OMNIVOROUS MAMMALS 



229 



SMALL BEARS. The so-called Small Bears (Procyonidcz) are 

 nearly all American, and include a number of omnivorous forms. 



A well-known example is the Com- 

 mon Raccoon (Procyon lotor) (see 

 vol. i, p. 95), popularly known as the 

 "coon", which feeds both upon the 

 ground and among trees, and though 

 especially fond of all sorts of animal 

 food, from mice and birds down to 

 insects, by no means despises fruit, 

 nuts, and grain. Vogt (in The 

 Natural History of Mammals] says 

 of this animal: "Of all the Car- 

 nivora the raccoon is perhaps the 

 cleverest in the use of his fore-paws, 

 for he catches insects 

 in their flight and 

 crushes them between 

 the two front paws, 

 and in general uses 



wwMffit 



Fig. 452. Proboscis- Bear or Coati (Nnsua socialis) 



these paws almost like hands in carrying the food to his mouth. 

 If there is water near he never fails to betake himself thither to 



