EARTH-HOGS, PORCUPINES, WILD HOGS, ETC 



Waldemar Werthor had been the first to furnish speci- 

 mens of this animal. 



Twice only I saw in the steppe the beautiful black- 

 and-white ratel {Mellivora ratel Sparrm.), which is very 

 rarely met with, as its habits are nocturnal. It is easily 

 caught in traps baited with carrion. 



Now and then one meets in the steppe a fleet, slender, 

 foxlike animal with enormous ears, the Otocyon me- 

 galotis Desm. It is nocturnal in its habits, and feeds 

 chiefiy on insects, beetles and termites furnishing the 

 bulk of its nourishment. Once, in July, I noticed a 

 whole family, about ten in all, near one of their sub- 

 terranean habitations. 



Every traveller who is at all observant cannot fail 

 to meet in the Masai Steppe, graceful, marten -like ani- 

 mals, the mongoose (Herpestes) . There are several spe- 

 cies of them, different in color and size, varying from a 

 good-sized weasel to a full-grown cat. They are often 

 found living in ant-hills together with the ground-squir- 

 rels. The mongoose is social in its habits, and often 

 herds of these animals ravage the steppe, devouring 

 everything eatable, plants as well as animals. In its 

 rapid movements a string of mongoose often resembles 

 a big, moving snake. To watch these agile animals 

 affords a great deal of amusement. When they sus- 

 pect danger they all run for home, that is, the termite- 

 hill, and keep in hiding for hours. But by-and-by, first 

 one, then a second, and finally, all poke their noses out 

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