610 THE BAY BAMBOO RAT. 
hold, and drives an entirely new burrow in another direction, not venturing to entrust 
itself to that through which it had passed before it was alarmed. 
The long and sharp incisor teeth are formidable weapons, and can be used with great 
effect upon an adversary. It is a sufficiently savage creature, and when captured or 
annoyed, bites fiercely in every direction, and squeals with rage. In captivity it 1s always 
employing these teeth upon every object that it can reach, and has even been detected in 
the act of endeavouring to cut its way through the wooden planks of the room in which 
it was placed. Two of these animals contrived to get into a pair of boots belonging to 
their owner, and not choosing to take the trouble of returning by the same aperture 
through which they had entered, cut a large hole in the toes, and so made their exit. 
They seemed to have a special hiking for leather, as they afterwards gnawed to pieces the 
leathern straps which were dangling from a portmanteau that lay in the same room. 
On the surface of the ground the Canada Pouched Rat is rather slow and clumsy 
in its movements, as its legs are short and ill fitted for such locomotion. So short indeed 
are its limbs, that if it be laid on its back, it has great ditticulty in regaining its feet, but 
flounders about in almost total helplessness until it can seize a blade of grass, a twig, or 
similar object, by means of which it can draw itself into its normal attitude. In its 
tunnel, however, it proceeds with considerable activity, going faster than a man can walk, 
and being capable of running backwards or forwards with equal speed and ease. 
The nest of the Mulo is not placed in one of the ordinary tunnels, but in a burrow 
dug specially for the purpose. It is about eight inches in diameter, globular in shape, and 
is made of dried herbage externally, and softly lined with hair plucked from the body of 
the female, and other appropriate substances. From the nest radiate a number of small 
galleries, which are again connected with smaller branch passages, and seem to conduct 
the animal to its feeding-grounds. It was formerly imagined that the Mulo was in the 
habit of fillme its pouches with the excavated earth, and of emptying them at the 
mouth of burrows. This assertion is now disputed, for it is clearly ascertained that the 
creature only uses its cheek-pouches for the conveyance of its food. A little earth may 
perchance be imbedded together with the nuts and leaves, but the mistake has evidently 
arisen from the conduct of the natives, who, when they procure a skin of the Mulo, are 
accustomed to stuff the pouches with dry earth for the purpose of preserving them in 
their distended form. 
The animal is found in many parts of Northern America, and has a very wide 
range. 
The Bay Bampoo RAT is one representative of the genus Rhizomys, of which there 
are several species. 
This animal is a native of Nepal, Malacca, and China, and is very injurious to the 
bamboos, on the roots of which it feeds. In size it equals a rather small rabbit, and in 
colour it is of a uniform ruddy brown, shehtly paler on the throat and abdomen. 
The long incisor teeth are faced with bright red enamel, which gives them a rather 
conspicuous appearance ; the tail is short and marked, and the claws are rather small. 
The head is of a peculiar form, which will be better understood from the engraving than 
by description alone. 
THERE are several other genera belonging to this curious family, among which may be 
noticed the genus Ctenomys, containing the TucuTuco, a native of Magellan Straits. This 
is also a burrowing aninal, and the peculiar name by which it is known has been given 
to it on account of the curious cry which it utters as it is engaged in its subterranean 
labours, and which is said to resemble the word “ Tucutuco.” 
ON taking a retrospective view of the rodent animals, the reader will not fail to 
observe the frequency with which they reproduce some idea which is more fully mani- 
fested in other orders of the animal kingdom. The destructive idea is not more strongly 
developed in the lion than in the rat, which will attack and kill animals of much greater 
strength and bulk than itself. It is a truly bloodthirsty being, and will kill many a 
