“The usual resorts of the Jerboa Kangaroo are low grassy hills and dry ridges, thickly intersected with trees and bushes. It is a nocturnal animal, lying curled up in the shape of a ball during the day, and going forth as night approaches in search of food, which consists of grasses and roots; the latter being procured by scratching and burrowing, for which its fore-claws are admirably adapted. When startled from its nest, it bounds with amazing rapidity, and always seeks the shelter of a hollow tree, a small hole in a rock, or some similar place of refuge.”
THE OPOSSUMS.
The Opossums were the first Marsupial Quadrupeds known to Naturalists. They are peculiar to the American continent. They have fifty teeth. Their tongue is rough, and their tail, which is partially denuded of hair, prehensile.
The Virginian Opossum is found in Southern States. It destroys poultry of which it sucks the blood, but does not eat the flesh. It feeds on roots and fruits, climbing the trees, and suspending itself by the tail from the branches; in this position it swings itself to and fro, and by catching hold of the neighboring branches, passes from tree to tree. It hunts after Birds and their nests, and when pursued, feigns to be dead, and will endure great torture without showing any sign of vitality.
The Opossum excavates a burrow near a thicket not far distant from the abode of Man, and sleeps there during the whole day. While the sun shines it does not see clearly, and therefore feeds and plays during the night. Although its mode of life resembles that of the Fox and the Polecat, it is much less cruel, and has also inferior means of defence. It runs badly, and although its jaws are large, they are not strong.
“The Opossum,” says Audubon, “is fond of secluding itself during the day, although it by no means confines its predatory rangings to the night. Like many other quadrupeds which feed principally upon flesh, it is both frugivorous and herbivorous, and when very hard pressed by hunger, it seizes various kinds of insects and reptiles. Its gait when traveling, and when it supposes itself unobserved, is altogether ambling—in other words, it, like a young foal, moves the two legs of one side forward at once. Its movements are rather slow, and as it walks or ambles along, its curious prehensile tail is carried just above the ground, and its rounded ears are directed forwards.”
There are several species of Opossum found in South America, but none in the Antilles or the West Indies.
Their method of hunting their prey is interesting. An Opossum is seen slowly and cautiously trudging along over the melting snow, by the side of an unfrequented pond, nosing as it goes for the fare its ravenous appetite prefers. Now it has come upon the fresh track of a Grouse or Hare, and it raises its snout and snuffs the keen air. It stops and seems at a loss in what direction to go, for the object of its pursuit has taken a considerable leap or has cut backwards, before the Opossum entered its track. It raises itself up, stands for a while on its hind-feet, looks around, sniffs the air, and then proceeds. But now at the foot of a noble tree, it comes to a full stand. It walks round the base of the large trunk, over the snow-covered roots, and among them finds an aperture, which it at once enters. Several minutes elapse, when it re-appears, dragging along a Squirrel, already deprived of life; with this in its mouth it begins to ascend the tree. Slowly it climbs; the first fork does not seem to suit it, for perhaps it thinks that it might be there too openly exposed to the view of some wily foe, and so it proceeds, until it gains a cluster of branches intertwined with grape-vines; and there composing itself, it twists its tail round one of the twigs, and with its sharp teeth demolishes the unlucky Squirrel, which it holds all the while in its fore-paws.
PACHYDERMATA—THICK-SKINNED QUADRUPEDS.
ALL the animals of this great order are classified under the name Pachydermata, which is derived from two Greek words meaning thick-skinned. In nearly all of them the toes are rendered motionless by a horny covering which surrounds them, called a hoof, which blunts them to the sense of touch; and the form of this hoof helps to divide the order into families. There are three divisions in the Pachydermata—the Elephant family, known as the Proboscidae (from the Latin word proboscis, meaning a trunk); the family of ordinary Pachydermata, including the Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, Hyrax, Tapir, Wild Boar, Phacocheres and Peccari; and the family of Solipedes, the name of which is derived from the Latin words solus, alone, and pes, pedis, a foot, and includes the animals with undivided hoofs, like the Horse, the Donkey, Hemionus, Daw, Zebra and Quagga.