. LITTLE-KNOWN MAMMALS FROM CHINA 



521 



our hurdciis and ran to an o|)cning in 

 tlic forest where we tlioiig-ht the animal 

 must pass. Instead of coming out 

 wliere we expected, the (hig appeared 

 higher up. at the heels of a crested 

 muntjac which was bounding along in 

 front at full speed. 1 had one chance 

 for a shot at two Inindrt'd yards as the 

 pair crossed a little opening in the 

 trees, hut it was 

 too dangerous to 

 shoot, for had I 

 missed the deer. 



the dog certainly , 



would have been 

 killed. I was 

 heartbroken over 

 losing this animal, 

 but a few days 

 latt'r a shepherd 

 brought in an- 

 other which had 

 been wounded by 

 one of our Lolo 

 hunters above 



camp, and had 

 run down into the 

 plains to die. 



The red munt- 

 jac is one of the 

 most common ani- 

 nuds throughout 

 Yunnan and is 

 much larger than 

 the Indian or the 

 other Chinese spe- 

 cies. These ani- 

 mals are often called barking deer be- 

 cause of their loud, harsh bark which 

 may be heard for a long distance if the 

 night is still. At one of our camps 

 they used to bark very frequently dur- 

 ing the day. but it is not easy to kill 

 one without the aid of dogs or beaters, 

 for they live in such dense jungle that 

 it is almost impossible to force one's 

 way through the cover without a tre- 

 mendous amount of noise. In the early 

 morning or just at evening we some- 

 times found them feeding in clearings 

 on the edge of the heavy cover, but they 



Mrs. Andrews with a pet Yunuan squirrel. — 

 Mrs. Andrews was the official photographer of 

 the American Museum's Asiatic Zoological Expe- 

 dition 



always kept a sharp watch and dis- 

 appeared at the slightest sign of dan- 

 ger. Till' muntjac is especially inter- 

 esting because its antlers grow from 

 greatly elongated ])edicles which are 

 cov(>red with skin and hair, instead of 

 rising abruptly from the skull as in 

 other members of the deer family. 

 On the Snow Mountain porcupines 

 were not uncom- 

 mon, and when 

 hunting big game 

 we often were 

 greatly annoyed 

 to find that our 

 dogs had followed 

 the trail of one of 

 these animals. We 

 would arrive to 

 find the hounds 

 dancing about the 

 nnimars burrow 

 with excited yelps, 

 instead of having 

 a goral or a serow 

 with its back to a 

 cliff, as we had 

 expected. These 

 porcupines are 

 (piite different in 

 appearance from 

 those with which 

 we are familiar in 

 America, for the 

 quills are some- 

 times eighteen 

 inches in length, 

 and project far beyond the back. 



In the northern part of the province, 

 it is said, bears are not uncommon, but 

 as we were there during the winter 

 when they were in hibernation, we were 

 nc\cr al)le to find one. In the south, 

 other carnivores are much more abun- 

 dant than in the north. There are 

 probably no tigers in the province ex- 

 cept along the extreme southern border 

 near Tongking. Leopards are certainly 

 not abundant, but near the Burma 

 frontier they sometimes are trapped by 

 the natives. 



