THE BEAR FAMILY -KINKAJOU. 



271 



avail, for it courageously resists and bites those who 

 punish it, be it the keeper or anybody else. 



Not much docility can be expected of so irritable 

 and intractable a creature. It is hardly possible to 

 train it for anything. Rengger saw one which stood 

 on its hind legs, like a Poodle, at the command of 



THE KINKAJOU. This is an animal which has puzzled the naturalists. When first made known to the 



scientific world it was classed with the Lemurs, then with the Civets, but is now put with the Bear family, to which it 

 is allied by its anatomical structure, its teeth, its food and its plantigrade walk. It has a short, Cat-like head, and a 

 tail which is prehensile like the Monkeys, which are its neighbors, for its home is in South America, although it has 

 been found as far north as Louisiana. (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus.) 



its master, and shammed death at the report of a 

 gun, but such docile individuals are exceptions to 

 the rule. 



If allowed the freedom of the house, the Coati 

 makes itself extremely disagreeable. It digs up 

 or upsets everything with its nose. It is possessed 

 of much strength in this 

 member and of a good 

 deal of agility in its fore- 

 paws, and makes good use 

 of both. It leaves nothing 

 untouched. If it can get 

 hold of a book, it turns all 

 the leaves, using its two 

 fore-paws alternately with 

 remarkable rapidity. If it 

 is given a cigar it unrolls it 

 completely by a like move- 

 ment. If a standing object 

 attracts its attention, it 

 gives it a blow first with 

 the right paw, then with 

 the left, until the object 

 falls down. 

 The Kinkajou a Some time 

 Very Peculiar ago the pos- 

 Animal. sessor of a 

 zoological garden in Paris 

 had the right to claim that 



he showed the world an animal as yet unknown to 

 naturalists, and which he had received from America. 

 This happened toward the end of the last century, 

 and another specimen came to London at the same 

 time, interesting the naturalists there as intensely as 



did the one in Paris. This enigmatical creature was 

 a Kinkajou, an animal really nearly unknown at the 

 time. Some believed it to be a Lemur; others, con- 

 sidering the teeth, which were entirely different from 

 those of the Half-Monkeys, classed it with the Civ- 

 ets, and called it the Mexican Weasel; but the pre- 

 hensile tail did not fit 

 into this category and 

 the teeth also differed 

 markedly, distinguished 

 as they were by blunt 

 grinders, adapted for a 

 mixed diet. At last it 

 was placed among the 

 Bears, together with sev- 

 eral other animals as pe- 

 culiar as itself. 



The Kinkajou, Mana- 

 viri or Cuchumbi, as the 

 animal is called in its 

 native country, northern 

 Brazil {Cercoleptes caudi- 

 volvulus), seems to be a 

 transitional form be- 

 tween Bear and Civet. 

 The body is very long, 

 but clumsy, and rests on 

 short legs; the head is 

 remarkably short, thick 

 and short snouted; the 

 eyes are of moderate 

 size, the ears small, the 

 toes are five in number, 

 half grown together and 

 armed with strong claws, 

 and the soles are naked. 

 The tail is longer than 

 the body, and is as completely prehensile as that of 

 some pouched animals or of the Howlers. When 

 full-grown the Kinkajou measures thirty-six inches, 

 about nineteen of which go to the tail; the height at 

 the shoulders is six or seven inches. The fur is very 

 thick, rather long, slightly curled, soft, and of vel- 



THE CACOMIXLE. Long erroneously thought to belong to the Civet family, the Cacomixle is now 



classed with the Raccoon group of the Bear family. It is found in Mexico, Texas and California, and has many 

 popular names in the latter state, including " Raccoon-Fox " and " Mountain-Cat." It has a face much like that of 

 the Raccoon, but has a ringed tail as long as the body. It can be tamed very successfully and is an excellent adept 

 at catching Mice. {Bassaris astuta.) 



vety lustre; the color of the upper and external sur- 

 face is a light, grayish yellow, with a reddish surface 

 tinge, and shows brownish black waves, especially 

 distinct on the head and back. Its appearance har- 

 monizes excellently with its arboreal surroundings. 



