of the United States, and also in South America.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.
COMMON RACCOON.
This is the typical representative of the Raccoon Family. It is found in most parts of the United States, and also in South America.
A link between the Bears and the Weasel Tribe is made by theRaccoonsand their allies. They are bear-like in having a short, thick body, and in their flat-footed manner of walking; also in their habit of sitting up on end, and using their paws as hands, to some extent, in aiding them to climb. But they are also much like the Civets; and the pretty littleCacomixle, orRing-tailed Catof Mexico, was formerly classed with the civets. They are all very active, enterprising, and quick-witted creatures of no great size, very different in temperament from the bears.
The Raccoon.
RACCOON.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.RACCOON.This animal has the habit of always washing its food, if possible, before it eats it.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.RACCOON.This animal has the habit of always washing its food, if possible, before it eats it.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
RACCOON.
This animal has the habit of always washing its food, if possible, before it eats it.
The type of the family is theAmerican Raccoonitself. Its scientific name of "Letor," the "Washer," was given to it from an odd habit these creatures have of wetting and washing their food in any water which is near. One kept at the Zoo washed her kittens so much when they were born that they all died.
The 'coon inhabits America from Canada to the south as far down as Paraguay. In size it is equal to a common fox, but is short and stout. Restless, inquisitive, and prying, it is a most mischievous beast where farmyards and poultry are within reach. It kills the fowls, eats the eggs, samples the fruit, and if caught shams dead with all the doggedness of an opossum. It is very fond of fish and shell-fish. Oysters are a special dainty, as are mussels and clams. A gentleman who kept onesays: "It opens oysters with wonderful skill. It is sufficient for it to break the hinge with its teeth; its paws complete the work of getting out the oyster. It must have a delicate sense of touch. In this operation it rarely avails itself of sight or smell. It passes the oyster under its hind paws; then, without looking, it seeks with its hands the weakest place. It there digs in its claws, forces asunder the valves, and tears out the flesh in fragments, leaving nothing behind." Its favourite haunt is in the cane-brakes of the south. There the planters follow it by night with dogs, and shoot it in the trees in which it takes refuge. The skins, with handsome alternations of yellow and brown, make fine carriage-rugs.
GREAT PANDA.Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.GREAT PANDA.This very rare animal is found on the high plateau of Tibet.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.GREAT PANDA.This very rare animal is found on the high plateau of Tibet.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
GREAT PANDA.
This very rare animal is found on the high plateau of Tibet.
The Coatis.
TheCoatisare small arboreal creatures, with the habits of a raccoon and squirrel fairly proportioned. They are flesh-eaters, but active and playful. Their long pig-like snouts give them an unpleasant appearance. They inhabit Mexico and Central and South America as far as Paraguay. Several specimens are generally to be seen at the Zoological Gardens. Their habits are much the same as those of the small tree-climbing cats, but with something of the badger added. Insects and worms, as well as birds and small animals, form their food.
The Pandas and Kinkajou.
Among the small carnivorous mammals theBear-cat, orPanda, is a very interesting creature. Its colour is striking—a beautiful red-chestnut above, the lower surface jet-black, the tail long and ringed. The quality of the fur is fine also. It is found in the Eastern Himalaya, and is as large as a badger. TheGreat Panda, from Eastern Tibet, is a much larger, short-tailed, black-and-white animal, once thought to be a bear. TheKinkajouhas a prehensile tail, and uses its paws as hands so readily that it was formerly placed among the lemurs. It is a native of Southern and intertropical America. Nocturnal, and living in the great forests, it is seldom seen by man. Its head is round and cat-like, its feet are the same, but with non-retractile claws, and it has a long, full tail. It has a long tongue, with which it can lick out insects from the crevices and holes of trees. Baron von Humboldt says that it attacks the nests of wild bees. It uses its tongue to draw objects of food towards it, even if they are not living. A pleasant description of this animal appeared in Charles Knight's "Museum of Animated Nature," published many years ago: "In its aspect there is something of gentleness and good-nature. In captivity it is extremely playful, familiar, and fond of being noticed. One lived in the gardens of the Zoological Society for seven years. During the greater part of the morning it was asleep, rolled up in a ball in its cage. In the afternoon it would come out, traverse its cage, take food, and play with those to whom it was accustomed. Clinging to the top wires of its cage with its tail and hind paws, it would thus swing itselfbackwards and forwards. When thus hanging, it would bring its fore paws to the bars, as well as the hind pair, and in this manner would travel up and down its cage with the utmost address, every now and then thrusting out its long tongue between the wires, as if in quest of food, which, when offered to it, it would endeavour to draw in between the wires with this organ. It was very fond of being gently stroked and scratched, and when at play with any one it knew it would pretend to bite, seizing the hand or fingers with its teeth, as a dog will do when playing with its master. As the evening came on, it was full of animation, and exhibited in every movement the most surprising energy."
KINKAJOU.Photo by Scholastic Photo, Co., Parson's Green.KINKAJOU.The kinkajou eats birds and eggs as well as honey and fruit. One kept in South America killed a whole brood of turkeys, and was partial to birds' eggs.
Photo by Scholastic Photo, Co., Parson's Green.KINKAJOU.The kinkajou eats birds and eggs as well as honey and fruit. One kept in South America killed a whole brood of turkeys, and was partial to birds' eggs.
Photo by Scholastic Photo, Co., Parson's Green.
KINKAJOU.
The kinkajou eats birds and eggs as well as honey and fruit. One kept in South America killed a whole brood of turkeys, and was partial to birds' eggs.
THE OTTERS.
As the badgers and ratels seem specially adapted to an underground and cave-making existence, so the Otters all conform in structure to an aquatic life; yet, except the webbing of the space between the toes and the shortening and flattening of the head, there is very little obvious change in their structure to meet the very great difference in the conditions under which they live.
TheShort-toed Otteris a small Indian species. It has nails on its hands in place of claws. One kept at the Zoo was a most amusing and friendly little pet, which let itself be nursed like a kitten.
TheNorth American Otterhas the same habits as the English kind, but is somewhat larger, and has a far finer coat. It is trapped in thousands, and the fur sent over to this country to the Hudson Bay Company's and Sir Charles Lampson's fur-sales. These otters, like all their family, are very fond of playing. One of their regular games is to make a snow-slide or an ice-slide down a frozen waterfall. The alighting-place from this chute is, if possible, in the water. There the trapper sets his traps, and the poor otters are caught.
YOUNG OTTERS.By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.YOUNG OTTERS.Otters, when taken young, can be trained to catch fish for their owners. In India several tribes employ them for this purpose.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.YOUNG OTTERS.Otters, when taken young, can be trained to catch fish for their owners. In India several tribes employ them for this purpose.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
YOUNG OTTERS.
Otters, when taken young, can be trained to catch fish for their owners. In India several tribes employ them for this purpose.
TheCommon Otteris far the most attractive of the British carnivora. It is still fairly common all over Britain where fish exist. It is found on the Norfolk broads and rivers, all up the Thames, in Scotland, Devonshire, Wales, Cumberland, and Northumberland. It travels considerable distances from river to river, and sometimes gets into a preserved trout-pool or breeding-pond, and does much mischief. The beautiful young otters here figured arein Mr. Percy Leigh Pemberton's collection of British mammals at Ashford, Kent. Their owner made a large brick tank for them, where they were allowed to catch live fish. Once one of them seized a 4-lb. pike by the tail. The pike wriggled round and seized the otter's paw, but was soon placedhors de combat. The largest otter which the writer has seen was bolted by a ferret from a rabbit-warren on the edge of the Norfolk fen at Hockwold, and shot by the keeper, who was rabbiting.
TWO TAME OTTERS.Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.TWO TAME OTTERS.These two little otters were photographed by the Duchess of Bedford. Alluding to the old signs of the zodiac and their fondness for the watering-pot, their portrait was called "Aquarius" and "The Twins."
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.TWO TAME OTTERS.These two little otters were photographed by the Duchess of Bedford. Alluding to the old signs of the zodiac and their fondness for the watering-pot, their portrait was called "Aquarius" and "The Twins."
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.
TWO TAME OTTERS.
These two little otters were photographed by the Duchess of Bedford. Alluding to the old signs of the zodiac and their fondness for the watering-pot, their portrait was called "Aquarius" and "The Twins."
English dog otters sometimes weigh as much as 26 lbs. They regularly hunt down the rivers by night, returning before morning to their holt, where they sleep by day. No fish stands a chance with them. They swim after the fish in the open river, chase it under the bank, and then corner it, or seize it with a rush, just as the penguins catch gudgeon at the Zoo. Captain Salvin owned a famous tame otter which used to go for walks with him, and amuse itself by catching fish in the roadside ponds.
The Sea-otter.
SEA-OTTER.Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.SEA-OTTER.The sea-otter has the most valuable fur of any animal.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.SEA-OTTER.The sea-otter has the most valuable fur of any animal.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
SEA-OTTER.
The sea-otter has the most valuable fur of any animal.
Common otters killed on the coast are often confounded with theSea-otter. This is a great mistake. The sea-otter is as much a marine animal as the seal or the sea-lion. It swims out in the open ocean, and is even more of a pelagic creature than the seal, for it either produces its young when in the water, or at any rate carries and suckles them on the open sea. The sea-otter is much larger than the common otter. Unfortunately the fish and other marine creatures which form the food of the sea-otters are found mainly near the coast. Following them, the otters come near the Aleutian Islands, where the hunters are ever on the watch for them. If a single otter is seen, five or six boats, with a rifleman in each, at once put out, and the otter stands little chance of escape. It never was a common animal, and the prices given for the fur, up to £200 for a first-class skin, have caused its destruction. The skin, when stretched and cured, is sometimes 5 feet long, and is of an exquisite natural rich brown, like long plush, sprinkled all over with whitish hairs like hoarfrost.
RACCOON.Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, Washington.RACCOON.This animal is found from Alaska, through the United States, to Central America.
Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, Washington.RACCOON.This animal is found from Alaska, through the United States, to Central America.
Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, Washington.
RACCOON.
This animal is found from Alaska, through the United States, to Central America.
THE SKUNKS.
A SKUNK.Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.A SKUNK.An American animal, noted chiefly for the scent-gland it possesses, from which it emits a most obnoxious-smelling fluid.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.A SKUNK.An American animal, noted chiefly for the scent-gland it possesses, from which it emits a most obnoxious-smelling fluid.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
A SKUNK.
An American animal, noted chiefly for the scent-gland it possesses, from which it emits a most obnoxious-smelling fluid.
Of all the strange equipments given by nature to animals for their protection that possessed by the various species ofSkunkis the most effective. These animals are able to emit a fluid so vile in odour that it seems equally hateful to all animals. Dogs, pumas, men, alike shun them, and the animals seem to know this and to presume on their immunity. An ordinary skunk is about the size of a cat, black, with bright white stripes down the sides and back. The fur is thick and handsome, and, if the animal be killed before it discharges its fluid, is not too strongly odorous to make trimmings for jackets. Mr. Hudson, in his "Naturalist in La Plata," says: "In talking to strangers from abroad, I have never thought it necessary to speak of the dangers of sunstroke, jaguars, or the assassin's knife. But I have never omitted to warn them of the skunk, minutely describing its habits and personal appearance. I knew an Englishman who, on taking a first gallop across the Pampas, saw one, and, quickly dismounting, hurled himself bodily on to it to effect its capture. Poor man! He did not know that the animal is never unwilling to be caught. Men have been blinded by them for ever by a discharge of the fiery liquid in their faces. The smell pervades the whole system of any one subjected to it, like a pestilent ether, nauseating the victim till sea-sickness seems pleasant in comparison." Dogs can be taught to kill skunks; but they show the greatest disgust and horror when the fluid of the animal falls upon them, and sometimes roll in mud or dust in the endeavour to get rid of it.
THE BADGERS.
TheBadgersinclude several genera. TheSand-badgersof the East have a naked snout, small ears, and rough fur, with softer fur underneath. TheIndian Badgeris larger than that of Europe, while that of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo is smaller, and has a very short tail.
A BADGER IN THE WATER.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.A BADGER IN THE WATER.Badgers are increasing in many parts of England. They are nocturnal animals.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.A BADGER IN THE WATER.Badgers are increasing in many parts of England. They are nocturnal animals.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
A BADGER IN THE WATER.
Badgers are increasing in many parts of England. They are nocturnal animals.
TheFerret-badgersfrom the East have elongatedbodies and short tails. They are tree-climbers, and as omnivorous as the badger itself. TheCape Zorilla, with another species found in Egypt, is more nearly allied to the polecats, but is striped like a skunk.
EUROPEAN BADGER.Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.EUROPEAN BADGER.Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to tame thoroughly.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.EUROPEAN BADGER.Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to tame thoroughly.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.][Parson's Green.
EUROPEAN BADGER.
Badgers can be readily kept in confinement, and are not difficult to tame thoroughly.
TheEuropean Badgeris still fairly numerous. There is not a county in England where it is not found. A large colony has been established in Epping Forest, some fifty yards square of hillside being honeycombed with badger-earths. The European badger is found all over temperate Northern Europe and Asia; but being shy, wary, and mainly nocturnal, is seldom seen. At night it wanders about, and in August gets into the corn-fields, whence it is chased and caught by dogs. A Somersetshire farmer had a pointer and sheep-dog which were adepts at this night-catching of badgers. They would accompany their master along the roads, and the pointer instantly winded any badger which had crossed. Both dogs then bounded off, and soon their loud barking showed that they had found and "held up" the badger. The dogs' owner then came up, picked the badger up by its tail, and dropped it in a sack. The badger's "earth" is wonderfully deep and winding; in it the badger sleeps during the winter, and gives birth to its young, three or four of which are produced at a time. The end of March is the period of birth, but the cubs do not come out until June. In October they are full-grown. The badger carries in a great quantity of fern and grass as a bed for its cubs. Mr. Trevor-Battye writes: "I had a pair which were probably about six weeks old. They were called Gripper and Nancy. They would rest on my lap when feeding, and sit up and beg like dogs. Their hearing and power of scent were remarkable. The badgers were in a closed yard; but if any of the dogs came near, even following a path which ran at a distance of six or seven yards, they would instantly jump off my lap and disappear into a corner. The animals could walk and trotbackwardswith the greatest ease." I have never seen this noticed elsewhere, yet it is worth mentioning, because it is characteristic of the Weasel Family, not being shared, to my knowledge, by any other mammal—not, for instance, by the Bears.
Mr. A. E. Pease says of the badger: "It is easily domesticated, and if brought up by hand is found an interesting and charming companion. I had at one time two that I could do anything with, and which followed me so closely that they would bump against my boots each step I took, and come and snuggle in under my coat when I sat down."
The Ratels.
As the mink is adapted for an aquatic diet, so theRatels, a link between the Weasels and the Badgers, seem to have been specialised to live upon insects and honey as well as flesh. They are quaint creatures, with rounded iron-grey backs, and black bellies, noses, and feet. The African kind is found in Cape Colony and East Africa, and is believed to live largely on honey and bee-brood. The habits of the ratel are almost identical with those of the badger, except that it is less shy and very restless. A nearly similar species of ratel is found in Southern Asia from the Caspian to India.
The ratels are strictly nocturnal, and make their lair by day in hollow trees, though theyare said not to climb. The skin is protected by thick, close hair, so that bees cannot sting through the fur. The skin is also very loose. If a dog bites it, the ratel can generally twist round and bite back. The African ratel is omnivorous. It eats snakes and birds. The body of a cobra has been found in the stomach of one.
THE WEASEL TRIBE.
No animals are more bloodthirsty and carnivorous than most of the Weasel Tribe. They are also well equipped both in actual weapons and in activity of body, and have powers quite out of proportion to their size. They are also gifted with magnificent coats, and constitute the most valuable source of choice furs. Sable, Marten, Mink, Wolverine, Ermine, Otters, and several others are among the most highly prized. Their claws are sharp, but not retractile. It is indeed fortunate that these creatures are so small in size, otherwise they would be among the greatest enemies of animal life. As things are, they are useful in keeping down the numbers of creatures which, like field-mice, moles, rabbits, and rats, might, and occasionally do, become a pest.
The Martens.
There are two species of marten in Europe—theBeech—and thePine-marten. The latter has a yellow throat, the former a white one. The fur is almost as fine as sable. All so-called Canadian sables are really martens. These animals are found throughout Northern Europe and Northern Asia, in Japan, and all over Northern America. In Scotland the pine-marten survives in the pine forests; also in Ireland, where it is occasionally killed on the Wicklow Mountains, near Dublin, and on the Mourne Mountains. It is believed to remain in Cumberland, Devonshire, and possibly in parts of Wales. It is a tree-loving animal, and feeds mainly on squirrels, which it pursues through the branches. It is also fond of fruit. Mr. Charles St. John discovered this in a curious way. He noticed that his raspberries were being stolen, so set a trap among the canes. Next day all he could see was a heap of newly gathered raspberry leaves where the trap was. Stooping down to move them, a marten sprang up and tried to defend itself. The poor beast had come to gather more raspberries, and had been caught. Unable to escape, it gathered the leaves near and concealed itself.
RATEL.Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.RATEL.Ratels are curiously restless little animals, with a peculiar trot-like walk.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.RATEL.Ratels are curiously restless little animals, with a peculiar trot-like walk.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
RATEL.
Ratels are curiously restless little animals, with a peculiar trot-like walk.
The Sable.
This is so little different from the marten that some have thought it only a northern variety. That is not the case, as both are found in the same area, and no one who knows anything of form and colour could mistake the true sable's fur. This fur is so fine and even that each single hair tapers gradually to a point: that is why sable brushes for painting are so valuable; they always form a point when wet. The price of these brushes, which are of genuine sable fur, though made up from fragments of the worst-coloured or damaged skins, varies yearly with the price of sable in the market.
The Mink.
Ladies are very familiar with the fur of theMink, which is one of the best of the less expensive varieties; it is not glossy as marten or sable, and of a lighter and more uniform brown. The mink is a water-haunting polecat, found in Siberia, North America, and Japan. Its main home is in North America, where the immense system of lakes and rivers gives scope for its aquatic habits. The under-fur is particularly warm and thick, to keep out the cold of the water, in which the animal spends more time than on land. It is not stated to catch fish, as does the otter, in the water; but it lives on frogs, crayfish, mussels, and dead or stranded fish. Minks have been kept in confinement and regularly bred in "minkeries," as is the blue fox, and in Manchuria the chow dog, for the sake of its fur.
PINE-MARTEN.By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.PINE-MARTEN.Pine-martens have most beautiful fur, and for that reason are much hunted in America.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.PINE-MARTEN.Pine-martens have most beautiful fur, and for that reason are much hunted in America.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
PINE-MARTEN.
Pine-martens have most beautiful fur, and for that reason are much hunted in America.
The Polecat.
This is now probably the rarest of the British weasels. It is almost identically the same as the polecat-ferret, a cross-breed between it and the domesticated variety. It survives in a few of the great woodlands of the Midlands and of Oxfordshire, in Scotland, and Wales. It is found in Cumberland, near Bowness, and on Exmoor and Dartmoor where rabbits abound. It is an expert swimmer. Its habits are the same as those of the stoat, but it is slower in its movements. It catches fish, and can pick up food from the bottom of the water. Wild ones can be trained to work like ferrets. "They do not delay in the hole, but follow the rat out and catch it in a couple of bounds" (Trevor-Battye). TheFerretis a domesticated breed of polecat. It is identical in shape and habits, but unable to stand the cold of our climate in the open.
POLECAT.By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.POLECAT.In England this animal in becoming very scarce.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.POLECAT.In England this animal in becoming very scarce.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
POLECAT.
In England this animal in becoming very scarce.
The Weasel.
The smallest, fiercest, and commonest of its race, the littleWeaselis by no means the least formidable to other animals of the carnivora of England. It is cinnamon-coloured, with a white throat and belly, and climbs as neatly as a cat, running up vertical boughs with almost greater facility. A weasel in a high hedge will run the whole length of the fence, from twig to twig, without descending; it threads the galleries of the field-mice, sucks the eggs of small birds in their nests, and attacks rats, mice, rabbits, and even such large birds as grouse without fear or hesitation. During a great plague of field-voles in the Lowlands of Scotland in the years 1890 and 1891 the weasels increased enormously. A shepherd took the trouble to follow a weasel down a hollow drain in the vole-infested hillside; he found the bodies of no less than thirteen field-mice, which the weasel had amused itself by killing. In winter weasels hunt the corn-stacks for mice, and often make a home among the sheaves. One was seen chasing a vole by Mr. Trevor-Battye, who picked up the vole, which the weasel was just about to jump up for, when he threw it into the hedge. There the weasel pounced on it and carried it off!
The main food of the weasel is the field-mouse and small voles. Weasels are very devoted to their young; they will pick them up and carry them off as a cat does a kitten, if the nest is in danger. Their hunting shows great marks of cunning. One was seen in a field in which a number of corn-buntings were flying about, alighting on thistles. The weasel went and hid under one of the tallest thistles, on which a bunting soon alighted; an instant after it sprang up and caught and killed the bird.