This animal bears a close resemblance to the weasel tribe, both in form and habits. From the tip of the nose to the root of the tail, it is about eighteen inches in length. At the base, the tail is very thick, tapering gradually towards the point, which is slightly tufted. It has a long, active body, short legs, lively and piercing eyes, and a pointed nose; the hair is rough and bristly, of a pale reddish grey.
The Ichneumon is celebrated in the mythology of ancient Egypt, where it has long been domesticated, and where it was ranked amongst the divinities, on account of its great utility in destroying serpents, snakes, rats, mice, and other vermin: it is also fond of crocodiles’ eggs, which it digs out of the sand where they have been deposited. It is a very fierce, though small animal, and will fight with dogs, foxes, and even jackals, with great fury. It will not breed in confinement, but may be easily tamed when taken young.
The following particulars are related by M. D’Obsonville, in his Essays on the Nature of various foreign Animals:—“I had an Ichneumon very young, which I brought up. I fed it at first with milk, and afterward with baked meat mixed with rice. It soon became even tamer than a cat; for it came when called, and followed me, though at liberty, in the country. One day I brought this animal a small water-serpent alive, being desirous to know how far his instinct would carry him against a being with which he was as yet totally unacquainted. His first emotion seemed to be astonishment mixed with anger, for his hair became erect; but in an instant he slipped behind the reptile, and with remarkable swiftness and agility leaped upon its head, seized it, and crushed it between his teeth. This essay, and new food, seemed to have awakened in him his innate and destructive voracity, which till then had given way to the gentleness he had acquired from education. I had about my house several curious kinds of fowls, among which he had been brought up, and which, till then, he had suffered to go and come unmolested and unregarded: but a few days after, when he found himself alone, he strangled them every one, ate a little, and, as it appeared, drank the blood of two.”
The Moongus (Herpestes griseus) and the Garangan (Herpestes Javanicus) are eastern species of Ichneumons; the former inhabits India, and the latter the island of Java. Like the Egyptian Ichneumon, they are great enemies of snakes and other reptiles, and also destroy rats, but unfortunately they often commit great havoc among poultry.
The mode in which the Ichneumon seizes a serpent is thus described by Lucan in his Pharsalia:—
The animals belonging to this genus, notwithstanding their small size, are all carnivorous, and from their slender and lengthened bodies, short legs, and the very free motion in every direction, permitted by the loose articulations of the spine, are well formed for pursuing their prey into the deepest recesses. Constituted by nature to subsist on animals, many of which have great strength and courage, they possess an undaunted and ferocious disposition. The Weasel has a long and thin body; its length, with its tail, is ten inches, and its height not more than an inch and a half. In the northern parts of Europe they are very numerous. Mice of every description, the field and the water-vole, rats, moles, and small birds, are their ordinary food, and occasionally rabbits and partridges. When driven by hunger, it will boldly attack the poultry-yard. The Weasel, when it enters a hen roost, never meddles with the cocks or old hens, but makes choice of the pullets and young chickens; these it kills with a single stroke on the head, and carries away one after the other. It sucks the eggs with avidity, making a small hole at one end, through which it draws out the yolk. In winter it resides in granaries and hay-lofts, and in summer chooses the low lands about the mills and streams, where it hides among the bushes, and in the hollows of old trees.
It was formerly supposed that the Weasel was untamable; but Buffon, in a supplementary volume, corrects this error, and from a letter of a female correspondent, shows that it may be rendered as familiar as a cat or a lapdog. It frequently eat from his correspondent’s hand, and seemed fonder of milk and fresh meat than of any other food. “If I present my hands,” says this lady, “at the distance of three feet, it jumps into them without ever missing. It shows a great deal of address and cunning, in order to accomplish its ends, and seems to disobey certain prohibitions merely through caprice. During all its actions it seems solicitous to divert and be noticed, looking at every jump and at every turn to see whether it be observed or not. If no notice be taken of its gambols, it ceases them immediately, and betakes itself to sleep; and when awaked from the soundest sleep, it instantly resumes its gaiety, and frolics about in as sprightly a manner as before. It never shows any ill humour, unless when confined or too much teased, in which case it expresses its displeasure by a sort of murmur, very different from that which it utters when pleased.”
Weasels and ferrets are used by rat-catchers to drive the rats out of their holes; and they kill a great many, the habit of the Weasel being to kill its prey by biting the head, so that the teeth penetrate the brain, and then to throw the body aside, or hide it till a future period.
Is a small, yet bold animal, and an enemy to all others but those of his own kind. He closely resembles the Polecat, and is considered by many naturalists, to be merely a domesticated variety of that animal. His eyes are remarkably fiery. He is much used to drive rabbits from their holes, and for this purpose is always muzzled, as otherwise he would feast upon the blood of the first rabbit he met with, and then quietly lay himself down in the burrow to sleep. He is such an inveterate enemy to the rabbit, that if a dead one be presented to a young Ferret, he instantly bites it with an appearance of rapacity; or, if it be living, the Ferret seizes it by the neck, winds himself round it, and continues to suck its blood till he be satiated; indeed, his appetite for blood is so strong, that he has been known to attack and kill children in the cradle. He is very soon irritated; and his bite is very difficult to be cured.
Our figure is full large, as the length of the animal is usually about thirteen inches, exclusive of the tail, which is about five.
The strong and disagreeable smell of this animal is proverbial; its skin is stiff, hard, and rugged, and when well prepared, is very desirable as clothing. It is about seventeen inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which is about six inches. The breast, tail, and legs are of a blackish colour, but the belly and sides yellowish. It sometimes conceals itself in secret corners about houses, and is then a disastrous pest to the poultry-yard. These animals usually frequent the woods and destroy a great quantity of game; and some, forsaking the haunts of man, retire to the rocks and crevices of the cliffs on the sea shore, preferring a meagre and scanty diet with security, to the daintiness of chicken-flesh and eggs, attended with trouble and fear. Rabbits seem to be their favourite prey, and a single Polecat is often sufficient to destroy a whole warren; for with that insatiable thirst for blood which is natural to all the weasel tribe, it kills much more than it can devour; and twenty rabbits have been found dead, which one Polecat had destroyed by a wound hardly perceptible. The Polecat is the same with the Fitchet or Foumart, the hair of which is made into fine brushes and pencils for the use of painters. This small animal is fierce and bold. When attacked by a dog, it will defend itself with great spirit, attack him in turn, fastening upon the nose of its enemy with so keen a bite, as frequently to oblige him to desist. When heated or enraged, the smell it emits is absolutely intolerable.
This, which is also called the Stoat, is a smaller species than the Polecat, and is less common in England than the latter, although in Scotland it is tolerably abundant. Its colour in summer, is reddish brown on the back and white underneath; but in winter the whole of the fur becomes pure white, except on the tail, which is always black, and it is in this state that the fur of the Ermine is so highly esteemed. In the North of Europe, Siberia, and the most northern parts of America, Ermines are found in immense numbers, and great quantities of them are killed for the sake of their skins, of which several hundred thousand are annually exported from those inclement northern regions, to serve for the adornment of ladies dress, and of the state robes of peers and other high dignitaries, in more civilized countries. The pure white skin adorned with the jet black tails of the little animals, is indeed one of the most elegant of all furs; but from the immense quantities in which the skins are imported, they have become so cheap that ermine can no longer be regarded as a fashionable fur, and it is chiefly employed for those purposes to which custom has, in a manner, consecrated its use.
Like the Polecat, and others of its kind, the Ermine is a bloodthirsty little creature, and so bold that it will attack animals much larger than itself. It is very destructive to poultry and game, and even pursues hares with success; those animals, although so fleet of foot appearing to be so fascinated by the approach of their little enemy, that they do not betake themselves to flight, but hop slowly along, until the fangs of the destroyer are fixed in the throat of its victim, when all efforts to shake him off are unavailing. The Ermine is also one of the great enemies of the water-rat, which it will follow into the water. The dwelling-place of the Ermine is a narrow burrow, usually in the midst of a thicket, or furze-bush; it sometimes takes up its abode in a rabbit burrow. In this country the female produces four or five young at a birth; but in North America the litter is said to consist of ten or twelve little ones.
Which is found in most parts of North America, is curiously marked with a pair of white stripes running down the sides of the back. It feeds upon mice and other small quadrupeds, and also in summer upon frogs. The Skunk is of a stout and rather heavy form, and runs but slowly, so that when pursued it would have but a small chance of making its escape, but for a singular provision with which it has been endowed by nature. This consists of a yellow fluid of the most horrible odour, contained in a small bag or pouch under the root of the tail; which the creature is enabled to discharge to a distance of more than four feet, so that even if the noisome discharge does not actually reach and smother the animal’s pursuers, it forms between them and their intended victim, a sort of invisible barrier, which few noses are able to pass. The smell is so strong that it has been known to produce sickness at a distance of a hundred yards, and so persistent, that the spot where a Skunk has been killed, will retain the taint for many days. The flesh of this animal is, however, considered excellent food by the Indians.
This animal is a native of Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Asiatic Russia, and it frequents the banks of rivers, and the thickest parts of the woods. It lives in holes under the ground, and especially under the roots of trees; but sometimes makes its nest, like the squirrel, in the hollows of trees. The skin of the Sable is more valuable than that of any other animal of equal size. One of these skins, not more than four inches broad, has sometimes been valued at as high a rate as fifteen pounds; but the general price is from one to ten pounds, according to the quality. The Sable’s fur is different from all others, its peculiarity being, that the hair turns with equal ease either way; on which account fur dealers sometimes blow the fur of any article they may be selling, to show that it is really Sable. The tails are sold by the hundred, at from four to eight pounds.
The American Sable (M. leucopus) is considered to be a distinct species.
The common, or Beech Marten, (Mustela Martes or Martes foina,) like the Sable, boasts the honour of adorning with his fur the rich and the beautiful; as princes, ladies, and opulent people of all nations, pride themselves in wearing his spoils. He is about as big as a cat, but his body is much longer proportionately, and the legs shorter. His skin is of a light brown, with white under the throat. The fur of the Marten fetches a good price, and is much used in European countries, though very far inferior to that of the Sable: the best, which is called Stone Marten fur by the furriers, is imported from Sweden and Russia.
The Pine, or Yellow-breasted Marten (M. Abietum), is another species, the fur of which is nearly equal to that of the Sable, though it is much cheaper.
As the Otter lives principally on fish, the formation of his body is such as will enable him to swim with the greatest facility. His body is flattened horizontally; his tail is flat and broad; his legs are short, and his toes webbed. His teeth are very strong and sharp; and his body, besides its fur, has an outer covering of coarse shining hair. The Otter is a perfect epicure in his food; he seldom eats an entire fish, but beginning at the head, eats that, and about half the body, always rejecting the tail. When the rivers and ponds are frozen so that the Otter can get no fish, he will visit the neighbouring farm-yards, where he will attack the poultry, sucking-pigs, and even lambs. An Otter may be tamed, and taught to catch fish enough to sustain not only himself, but a whole family. Goldsmith states, that he saw an Otter go to a gentleman’s pond at the word of command, drive the fish into a corner, and seize upon the largest of the whole, bring it off, and give it to his master.
Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, states, that a person of the name of Collins, who lived at Kilmerston, near Wooler, in Northumberland, had a tame Otter, which followed him wherever he went. He frequently took it to fish in the river; and, when satiated, it never failed to return to him. One day, in the absence of Collins, the Otter, being taken out to fish by his son, instead of returning as usual, refused to come at the accustomed call, and was lost. The father tried every means in his power to recover the animal; and, after several days’ search, being near the place where his son had lost it, and calling it by name, to his inexpressible joy it came creeping to his feet, and showed many marks of affection and attachment.
The female Otter produces four or five young ones at a birth, and these in the spring of the year. Where there have been ponds near a gentleman’s house, instances have occurred of their littering in cellars or drains. The male utters no noise when taken, but the females sometimes emit a shrill squeak.
Otters are generally caught in traps placed near their landing-places, and carefully concealed in the sand. When hunted by dogs, the old ones defend themselves with great obstinacy. They bite severely, and do not readily quit their hold. Otter-hunting is a favourite sport in many parts of Great Britain; particularly in the midland counties of England, and in Wales.
The common Otter sometimes takes to the sea; but, on the eastern coasts of Northern Asia and the opposite shores of North America, true Sea Otters are met with, chiefly about the numerous rocky islands which fringe those coasts. The Sea Otter in its habits resembles the seals more than the common species; it is about three feet long without the tail, and is covered with a thick, rich, dark brown, or nearly black fur, which is so highly prized that single fine skins have been known to sell for a sum equivalent to twenty pounds, and the animals have, in consequence, been pursued with such avidity, that their numbers are greatly reduced.
The amphibious flesh-eating animals, though nearly allied to the otter in their habits, are very different in the construction of their bodies. Their feet are so short and so enveloped in skin, that they are of scarcely any use in assisting the animal on dry land; so that the Seal’s progress on solid ground is only effected by a sort of half tumbling, jumping, and shuffling motion, excessively ridiculous to a looker-on. The feet, however, which are furnished with strong claws, are of use in enabling the animal to climb out of the water over a rocky shore. For swimming, the Seal is admirably adapted; its long flexible body is shaped like that of a fish, tapering to the tail; and it is furnished with strong webs between the toes, so as to make the fore feet act as oars, and the hind feet, which the animal generally drags behind it like a tail, to serve as a rudder. The Common Seal lives generally in the water, and feeds entirely on fish; only coming to shore occasionally to bask on the sands, and to lie there to suckle its young. The usual length of a Seal is four or five feet. The head is large and round; the neck small and short; and on each side of the mouth there are several strong bristles. From the shoulders the body tapers to the tail, which is very short. The eyes are large: there are no external ears; and the tongue is cleft or forked at the end. The body is covered with short thick-set hair, which in the common species is generally grey, but sometimes brown or blackish. There are, however, several species; and one of them, which is called the sea-leopard, has the fur spotted with white or yellow.
Seals are hunted by the Greenlanders for the sake of their oil, and also for their skins, which are used for making waistcoats and other articles of clothing, and are much prized by the fishermen for their great warmth. The oil, of which a full grown specimen yields four or five gallons, is very clear and transparent, and destitute of the unpleasant odour and taste of whale-oil. When attacked, they fight with great fury; but when taken young, are capable of being tamed; they will follow their master like a dog, and come to him when called by the name given to them. Some years ago a young Seal was thus domesticated. It was taken at a little distance from the sea, and was generally kept in a vessel full of salt water: but sometimes it was allowed to crawl about the house, and even to approach the fire. Its natural food was regularly procured for it; and it was carried to the sea every day, and thrown in from a boat. It used to swim after the boat, and always allowed itself to be taken back. It lived thus for several weeks, and probably would have lived much longer, had it not been sometimes too roughly handled. The females in this climate bring forth in winter, and rear their young upon some sand-bank, rock, or desolate island, at some distance from the main land. When they suckle their young, they sit up on their hinder legs, while the little Seals, which are at first white, with woolly hair, cling to the teats, which are four in number. In this manner the young continue in the place where they are brought forth for twelve or fifteen days; after which the dam brings them down to the water, and accustoms them to swim and get their food by their own industry.
In Newfoundland the Seal-fishery forms an important source of wealth, and numerous ships are sent out every season among the ice in search of Seals. One ship has been known to catch five thousand Seals, but about half that number is the usual quantity taken. As soon as the Seal is killed, it is skinned, and the pelt, as the skin and blubber together is called, being preserved, the body of the Seal is either eaten by the sailors, or left on the ice for the polar bears.
The aboriginal inhabitants of the northern regions have several strange superstitions about Seals. They believe that Seals delight in thunder-storms; and say, that during these times they will sit on the rocks, and contemplate, with apparent pleasure and gratification, the convulsion of the elements. The Icelanders, in particular, are said to believe that these animals are the offspring of Pharaoh and his host, who were converted into Seals when they were overwhelmed in the Red Sea.
Several species of Seals are distinguished by curious appendages to the head, sometimes in the form of a hood, sometimes in that of a projection from the nose. One of the most singular is the Sea Elephant (Morunga proboscidea), an inhabitant of the shores of the numerous islands scattered over the great Southern Ocean. In this curious animal, which often measures twenty-four feet in length, the nose of the male forms a proboscis about a foot long and capable of considerable distension. The female has no such appendage. The young of the Sea Elephant, when just born, is said to be as large as a full grown seal of the common species. The skin in the old animals is very thick, and forms an excellent leather for harness.
This very curious animal is nearly allied to the Seal, but is of much greater size, being frequently eighteen feet in length, and from ten to twelve feet in girth. The head is round, the eyes are small and brilliant, and the upper lip, which is enormously thick, is covered with pellucid bristles, as large as a straw. The nostrils are very large, and there are no external ears. The most remarkable part of the Walrus is, however, his two large tusks in the upper jaw; they are inverted, the points nearly uniting, and sometimes exceed twenty-four inches in length! the use which the animal makes of them is not easily explained, unless they help him to climb up the rocks and mountains of ice among which he takes up his abode, as the parrot employs his beak to get upon his perch. The tusks of the Walrus are superior in durability and whiteness to those of the elephant, and, as they keep their colour much longer, are preferred by dentists to any other substance for making artificial teeth.
The Walrus is common in some of the northern seas, and will sometimes attack a boat full of men. They are gregarious animals, usually found in herds of from fifty to one hundred or more, sleeping and snoring on the icy shores; but when alarmed they precipitate themselves into the water with great bustle and trepidation, and swim with such rapidity, that it is difficult to overtake them with a boat. One of their number always keeps watch while the others sleep. They feed on shell-fish and sea-weeds, and yield an oil equal in goodness to that of the whale. The white bear is their greatest enemy. In the combats between these animals, the Walrus is said to be generally victorious, on account of the desperate wounds it inflicts with its tusks. The females have only one young one at a time, which, when born, resembles a good-sized pig.
This animal is something like a porcupine in miniature, and is covered all over with strong and sharp spines or prickles, which he erects when irritated. His common food consists of worms, slugs, and snails; and thus, far from being a noxious animal in a garden, he is a very useful one, as he feeds upon all the insects he can find. Hedgehogs inhabit most parts of Europe. Notwithstanding its formidable appearance, it is one of the most harmless animals in the world. While other creatures trust to their force, their cunning, or their swiftness, this quadruped, destitute of all, has but one expedient for safety, and from this alone it generally finds protection. The instant it perceives an enemy, it withdraws all its vulnerable parts, rolls itself into a ball, and presents nothing to view but a round mass of spines, impervious on every side. When the Hedgehog is thus rolled up, the cat, the weasel, the ferret, and the marten, after wounding themselves with the prickles, quickly decline the combat; and the dog himself generally spends his time in empty menaces rather than in effectual efforts, while the little animal waits patiently till its enemy, by retiring, affords an opportunity for retreat.
The female produces from two to four young ones at a birth. When first born they are blind, and their spines white and soft, but they become hard in a few days. The Hedgehog is said to suck the milk from cows; but this is impossible, as the mouth of the Hedgehog would not admit the teat of the cow. The Hedgehog, however, sometimes destroys eggs, and has been known to attack frogs, mice, and even toads, when pressed by hunger; it will also occasionally eat the tuberous roots of plants, boring under the root, so as to devour it, and yet leave the stem and leaves untouched. The Hedgehog makes himself a nest of leaves and soft wool for the winter, in the hollow trunk of an old tree, or in a hole in a rock or bank; and here, having coiled himself up, he passes the winter in one long unbroken sleep. Hedgehogs may easily be tamed, and are sometimes kept in the kitchens in London houses to destroy the black-beetles. The flesh of the Hedgehog is sometimes eaten; especially by gipsies, who appear to consider it a delicacy. It is said to be well-tasted, and to have abundance of yellow fat.
In times when insect food is scarce he will also regale himself upon apples and pears which have fallen from the trees, but a glance at the structure of the creature ought to be sufficient to convince any one that the charges often brought against him of climbing trees to detach the fruit which he is said afterwards to carry off by the ingenious expedient of throwing himself down upon it from the branches so as to attach it to his spines, are totally without foundation.
The Mole is a curious, awkwardly-shaped animal, with a long flexible snout, very small eyes, and hand-like fore feet, armed with very strong claws, with which it scrapes its way through the ground, when it is forming the subterranean passages in which it takes up its abode. The Mole, though it is supposed not to possess the advantage of sight, has the senses of hearing and feeling in great perfection; and its fur, which is short and thick, is set erect from its skin, so as not to impede its progress whether it goes forward or backwards along its runs. These runs are very curiously constructed: they cross each other at different points, but all lead to a nest in the centre, which the Mole makes his castle, or place of abode. The passages are made by the Mole in his search after the earth-worms and grubs, on which he lives; and the molehills are formed by the earth he scrapes out of his runs. These molehills do a great deal of mischief to grass lands, as they render the ground very difficult to mow; and on this account mole-catchers are employed to fix traps in the ground, so that when the mole is running through one of his passages, he passes through the trap, which instantly springs up out of the ground with the poor Mole in it. The female Mole makes her nest at a distance from the male’s castle. She has young only once a year, but she has four or five at a time.
The following curious fact respecting a Mole is related by Mr. Bruce. “In visiting the Loch of Clunie, I observed in it a small island, at the distance of a hundred and eighty yards from the land. Upon this island Lord Airlie, the proprietor, had a castle and small shrubbery. I observed frequently the appearance of fresh molehills; but for some time took it to be the water mouse, and one day I asked the gardener if it was so. He replied it was the Mole, and that he had caught one or two lately; but that five or six years ago he had caught two in traps, and for two years after this he had observed none. But about four years since, coming ashore one summer’s evening in the dusk, he and Lord Airlie’s butler saw, at a small distance upon the smooth water, an animal paddling to and not far distant from the island; they soon closed with the feeble passenger, and found it to be the Common Mole, led by a most astonishing instinct from the nearest point of land, (the castle-hill,) to take possession of this island. It was at this time, for about the space of two years, quite free from any subterraneous inhabitant; but the Mole has, for more than a year past, made its appearance again.”
The Mole is very pugnacious, and sometimes two of the males will fight furiously till one of them is killed.
This curious little animal closely resembles a mouse, except in its snout, which is long and pointed, to enable it to grub in the ground for its food, which consists of earthworms, and the grubs of beetles. The Shrew, like the mole, is very fond of fighting; and when two are seen together, they are generally engaged in a furious battle. Like the hedgehog, it has been much scandalized by false reports, as will be seen by the following extract from that most amusing and interesting work, White’s Selborne: “At the south corner of the area, near the church, there stood, about twenty years ago, a very old, grotesque, hollow pollard-ash, which for ages had been looked upon with no small veneration as a shrew-ash. Now a shrew-ash is an ash whose twigs and branches, when applied to the limbs of cattle, will immediately relieve the pains which a beast suffers from the running of a Shrew-mouse over the part affected; for it is supposed that a Shrew-mouse is of so baneful and deleterious a nature, that whenever it creeps over a beast, be it a horse, or cow, or sheep, the suffering animal is afflicted with cruel anguish, and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. Against this accident, to which they were continually liable, our provident forefathers always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which, when once medicated, would maintain its virtue for ever. A shrew-ash was made thus:—into the body of the tree a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted Shrew mouse was thrust in alive, and plugged in.” The cruelty of this, and many other practices of our ancestors, ought to make us thankful that we live in more enlightened days.
The body of the Shrew exhales a rank musky odour, which renders the animal so offensive to cats, that though they will readily kill them, they will not eat their flesh. This noisome odour probably gave rise to the notion that the Shrew-mouse is a venomous animal, and its bite dangerous to cattle, particularly horses. It is, however, neither venomous nor capable of biting, as its mouth is not sufficiently wide to seize the double thickness of the skin, which is absolutely necessary in order to bite.
The female Shrew makes her nest in a bank, or if on the ground, she covers it at the top, always entering on the side; and she has generally from five to seven young ones at a time.
The Water Shrew (Sorex fodiens,) is a beautiful little creature, with somewhat differently formed feet and tail, to enable it to paddle through the water, in which it dives and swims with great agility. When floating “on the calm surface of a quiet brook,” or diving after its food, its black velvety coat becomes silvered over with the innumerable bubbles of air that cover it when submerged; though when it rises again, the fur is observed to be perfectly dry, repelling the water as completely as the feathers of a water-fowl.
The Bat has the body of a mouse, and the wings of a bird. It has an enormous mouth, and large ears, which are of a kind of membrane, thin and almost transparent. The pinions of its wings are furnished with hooks, by which it hangs to trees or the crevices in old walls during the day, a great number of them together, as they only fly at night. The wings of the Bat are very large; those of the Great Bat measuring fifteen inches across. It feeds on insects of various kinds, particularly on cockchafers and other winged beetles, part of which, however, it always throws away. A female Bat that was caught, and kept in a cage, ate meat when it was given to her in little bits, and lapped water like a cat. She was very particular in keeping herself clean, using her hind feet like a comb, and parting her fur so as to make a straight line down the back. Her wings she cleaned by thrusting her nose into the folds, and shaking them. She had a young one born in the cage. It was blind, and quite destitute of hair, and its mother wrapped it in the membrane of her wing, pressing it so closely to her breast, that no one could see her suckle it. The next day the poor mother died, and the little one was found alive, hanging to her breast. It was fed with milk from a sponge, but only lived about a week.
This little creature, which is only an inch and a half in length, appears to be the commonest of all Bats in most parts of Britain. It usually resides in cracks and cavities in old brick walls and in sheltered corners about houses, and at the approach of evening quits its retreat, and flies about capturing the gnats and other small twilight-loving insects on which it feeds.
The Long-eared Bat, which is not uncommon in many parts of our country, is remarkable for the large size of its ears, which are nearly as long as its little mouse-like body, and composed of a membrane so delicate as to be almost transparent. In front of the concave part of each of these enormous ears there is a slender, pointed membrane, which gives the little creature a most singular appearance when reposing; for the great membranous ears are then folded up, and carefully stowed away under the wings, whilst these pointed lobes, being of a stronger substance, still project from the head, and look like a pair of little horns. The Long-eared Bat seems to be one of the most interesting and amiable species of its tribe; it may be easily tamed, and, indeed, exhibits great confidence from the first moment of its capture. When several are kept together they will play in an awkward manner, which is very diverting, and will soon learn to take their insect food not only from the hand, but even from the lips of their owner.
The Vampyre Bat, which is a large species, is notorious for its very bad habit of sucking the blood of men and cattle. In making its attacks on man it exercises the greatest caution, alighting close to the feet of its intended victim during his slumbers, and fanning him with its broad wings to keep him cool and comfortable during the subsequent operations. Having made the proper arrangements, the Vampyre proceeds to bite a little piece out of the great toe of the slumberer, and although the wound thus caused is so small that it would not receive the head of a pin, it is deep enough to cause a free flow of blood, which the Vampyre sucks until it can suck no longer. Cattle are generally bitten in the ear. Although there seems to be some exaggeration in many of the accounts given by travellers of the ferocity and sanguinary disposition of the Vampyre, there would appear to be little doubt that the loss of blood caused by its bite may occasionally prove fatal, the sucking being continued, as Captain Stedman says, until the sufferer sleeps “from time into eternity.”