THE ARMADILLO. 27T 



Mode of taking the armadillo. 



frequently rolls itself down, and falls unhurt. It? 

 disposition is perfectly harmless and inoffensive; 

 and as it possesses no power of repelling an ene- 

 my, so it may be attacked without danger, and 

 j,s, consequently, liable to the various persecu- 

 tions of man and beast. 



The sharp and strong claws of these quadru- 

 peds enable them to burrow in the ground with 

 great dexterity, and as this is their only resource 

 on the approach of an enemy, they require but a 

 few moments advantage, in which case, the 

 mole itself does not burrow quicker. In the act 

 of digging they are sometimes taken by the tail, 

 l?ut so strong is their resistance, and so difficult; 

 is it to' draw them backwards, that they frequently 

 save their lives with the loss of that appendage. 

 To avoid this, the hunters generally have recourse 

 to artifice : they tickle the animals under the 

 throat with a small stick, till they relinquish 

 their hold, and suffer themselves to be taken 

 alive without further resistance. 



When the Indian hunters find one of these 

 animals rolled up, they lay it before a large fire, 

 the heat of which obliges it to unfold itself. 



When they have taken refuge deep under 

 ground, many expedients are adopted to force 

 them out, sometimes by overwhelming them with 

 a deluge of water, and at others, by filling the 

 hole with smoke; but they are more frequently 

 Caught iii snares, placed by the sides of rivers, 



