THE RACOON 217 



a very long body, and tall and short legs, and from its 

 form and coloration it is so like a kinkajou that the 

 Indians who accompanied its discoverer, the collector, 

 Mr. Buckley, actually mistook it for that animal, 

 although the snout is longer relatively and the head less 

 rounded. An English naturalist, Mr. Oldfield Thomas, 

 who has figured it, considers it to be a real case of 

 mimicry. He observes, however, that it is very difficult 

 to understand what benefit to the creature it can be to 

 be mistaken for the kinkajou, though a knowledge of 

 its habits when gained may explain this. 



Thus, the racoon is a common familiar representative 

 of a small group of quadrupeds almost entirely confined 

 to America, which are beasts of prey indeed, but, as it 

 were, of a mild and moderate kind, forming a sort of 

 intermediate group between the more predaceous families, 

 such as those which respectively contain the tiger, the 

 wolf, the grizzly bear, and the weasel. The racoon tribe, 

 or racoon family, has, however, a representative in the 

 Old World, which is found in the south-eastern Hima- 

 layas at from 7000 to 12,000 feet above the sea. It is 

 known as the panda, is rather larger than a cat, and has 

 semi-retractile claws. Its fur is of a rich reddish-brown 

 colour, with the under part of the body the darkest, and 

 its long tail has dark annulations. It lives mainly on 

 fruit and other vegetable substances, such as acorns, 

 sprouts of bamboo, roots, &c., and rarely eats flesh, 

 although it is said to take insects. It frequents the 

 woods of rocky regions. It is not a strictly nocturnal 

 creature, although it sleeps much by day, coiled up like 

 a cat, roaming abroad each morning and evening. .None 

 of its senses are acute, and it is easily caught, being neither 

 cunning nor ferocious. It drinks by inserting its lips 

 into the fluid. The panda is easily tamed, but cannot 



