i4 \ViiiNDoKi"i:K AM) Fkan'cis, iyi/(/ /.//(' /;/ I'asmiuiia. [vuT'xxxv'ii. 



Jay will find it home again. That tlu' Ring-tail will travel 

 considerable distances on the ground is evidenced when tlic 

 snow is lying. Then one can follow the spoor of male and female 

 side by side over a distance of many chains. When undisturbed, 

 iis way of walking may be comi>ared with tliat of a domcsiic 

 cat, but when hurried il reaches the nearest tree in the shortest 

 })ossible time by a series of short jumps on all lours. In this 

 fashion having gained the first limb, it will usually utter a 

 whistling cry as a warning to its family, and will be invariably 

 answert'd in a similar way. 



The King-tail is very sensitive to cold, and in frosty weather 

 or on stormy nights will prefer the warm shelter of the scrub. 

 The glare of the acetylene lamp seems t(^ fascinate these little; 

 beasts — unless a dog is in the vicinity, when tluir eyes will 

 follow every movement of the latter. 



The old way of hunting the Ring-tail is the gun aided l)y a 

 bright moon, but the use of the acetylene lamp has superseded 

 this method, and the comparatively easy way in which the 

 animal falls a victim to the hunter will snoiu i or later seal the 

 fate of its kind. When slightly woun(U(l l)y a gunshot it will 

 try to make good its escape (»\-er branches of neighbouring 

 trees, or, if space is available, will elimi) higher. Severely 

 wounded, it will slowl\- walk tlown the tree head lirst. A 

 popular belief is that the Ring-tail will attach itself by the 

 end of its tail to a convenient branch, and, afti-r swinging itself, 

 will, by a sudden relaxing of its grip, move through the air to 

 a lower branch. A movement of this kind has never been 

 noticed by us, though its tail will frequently come into use, 

 so to speak, as a fifth limb for the purpose of holding on or as 

 a means of keeping its equilibrium. The fact is well known 

 that a Ring-tail, when falling from a tree, has in many cases 

 caught on a l)ranch and remained hanging by the tip of its 

 tail, and has even contiiuud in that position until nothing but 

 its skeleton has remained. .\s a rule it is not aggressive, and 

 will rarely dtifend itself, though cases are known wlicrr the 

 careless handling ol a wounded animal has resulted in ;i bile. 



Another way of hunting is the steel trap, phucd upon a short 

 j)iece of wood leaning against a tree which on its bark reveiils 

 a Ring-tail run, or tlu' wire snare fixed upon a pole placed at 

 an angle of 45 degrees against the tree. Hut the latter method 

 is uni)r()litabh; for the professional liuiitei", because, unlike tlu; 

 iirusli Possum, the Ring-tail will often lind it possible to 

 sever the wire with its teeth and make good its escape. I h»; 

 lower end of a run on a tree will disclosi; whether it bi-longs to 

 ;i King-tail or a P.rnsh ()|)ossum. Whereas the former, when 

 undistiubed, begins its climb from the very bottom of the tree, 

 the latter will invariably <1" it with a junq) from the ground. 



