122 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



When at bay the Cape Otter utters a throaty " kwa-a-a, 

 kwa-a-a." 



THE SPOTTED NECKED-OTTER. This is a smaller 

 animal than the Cape Otter. The throat is spotted with 

 buff, and the fore and hind feet are each provided with 

 five well-developed claws, besides being fully webbed. 



This otter does not seem to be met with south of 

 Natal. It does not occur in the eastern Transvaal, 

 though it exists in the western part of that province. 

 It is very common on many of the rivers of northern 

 Rhodesia. 



THE RATEL or HONEY-BADGER. This animal, akin 

 to, and about the size of, a true badger, is remarkable 

 in several ways, and excites my own admiration and 

 respect to a higher degree than any other beast which 

 roams the African jungle. Its external characteristics 

 are as distinctive as are its habits and disposition. While 

 the limbs, face, and under parts are quite black, above, 

 from forehead to base of the short tail, the colour is 

 grey, divided from the black by a white lateral stripe, 

 In immature animals the upper parts are rusty brown, 

 and the dividing stripe is absent. There is no external 

 ear. The fore claws are very long and powerful, and 

 the skin is so extraordinarily tough and loose that it is 

 impervious alike to the teeth of the largest dog, and the 

 fangs of the most venomous snake. 



The Rat el is found through most of the Ethiopian region, 

 and is possibly less rare than it is generally considered 

 to be. It lives in forest, or bush country, and at all 

 levels, both in flat and hilly surroundings. It sometimes 

 goes about by day, but, being a solitary creature, of 

 comparatively small size, and seldom having business 

 in open country, it is not often met with. It lies up in 

 holes in the ground and among the roots of large trees. 



