THE paca ([fig. 129]) is an animal of the new world, which digs itself a borough like a rabbit, to whom he has often been compared, though there is scarce any likeness between them; he is much larger than the rabbit, or even the hare; his body is bigger and more compact; he has a round head and short snout; he is fat and bulky, and is more like a pig in form, grunting, waddling, and manner of eating, for he does not use, like the rabbit, his fore feet to carry food to his mouth, but grubs up the earth like the hog to find subsistence. They inhabit the banks of rivers, and are found only in the damp and warm places of South America: their flesh is very good to eat, and excessively fat; their skin is eaten like that of a pig. For these reasons a perpetual war is carried on against these animals. Hunters find it very difficult to take them alive; and when they are surprised in their burrows, which have two openings, they defend themselves, and bite with great rage and inveteracy. Their skins, though covered with short and rough hair, make a fine fur because it is regularly spotted on the sides. These animals bring forth very often, and in abundance: men, and animals of prey, destroy great numbers of them, and yet the species remains undiminished in numbers; he is peculiar to South America, and is found no where in the old continent.
SUPPLEMENT.
OUR former description of the Paca was taken from a young one which had not nearly come to its full growth. Since then I have had one sent me, which was much bigger even when he arrived, and continued to grow while I kept him, namely from August 1774, to May 28, 1775. From the Sieur Trécourt I received an account of his natural habits, in which that gentleman says: “This animal remains perfectly quiet in the day, if he is provided with a wooden cage, or box, and has plenty of provisions, to which he readily retires of himself while the day continues, but as soon as night comes on he becomes in a perpetual agitation to get out, and will even use violent efforts to effect that purpose if he is fastened in; this he never attempts during the day, unless pressed to make some natural evacuation, in which case he always gets to the furthest corner, having an aversion to any kind of dirt in the place he lives in; even his straw he pushes out with his nose when it begins to smell, and will seek about for rags, or paper, to supply its place. He had no particular attachment to his box, for he would often forsake it for some obscure corner, and when once his bed was made, he could only be made to leave his new habitation by force. This animal, which was a female, gave a strong proof of her propensity to cleanliness, for a large male rabbit being put with her when she was in season, she received him with a degree of fondness, and something was expected from them; she would lick his nose, ears, and body, and even suffer him to take away the greatest part of her food; but upon voiding his excrement, in their common apartment, she immediately took an aversion to him, and retired to the bottom of an old press, making herself a bed with paper and rags, nor would she return to her house again, until she perceived it was cleared of the dirt and her filthy companion.”
The Paca very easily becomes domesticated, and is very gentle and tractable, unless when much irritated. He is very fond of being noticed, and will lick the hands of those who caress him; he very readily distinguishes the voices of those who take care of him, and when stroked on the back, he will lie down on his belly, stretch himself out, and, with a gentle cry, express his gratitude for the favour, and seem to ask a continuance; but if laid hold of in a rough manner, he will struggle violently to escape. His muscles are very strong, yet his feeling is so delicate that the slightest touch on the skin will excite in him the most sensible emotions; and which sensibility, though commonly producing good humour, will sometimes, by irritation, or presenting an offensive object, put him in the most violent passion. A strange dog invariably produces the latter effect; and he has been observed, when shut in his cage, to make violent efforts to get out upon the appearance of one. It was at first thought he had no desire to come out but upon natural occasions; but one day, when he was at liberty, he flew out upon a poor dog, and bit him very severely; but in a few days after he became perfectly familiar with the same dog. He will also fly at strangers, if they plague him, but he never offers to bite those by whom he is taken care of. He has a dislike to children, and will run after them; and when in a passion he makes a kind of grunting, and at the same time a chattering with his teeth. He very frequently sits for a considerable time together on his posteriors, and has a common practice of appearing to comb his head and whiskers with his paws, which he repeatedly licks with his tongue. When thus employed, he scratches all parts of his body which he can reach with his fore paws, and afterwards the remainder with his hind ones. He is, however, a gross animal; he does not appear delicate; his coat is not smooth; he is far from active, but moves heavily and somewhat like a hog; whom he also resembles by the whiteness and thickness of his skin; he seldom attempts to run, and when he does, it is very aukwardly.
This animal, though not full grown, measured more than eighteen inches from the point of his nose to the extremity of his body, and he could stretch himself out to near two feet, while the one which I formerly described was not more than seven inches five lines, and this difference was evidently to be attributed to their ages, as in all other respects they were perfectly similar.
This animal measured about seven inches high before, and nine and a half behind, by which his head always appeared lower than his hind parts: his head is five inches long, and rather convex; he has large brown eyes, two inches asunder, short round ears, covered with a fine down, a broad black nose, divided like that of a hare, very large nostrils, and in which he has great strength; the upper jaw comes out above an inch beyond the lower; he has a fold along them that may at first sight be taken for the mouth, but which is scarcely perceptible unless it is open; he has two large yellow teeth in each jaw, with which he can cut through wood, and I have known him make a hole in a plank in a single night through which he could put his head; but, although several times attempted, he would never permit us to count his grinders; he has a thick rough tongue, and whiskers on each side his nose, consisting of black and white hairs; he has five toes on each foot, and long claws on them, of a flesh colour; and his tail is merely a kind of button, does not exceed five lines in length, and requires a close inspection to discover it.
The paca, when domesticated, will eat any thing that is given him, and if fed with bread he seems to have an equal relish for it, whether soaked in water, wine, or vinegar; he is extremely fond of sugar and fruits, and will leap about for joy when they are given him; he seems to have the same relish for grapes, celery, onions, or garlic; he will also eat grass, moss, the bark of trees, or even wood; he drinks like a dog; his urine has a disagreeable smell, and his excrements are like those of the rabbit.