OTTERS— RATEL — HEDGEHOG — MOLES AND SHREWS 145 



from Assam southwards. In length it averages 10 inches, the tail measuring 5 or 



6 inches more ; the males are considerably larger than the females. 



The common European otter is well known in India under a 

 Otters 



somewhat greyer form. Another kind, the smooth otter (Lutra ellioti), 



is found south of the foot of the Himalaya, and is common on the Indus, as well as 

 in lower Bengal, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula. It is much smaller than the 

 common otter, and of a uniform brown colour with a light greyish gloss ; and is 

 probably the otter kept by the Malays for fishing. The golden otter (L 

 aureobrunnca), a smaller species, occurs in the Himalaya ; but the clawless otter 

 (L. leptonyx) belongs more to south-eastern Asia, although it is sometimes found 

 near Calcutta. 



Another representative of the weasel tribe, the Indian ratel 

 (Mellivora indica), inhabits India from the Himalaya southwards, 

 but is unknown in Ceylon and east of the Bay of Bengal, and seems to be absent 

 from the Malabar coast. Like its African relatives, this ratel has very long front- 

 claws, double the length of the hind-claws. In length it is about 32 inches, the 

 tail measuring another 5 or 6. In colour it is grey, or whitish grey above, and 

 black below, the hair being very thin on the under-parts. It is exclusively 

 nocturnal, and common in hilly districts, as well as in the river-valleys of northern 

 India, where the high banks are convenient for its burrows. Ratels are said to 

 live in pairs, and to feed on rats, birds, frogs, and insects, but especially on honey 

 and bees. The long front claws are specially adapted for digging out honey-comb. 

 The reason for the peculiar coloration of the ratel and certain other members of 

 the weasel tribe — light above and dark below — appears to be for the purpose of 

 rendering them conspicuous, as they are all strong-smelling creatures, unfit for 

 food. 



Indian Among the insect-eating mammals, the hedgehogs are represented 



Hedgehog, by Erinaceus micropus, a species inhabiting Madras, of whose habits 

 and range nothing definite is known. It is pale in colour and only about 6^- inches 

 in length. 



Moles and Two kinds of mole (Talpa micrura and T. leucura) inhabit the 



snrews. south-western Himalaya and Assam, but none is known from the 

 plains of India. Musk-shrews are, however, very numerous in the Indian area. 

 Among these, the grey musk-shrew (Crocidura ccerulea) lives in the neighbourhood 

 of human habitations all over India and Ceylon, and in many islands of the Indian 

 Ocean, to which it has probably been brought in ships. The length of the head and 

 body is 6 inches, and that of the tail about 3^ inches. This shrew may be only a 

 domesticated form of the brown musk-shrew (0. murina), which lives principally 

 in forests, but is also found in houses. It smells particularly strong of musk, 

 and feeds mainly on insects and their larvae and worms. 



The grey musk-shrew, generally called the musk-rat, may be regarded as the 

 common shrew of India, and is nocturnal, like other shrews. During the night it 

 hunts for cockroaches and other insects in houses, squeaking occasionally as it does 

 so, while during the day it shelters in holes and drains. Its hiding-places often 

 have a very strong smell of musk, emitted by the secretion of the glands on the 

 sides of the animal, but when not irritated or frightened this shrew leaves no scent 



vol. 11. — 10 



