THE AUNT JANE STORIES. 



IX. SOME CURIOUS ANIMALS. 

 PART I. 



The family at Woodland was in a state 

 of excitement. Sixty young, spring 

 chickens had been killed in one night, 

 although housed in a room where it was 

 thought not even a good-sized rat could 

 enter. 



Howard and John made a thorough ex- 

 amination of the chicken-house and at 

 last discovered one small hole. They ran 

 to the house to tell Aunt Jane that she 

 must relinquish her theory that a Weasel 

 had caused the trouble, as it would be im- 

 possible for a Weasel to enter through so 

 small a hole. But Aunt Jane continued to 

 insist that, as the blood of the chickens 

 had been sucked, and the chickens' flesh 

 unharmed, a Weasel was certainly the 

 murderer, and she fortified her argu- 

 ment with the remark : "You know, boys, 

 a Weasel can go through a hole smaller 

 than itself." 



"Smaller than itself!" cried the boys in 

 astonishment, "we don't know any such 

 thing." 



"It can. It contracts its body as it 

 passes through." 



"Well," exclaimed Howard, "that is a 

 curious fact in natural history. I mean 

 to ask the farmers about it, and I'll war- 

 rant they don't know it." 



Sure enough, Howard questioned every 

 one he met regarding Weasels. He re- 

 ported at night that out of ten people he 

 interrogated, only one knew that it was 

 possible for a Weasel to go through a 

 hole smaller than its own body. 



"Aunty," the children entreated, "do 

 tell us about other curious animals. We 

 are interested in the exploits of Madam 

 Weasel and her family, although she has 

 been so naughty as to deprive us of many 

 nice broils and fries for breakfast." 



"Begin with A," Howard suggested. 

 "That will help you to recall the names. 

 A stands for " 



"Ai," laughed Aunt Jane. 



"Do you know the creature?" 



"Not by that name. Has it no other?" 



"Yes— it is the three-toed Sloth. It is 

 called 'Ai' from the low, plaintive cry it 

 utters, which is thought to sound like 

 'Ai.' The name 'Sloth' is a misnomer, 

 for, while it is true that the animal's 

 movements are slow and awkward upon 

 the ground, yet, when it is in its native 

 place, clinging back downward to the 

 branches of trees, its curious limbs — the 

 fore legs so much longer than the hind 

 ones and furnished with talons — stand it 

 in good stead. The Sloth can reach far 

 out and draw toward him the twigs on 

 which he feeds, and he can hold on to the 

 boughs and move about the tree with suf- 

 ficient speed. He is really the best 

 climber among the mammals." 



"Animals are like people," said Edith, 

 "in the right place they prosper, but in 

 the wrong place they seem awkward and 

 imperfect." 



"True/' replied Aunt Jane, "Natural- 

 ists for a long time thought the Sloth a 

 very imperfect creature ; but when its true 

 environment was discovered, it seemed 

 well adapted to it. The Sloth is out of 

 place on the ground, and does not need 

 to descend to it even for water; it is 

 therefore also remarkable, as the animal 

 that does not drink, but takes its mois- 

 ture from its food." 



"Good," cried Madge, clapping her 

 hands. "Now I'll surprise the girls at 

 school with the question, 'What animal 

 never drinks ?' They will all say there is 

 not one." 



"Without pausing to consider the 

 social, observant Agouti, or the Arma- 

 dillo, with his curious armor; the beau- 

 tiful Ariel, or the strange-voiced Aye- 

 Aye, and other queer creatures under 'A,' 

 we will pass on to B, where the Bat, espe- 

 cially the Vampire Bat, occurs to me as a 

 singular animal." 



