214 



TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



racoon was long unsuspected, as it was taken to be one 

 form of the very different group of civets. The Central 

 American species is called Sumichrast's cat-squirrel. 

 These two beasts go more on the tips of their toes than 



FIG. 59. 





THE COATI-MUNDI. 



do the racoons. They are readily tamed, and are made 

 pets of by the miners of California. They dwell in 

 woods, and make a moss-lined nest in a hollow tree, 

 and are often betrayed by chips of wood which they 

 will gnaw off round the mouth of the hole they 

 inhabit. Their food consists of small kinds of beasts 



