SKULL OF CACOMIXLE.
The Cacomixle is about a yard long, two-fifths of this length being taken up by the tail. Its fur is brown, and its tail beautifully ringed. Its habits are entirely arboreal, and it makes a moss-lined nest in hollow trees. It has a curious habit of gnawing the wood round the entrance of the hole, so that hunters are able to tell whether a hollow tree is inhabited or not, by the presence or absence of débris of bark and wood at the root. It frequently trespasses into the miner’s tent “and plunders his provision bag. When caught, as it often is, it becomes so familiar and amusing, and does so much to relieve the monotony of the miner’s life, that it is highly valued, and commands quite a large price.” It is said to be a capital mouser.
CACOMIXLE.
THE PANDA FAMILY.[160]
This group, which has received a most unfortunate name, as it belongs to the Arctoidea and not to the Æluroidea, contains only two genera, one of which has been recently discovered, while the other has been known for many years.
THE PANDA[161]
forms a striking object among the small Mammals. It is a really beautiful creature, rich red chestnut in colour on the upper surface, jet black as to the lower surface, the limbs also black, the snout and the inside of the ears white, the tail bushy, reddish-brown in colour, and indistinctly ringed. The fact of the under surface being black while the upper is bright reddish-yellow is remarkable; with most animals, when there is any difference in colour, it is the under surface which is lighter. The body and head are about half a yard long, the tail about a foot. The mode of progression is plantigrade, and the large curved claws are half retractile. The main anatomical characters are decidedly ursine, as also are the habits. Mr. Bartlett, who studied the Panda that found a home for a time at the Zoo, states that, when drinking, it sucked up the fluid like a Bear, instead of licking it up as a Dog or Cat would do. When offended it would rush at Mr. Bartlett, and strike at him with both feet, the body being raised like a Bear’s and the claws projecting. It also, when angry, made a sharp spitting noise; at other times it used a “weak, squeaking call-note.” On level ground it ran in the same manner as the Weasel, Otter, and Kinkajou, with a sort of jumping gallop, the back being kept much arched.
