The spectre or vampire bat is a native of South America, and it is furnished not only with sharp teeth, but with an extraordinary tongue, with which it is enabled to exercise a strong power of suction, and to draw an immense quantity of blood without making a wound large enough to attract attention; so that, when it attacks a human being, the sleep of the victim is scarcely ever interrupted.
The Flying Lemur is very nearly allied to the bat family. It resembles a monkey, but an ample membrane extends from the sides of the neck to those of the tail, enfolding the arms as though nature had furnished the animal with a natural cloak. This membrane, however, differs from that of the bats, in being clothed on both sides with short thick hair, and it is useful rather as a kind of parachute to sustain the animal while it is springing from one tree to another, than for the purposes of a continued flight. The animal generally lives in trees, though it is capable of running on the ground, and it is eaten by the inhabitants of the Palau Islands, though it smells extremely like a fox.
THE MOLE.
Every one who has seen a mole—and who has not? —must have observed the extraordinary softness of the fur, which it is impossible to ruffle, as the hairs are very short, and each stands quite erect from the skin. This peculiar arrangement of hair is admirably contrived for the mole, as that animal lives in narrow passages only just fitting the body; and, as it has occasion to run backwards in these passages as well as forwards, if the hair were long and placed in a slanting direction, like that of other animals, it would be continually becoming entangled. The moles are furnished with very small eyes (which are so inconspicuous, that the country people commonly believe that moles have no eyes); no external ears, though the sense of hearing is remarkably acute; a long pointed snout, which is very strong and flexible; and two curiously-shaped paws, which resemble little hands, and which are admirably adapted for the use to which they are applied by the mole, that is, scraping out the earth. The organs of sight are very feebly developed in this animal, but the senses of hearing, touch, and smell, are remarkably acute. The galleries of the mole are most curiously constructed, and they all end in a kind of chamber as far as possible from the opening to each run, and in this chamber the nest of the mole is constructed. Moles are extremely voracious, and though they feed generally on earth worms, and the grubs of beetles, and other insects which they find in the ground, they will occasionally attack frogs, and will devour the dead bodies of birds when they can find them. It has long been a disputed point with farmers, whether moles do most good or harm. It is certain that they lighten stiff land, by throwing up the earth they excavate in forming their runs into what are called mole-hills; but it is also certain that they disturb the roots of plants, and lately it has been discovered that they actually destroy corn, at least for their young, as no less than 402 stalks of wheat have been found in the nest of a female mole. One very curious circumstance relating to the mole is, that it contrives to supply itself with water by forming, in different places in its runs, little pits, which are always full of water, and which serve also to keep the runs dry. Moles are very pugnacious, and they fight most furiously till one is killed, when the survivor generally tears the dead body to pieces, with a degree of ferocity which seems more suitable to a savage hyaena, than a creature so gentle and quiet in its appearance as the mole.
THE BEAR.
The bear is one of those which naturalists call the flat-footed animals, and certainly of all carnivorous beasts, it appears the least qualified either to pursue its prey actively, or to gain it by lying in ambush. The movements of the bear are comparatively slow, and the nearly equal length of its fore and hind legs deprives it of the power of leaping. Bears are generally, however, very adroit in climbing, and, as they are very fond of honey, as well as of some kinds of fruit, they find this power of the greatest use to them. They have also immense muscular force in the front paws; and their strength is so enormous that the common grizzly bear in America has been known to drag away the carcass of a buffalo, 1000 pounds in weight. When they seize an animal they generally destroy it by squeezing it to death.
BEARS.
Image
The badger is another of the flat-footed animals, and though its general appearance does not give one the idea of a bear, such as we see them in menageries, yet it is evident that there must be a considerable degree of likeness, as Mr. St. John, a close observer of nature, in his Wild Sports of the Highlands, says, "the badger always puts me in mind of a miniature bear, and to this family he evidently belongs. His proportions are similar to those of the bear; his manner of placing his feet on the ground is like that of a bear, and is very peculiar. Beyond the marks of his toes, which, five in number, mark the ground in nearly a straight line, are the impressions of his strong sharp nails, apparently unconnected with, and at the distance of an inch or two from, the rest of his track." These long and powerful nails are the principal weapons of the badger, and he fights with them with such fury, that he frequently kills the dogs that are sent to attack him; he has also wonderful strength in his jaws. The immense muscular power that the badger has in his chest and fore-legs enables him to dig with the greatest rapidity; and he can stand with perfect impunity a blow on his forehead that would split the frontal bone of an ox. When badgers are seen at a distance, they have very much the appearance of pigs, as they go awkwardly trotting along, smelling the ground and grunting gently. There is a common proverb in the north, "as dirty as a badger," but Mr. St. John, who is an excellent authority in such matters, says, that the animal in a state of nature is remarkable for his cleanliness: "his extensive burrows are always kept perfectly clean, and free from all offensive smell; no filth is ever found about his abode; everything likely to offend his olfactory nerves is carefully removed. I once, in the north of Scotland, fell in with a perfect colony of badgers; they had taken up their abode in an unfrequented range of wooded rocks, and appeared to have been little interrupted in their possession of them. The foot-paths to and from their numerous holes were beaten quite hard; and what is remarkable and worthy of note, they had different small pits dug at a certain distance from their abodes, which were evidently used as receptacles for all offensive filth: every other part of their colony was perfectly clean. The badger is called in Scotland a brock, and is still common in that country, though it is rarely now met with wild in any other part of Great Britain. Badgers make themselves curious chambers underground, in which they live and store their winter food; the latter consisting principally of dried grass rolled into balls as large as a man's fist. It is said that the badger has a singular power of distending the skin of its throat, so that when it is seized by a dog, the dog only bites through the skin without wounding the flesh. Badgers are remarkably fond of attacking the nests of the wasp or the wild bee; and in this respect also they resemble the bear, which, as before observed, is particularly fond of honey. The badger has, however, two peculiarities which distinguish it from the bears, one of which is, that it always rolls itself up when attacked; and the other, that it is remarkably ingenious in making its escape when confined. When first caught, says Mr. St. John, the efforts of a badger to escape show a degree of strength and ingenuity which is quite wonderful, and he will dig and tear at his prison with the strength of a rhinoceros; but if looked at, he immediately rolls himself up into a ball, and remains quite motionless. Mr. St. John adds, that he once caught a wounded badger which he took home with him, putting it into a court-yard, whence he thought it impossible the creature could escape. "The next morning, however, he was gone, having displaced a stone that I thought him quite incapable of moving, and then digging under the wall, he got away."
The marmots are nearly allied to the badgers, but they pass their winters in a torpid state.
The ratel, or Cape glutton, which belongs to the same tribe, is, on the contrary, much more lively and active in its habits than either the badger or the bear; and the one in the London Zoological Gardens is remarkable for its playfulness and good-humour. "It solicits attention by a great variety of postures, and tumbles head over heels as soon as it has succeeded in attracting the attention of a visitor."
THE CAT TRIBE.
Of all the carnivorous animals those included in this tribe are, perhaps, the most interesting, as amongst them are lions, tigers, panthers, and, in fact, all the most beautiful of what we generally call wild beasts.
TIGER AND WILD BOAR.
Image
The animals belonging to this tribe, though they scarcely ever run, are almost constantly in action both by day and by night, as they generally either creep slowly along, often crouching near the ground, as they do so, till they reach their prey, or advance rapidly by prodigious bounds, owing, it is believed, to the extreme flexibility of their limbs, and of the joints of the back bone. The sense of sight, especially during twilight, is acute, and the senses of hearing and feeling are perfect; but the senses of smell and taste are obtuse. The tongue of these animals does not appear sensitive like that of other creatures, but may, in fact, be called an organ of mastication almost as much as the teeth: "the sharp and callous points with which it is covered being used for tearing away the softer parts of the animal substances on which they prey." All the feline tribe have whiskers, not merely for ornament, but use; as "the perception of touch is said to reside in great perfection in the small bulbs at their base." Hence, when a cat wishes to pass through a hole, she puts her head in slowly first, and if she finds her whiskers touched she draws back, as she knows there will not be room for her body.
The lion is generally considered the king of beasts; and all the old books on natural history are full of praises of his nobleness and courage. Modern naturalists, however, have discovered that these praises are undeserved, and that the lion, which is well known to be an animal of the cat kind, partakes of the character of a cat in its want of courage, and in its substitution of cunning for bravery. Thus, instead of a lion being too magnanimous to attack a man, unless he is excited by extreme hunger, they say he is too cowardly to do so; and, as a proof of his cat-like propensities, it is a fact that the lion, in a wild state, steals through the jungle to attack his prey, and does not show himself till it is within reach for him to spring upon it. The foot of the lion is furnished with the same apparatus for extending its claws, and drawing them back, that we see in the foot of the common cat; and as by this apparatus only the soft parts of the foot are brought in contact with the ground, it contributes to the noiseless tread and cautious habits of the feline tribe. Every one who has suffered a cat to lick the hand, knows how rough a cat's tongue is; and if that of the lion were examined, it would be found exactly the same. It is peculiar to this tribe of animals, that they never eat their prey directly after having caught it. When a cat catches a bird or a mouse, she will play with it for some time before she kills it; and any one who sees a lion fed in the Zoological Gardens may observe, that when he has a bone given to him in his den, he never begins to eat it directly, but will put it under him and will growl furiously over it for some minutes before he begins to gnaw it; differing remarkably, in this respect, from a wolf, or any other animal of the dog tribe, as these creatures begin to destroy their prey the moment they have seized it. "All animals of the dog tribe," says Mr. Waterton, "must be combated with might and main, and with unceasing exertion, in their attacks upon man; for, from the moment they obtain the mastery, they worry and tear their victim as long as life remains in it. On the contrary, animals of the cat tribe having once overcome their prey, they cease for a certain time to inflict further injury on it. Thus, during the momentous interval from the stroke which has laid a man beneath a lion, to the time when the lion shall begin to devour him, the man may have it in his power to rise again, either by his own exertions, or by the fortuitous intervention of an armed friend. But then all depends upon quiet, extreme quiet, on the part of the man, until he plunges his dagger into the heart of the animal; for if he tries to resist, he is sure to feel the force of his adversary's claws and teeth with redoubled vengeance. Many years ago, Colonel Duff, in India, was laid low by the stroke of a Bengal tiger. On coming to himself, he found the animal standing over him. Recollecting that he had his dirk by his side, he drew it out of the case in the most cautious manner possible, and by one happy thrust quite through the heart, he laid the tiger dead at his side."