-m 



The Honey-Badger and Ichneumon 



which. leading" as it does, a nocturnal existence, is very 

 seldom seen by man. The honey-badger has a predilection 

 for flesh, and on this account is often trapped. Its vitality 

 is quite extraordinary, and surpasses that of our own 

 badger. Some years ago I surprised an old honey-badger 

 with a very small young one on the velt, and was able 

 to catch both. 



Now and again you may get a glimpse of the long- 

 eared fox {Ofocyoji luega/otis), a curiously graceful animal 

 with very long drooping ears, as it takes to flight almost 

 from under your feet. You are apt to tread on their 

 flat burrows, which lie just under the surface of the ground. 

 These animals live almost entirely on insects; the stomachs 

 of those 1 killed were full of beetles. In the month of 

 July 1 found no less than ten full-grown specimens of this 

 animal in one burrow. 



Every traveller on the velt must have some time or 

 other come across that elegant marten-like animal the 

 ichneumon. Of many kinds, and varying in size from that 

 of a large weasel to that of a cat, they sometimes take up 

 their abode in deserted ant-hills, in which also squirrels are 

 sometimes to be tound. 



Ichneumons move about over the velt in parties seek- 

 ing for prey. They eat anything that they can get hold of, 

 animal or vegetable. Insinuating their way through the 

 grass, packed closely together in a long undulating queue, 

 they look in the distance like monstrous snakes. Now and 

 again, as they move along, one of them will raise its 

 head like a marmot and look round. Then all the others 

 will follow its example, and with a clear cry ot alarm they 



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