THE RACCOON AND THE COATL 145 



lately triumphant pursuer is eagerly flying from his intended 

 prize, involved in an atmosphere of stench, gasping for breath, 

 or blinded and smarting with pain, if his approach were suffi- 

 ciently close to allow of his being struck in the eyes by the 

 pestilent fluid of the Skunk." 



fj^g Our next concern is with the family of the 



Kaccoon and procyonidae which includes several bear-like 



the Coati. animals, the Raccoon and the Coati being the best 

 known. The raccoon belongs to North America, the coati 

 to Central and Southern America. The raccoon is an 

 expert swimmer, about the size of a fox, and of nocturnal 

 habits. "His food," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "is princi- 

 pally small animals and insects." Oysters are also a very 

 favourite article of its diet. It bites off the hinge of the 

 oyster, and scrapes out the animal with its paws. Like a 

 squirrel, when eating a nut, the raccoon usually holds its 

 food between its fore-paws pressed together and sits upon 

 its hind quarters while it eats. It is said to be as destruc- 

 tive in a farm-yard as any fox, for it only devours the 

 heads of the murdered fowl. When taken young it is easily 

 tamed but very frequently becomes blind soon after its 

 capture. The coati (Nasua nasica) is distinguished from the 

 raccoon by a pointed nose. In size it resembles the cat, its 

 tail being as long as its body. Like the cat it is a good 

 climber, and preys upon birds. When domesticated, as it 

 is in Paraguay, the coati is kept in tether, as its climbing 

 habits render it dangerous to ornaments and furniture. The 

 Kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) of Demerara belongs to 

 this family. The Panda (&lurus fulgens] constitutes another 

 family. It is cat-like in the face, but otherwise resembles 

 the bear. It lives in the dense forests which clothe the de- 

 clivities of the Himalayas. 



The Bear. After the lion and the tiger the bear is 

 probably the most popular animal in legend and story. 

 Dr. Gray divides the bears into three classes: the sea bear, 



10 



