160 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



THE PYGMY MUSK 



is common in the peninsula of Malacca and the 

 neighboring islands, frequenting the thickets. 

 They are nocturnal in their habits, and are often 

 surprised by the natives in the act of making a 

 raid upon the sweet potato patches, and captured 

 by throwing sticks at their legs or caught in nooses; 

 in the latter case they frequently escape by feigning 

 death. 



The Malays prize them both as articles of food 

 and as domestic pets. It is of this species that a 

 "Nature Fakir's" story is told to the effect that 

 when closely pursued by the hounds the deer will 

 leap into the overhanging branches of some 

 friendly tree, and hang 



SUSPENDED BY THEIR LARGE CANINE TEETH 



until the too eager foe rushes by, then dropping to 

 the ground they will calmly retrace their steps. It 

 is said that the creatures can make most extra- 

 ordinary leaps, and that they display great cun- 

 ning. They have no musk bag, and like the rest 

 of the family are destitute of horns. The antlers 

 we see upon stuffed specimens in the windows of 

 the taxidermist are artificial. 



The doe in my possession measured fifteen inches 

 in length; the head rather large, being four and 

 one-half inches from point behind the ears to the 

 tip of its nose; nose movable, always wet and cold 

 like a pointer dog, and, like that dog, she possessed 



