174 



CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



two of the most important and strongly contrasted groups of 

 mammals. The contrast is specially evident in the case of the 

 young. The baby carnivores are helpless at first and are produced 



FIG. 32. Tree-hyrax carrying its young. 



in well-hidden lairs. For some time they depend entirely on the 

 devotion of their parents and are fed, protected and trained by them. 

 When they are quite small they are often carried about by the 

 mothers, usually in her mouth, but in a few rare cases in another 

 fashion, by polar bears under the arm, by raccoons on the back. 

 In their young days, when the mother goes hunting, she has to leave 

 the cubs behind, and if they wander, discovers them chiefly by the 

 voice. It is only when they are weeks or months old that they begin 



