THE ANT-EATERS. 169 



CHAPTER IL 



THE ANT-EATERS. 



THE CAPE ANT-EATER The Cage at "the Zoo." Appearance of the Animal Its Prey The Ant-hills How the Oryctero- 

 pus obtains its Food Place in the Order Teeth Skull Tongue Interesting Questions concerning the Ant-eater 

 THE PANGOLINS, OK SCALY ANT-EATERS THE AFRICAN SCALY ANT-EATERS Differences between the Pangolins 

 and Cape Ant-eaters Their Habitat Description TEMMINCK'S PANGOLIN Habits Food How it Feeds Super- 

 btitious Regard for it shown by the Natives Scarcity Appearance THE LONG-TAILED, OR FOUR-FINGERED PANGO- 

 LINTHE GREAT MANIS THE ASIATIC SCALY ANT-EATERS THE SHORT-TAILED, OR FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN The 

 Species of Manis Skull Stomach Claws fitted for Digging Other Skeletal Peculiarities THE AMERICAN ANT- 

 EATERS General Appearance Genera THE GREAT ANT-BEAR Habits Diet How it Procures its Food Distribu- 

 tion Mode and Rate of Locomotion Stupidity Manner of Assault and Defence Stories of its Contests with other 

 Animals Appearance THE TAMANDUA Description Where Found Habits Odour THE TWO-TOED ANT-EATER 

 Appearance Two-clawed Hand Habits Von Sach's Account of his Specimen. 



THE CAPE ANT-EATER * THE AARD-VARK. 



IN one of the cages in the house, close to where the Kangaroos are kept, in the Zoological Gardens 

 of London, there is usually a heap of straw to be seen and an empty dish. Outside the cage is placed 

 the name of an animal, " The Cape Ant-eater." People look and wait, and as neither the animal nor 

 the Ants it eats are to be seen, they go away, supposing that the absence of the last-named insects has 

 caused the destruction of the animal, whose straw alone remains. 



But in the evening, and sometimes in the morning, when the food is placed in the cage not Ants, 

 however a long pair of stuck-up ears, looking like those of a gigantic Hare with a white skin and 

 little fur, may be seen poked up above the straw ; and, soon after, a long white muzzle, with small 

 sharp eyes between it and the long ears, comes into view. 



Then a very fat and rather short-bodied animal with a long head and short neck, low fore and 

 large hind quarters, with a bowed back, comes forth, and finally a moderately long fleshy tail is seen. 

 It is very pig-like in the look of its skin, which is light-coloured and has a few hairs on it. Moreover, 

 the snout is somewhat like that of a Pig, but the mouth has a small opening only, and to make the 

 difference between the animals decided, out comes a worm-shaped long tongue covered with mucus. 

 The animal has to content itself with other fare than Ants in England, but it seems to thrive, and 

 ay it walks slowly on the flat of its feet and hands to its food, they are seen to be armed with very 

 powerful claws. 



In Southern Africa, whence this animal came, it is as rarely seen by ordinary observers as in 

 England, for there it burrows into the earth with its claws, and makes an underground place to live 

 in, arid is nocturnal in its habits, sleeping by day. 



The Orycteropus, which means digging-up foot, from opva-a-w (to dig up), and wovs (foot), is the deadly 

 foe of the Ants of all kinds, and especially of those which, like the White Ants, live in large colonies 

 and build nests. 



These nest-building Ants abound in certain districts, but not in the region of the downs or karoos, 

 nor where it is very dry and woody. They choose the country which is covered with a poor and so- 

 called " sour" grass, and there they dig galleries in the ground, fetch earth from far and wide, and erect 

 large rounded mounds of an elliptical figure, and often from three to seven feet in height. Apparently 

 fond of company, the Ants congregate, and these gigantic hills of theirs are often crowded together and 

 occupy the plains, as far as the eye can reach. The nests, or hills, are solidly built, and contain innu- 

 merable ants. This is the favourite resort of the Orycteropus, and the insects are his sole food then. 

 Wherever ant-hills are found, there is a good chance of finding one of these Aard-varks, or Innagus, or 

 Ant-Bears, as the Dutch and natives call them, leading a sort of mole-like life. But he is not easy to 

 catch if the stories told be true. It is stated that the long strong flattened claws and short 

 extremities, worked by their strong muscles, enable the animal to burrow in the soft soil as quickly as 

 the hunters can dig, and that in a few minutes it will get out of the way ; moreover, its strength is 

 sufficient to resist the efforts of two or three men to drag it out of the hole. But when fairly 

 caught, the Ant-eater does not resist much ; it has no front teeth or eye teeth to do any harm with, and 



* Orycteropus capensis (Geoffrey). 



