THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS 



465 



tered and killed practically on the site where 

 winter quarters were established. Since then 

 several exploring and hunting parties have 

 taken heavy toll from the herds of that region. 

 Some accounts of the wholesale killings do not 

 make pleasant reading for one who desires the 

 perpetuation of our native species. Fortu- 

 nately for the musk-oxen, the adventurers of 

 these northern quests are few and far between, 

 so that on departing they leave the game ani- 

 mals in their vast solitudes to recuperate from 

 these onslaughts. 



Musk-oxen have but a single young, so that 

 between depredations of wolves and overkill- 

 ing by white and native hunters these animals 

 face the very real danger of extermination 

 threatening so many other game animals in the 

 far North. For this reason, it is hoped that 

 sportsmen who visit these remote game fields 

 will restrain a desire for making large bags. 



FLORIDA MANATI (Trichechus 

 latirostris) 



The manatis, or manatees, are strange aquatic 

 mammals, with seal-like heads and whalelike 

 bodies. Compared with whales, their flippers 

 are more flexible at the joints, and thus can be 

 used much more freely. They have very small 

 eyes and a heavy upper lip, deeply cleft in the 

 middle and forming a thick lobe on each side. 

 The skin is hairless and covered with fine 

 wrinkles. 



These animals inhabit the rivers entering the 

 sea and shallow coastal lagoons on both sides 

 of the Atlantic, in tropical parts of West Af- 

 rica and of eastern North and South America. 

 The South American species ascends the Ama- 

 zon and its tributaries well up toward their 

 headwaters. 



The Florida manati regularly frequents the 

 coast from eastern Florida to Mexico, Central 

 America, and the West Indies; in summer it 

 sometimes strays as far north as the coast of 

 Virginia. 



This species attains an extreme length of 

 more than 15 feet and a weight of more than 

 1,500 pounds, but the average size is much less. 

 A large specimen exhibited alive at New Or- 

 leans the winter of 1912 weighed 1,310 pounds 

 and is reported to have eaten daily from 60 to 

 100 pounds of grass. One captured near Point 

 Isabel, Texas, measured a few inches more 

 than 15 feet in length. 



Manatis were formerly plentiful in the In- 

 dian River and elsewhere along the Florida 

 coast, but were shot and netted to the verge of 

 extermination. They were killed not only for 

 amusement by thoughtless sportsmen, but many 

 were killed by residents for their flesh, which 

 was salted down like beef for future use. The 

 flesh is said to be well flavored and not unlike 

 l)eef. 



The imminent danger of the extermination 

 of these curious animals and their evident 

 value for the interest thev lend the coastal 

 waters of the State led to the passage of pro- 

 tective laws with a penalty of $500. As a re- 

 sult of this, manatis have increased rapidly. A 



correspondent, writing on June 20, 1916, from 

 Ponce Park, on Indian River, says that at this 

 season scarcely an hour in the day passes but 

 that from one to half a dozen may be seen in 

 front of his house. He adds that one with a 

 "calf" about 3 feet long keeps about his dock 

 all the time. In this vicinity manatis appear to 

 be migratory, leaving about the first of Decem- 

 ber and returning in early spring, the first one 

 noted in 1916 appearing on March 26. They 

 are extremely susceptible to cold, as was dem- 

 onstrated by the number which perished in 

 Indian River near Micco, February 12, 1895, 

 when the temperature fell to 20° Fahrenheit. 

 They are known to winter in Biscayne Bay and 

 elsewhere in southern Florida. 



Within a few weeks after the manatis return 

 to the vicinity of Ponce Park the young are 

 born. Just before this the females are said to 

 seek the protection of a dock, crib, or bridge, 

 possibly in order that the new-born young may 

 be safe from the sharks and sawfish which 

 abound in these waters. Usually there is only 

 one calf, which is about 30 inches long, but 

 sometimes the mother is seen accompanied by 

 two. During this season the females are scat- 

 tered and, with their young, keep in compara- 

 tively shoal water near the shore, and not in- 

 freciuently lie in shallow pools with half their 

 Iiodies exposed. Later in the season they 

 gather in herds and often 15 to 20 may be seen 

 close together. At such times they roll about 

 and make a great turmoil in the water. The 

 Mexicans on the coast of southern Vera Cruz 

 described to me similar summer gatherings of 

 manatis in small lagoons and claimed they 

 were there for the purpose of mating. 



In fall, near Ponce Park, the larger animals, 

 probably the old males, separate from the herds 

 and roam about singly. At this time they often 

 make a peculiar noise like a loud snort, which 

 may be heard for half a mile or more. 



The Florida manatis are extremely mild and 

 inoffensive animals, seeming never to fight one 

 another, nor to show aggressiveness of any 

 kind. When not molested they are very gentle 

 and will feed close about a boat or dock regard- 

 less of the presence of people, but they become 

 alarmed by any sudden noise. In captivity 

 they soon learn to eat from their captor's 

 hands. 



Manatis are sluggish, stupid animals, without 

 other defense than their size. They are not 

 rapid swimmers and are among the extremely 

 few herbivorous aquatic mammals. Unlike 

 seals, whales, and their allies, which feed upon 

 some form of animal life, manatis feed on the 

 lush grasses and other vegetation springing 

 from the oozy bottom of the waters they fre- 

 quent. When feeding on the bottom they use 

 their flippers to help rnove slowly about. In 

 places along the Indian River they are reported 

 to approach the shore and, with head and 

 shoulders out of water, to feed on heavy grass- 

 like plants hanging from the banks. 



While they are feedinsr the heavv bi-lobed 

 upper lips work freelv and are sufficiently pre- 

 hensile to seize the grass, or other plant food, 

 between the lobes and thrust it back into the 



