GROUP OF THE BADGERS. 



217 



The Honey-badgers (Ratelus or Mellivora), 

 of which two species are known, a smaller, 

 indigenous in South and Central Africa, 

 while the other larger species, which attains 

 the length of from 24 to 28 inches, is a native 

 of India, are, like 

 the previous forms, 

 nocturnal animals, 

 which remain in 

 excavated holes 

 by day and roam 

 about at night in 

 search of their 

 food. This con- 

 sists mainly of 

 honey, but also 

 of birds, mice, 

 tortoises, snails, 

 locusts, and fruits. 

 The honey- bad- 

 gers seek out 

 principally the un- 

 derground nests 

 of humble-bees 

 and other species ; 

 but the nests of 

 bees in hollow 

 trees are not safe 

 from them, for 

 they are very good 

 climbers. The 

 head is shorter 



Fig. in. The Brazilian Skunk {Mephitis su/ocans}. page 218. 



than in the former genera, the legs are short 

 and adapted for burrowing, the tail is rather 

 long; one premolar is wanting in the denti- 

 tion; the long coarse fur appears as if divided 

 into two parts. A light gray, almost white, 

 mantle appears to cover the back from head 

 to tail, while the rest of the body is black. 



The honey -badgers, like the telagons, 

 defend themselves by the diffusion of an 

 intolerable odour. They appear, however, to 

 be good-humoured, lively, and even tricky 

 creatures. They are often seen in our zoo- 

 logical gardens, where they attract attention 

 by their singular habit of running about in 



their cage and regularly, at a particular spot 

 which they have selected for this exercise, 

 standing upon their head. 



I have seen a honey-badger in the Jardin 

 des Plantes at Paris which repeated this 



process at the 

 same spot a hun- 

 dred times without 

 getting tired. 

 An illustration is 

 givenof the honey- 

 badger known as 

 the Cape Ratel 

 (Ratelus or Mel- 

 livora capensis), 

 fig. 1 10. 



The Skunks 

 (Mephitis] are 

 small, veryelegant, 

 short-legged, but 

 slender burrowers, 

 which have a long 

 naked snout and 

 long bushy tail. 

 Their fine soft 

 thick fur attracts 

 notice by its lon- 

 gitudinal white 

 stripes, which form 

 varied markings 

 on the back. The 

 ground-colour of 

 the fur is always black. The variety in the 

 white markings is so great that one can 

 scarcely find two specimens exactly alike. 

 The dentition is very much reduced by the 

 loss of one or two premolars. Advantage has 

 been taken of these characters to establish 

 some sub-genera, which, however, have little 

 value, for the nature of the teeth, among 

 which the last tuberclecl teeth are very peculiar 

 in their structure, remains always the same. 

 The skunks inhabit the whole length and 

 breadth of America from Northern Canada 

 and Hudson's Bay to Patagonia. 



Notwithstanding their greater or less 



28 



