214 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



I have already mentioned the raccoon-dog, so called 

 from a fancied resemblance to the raccoon. This animal, 

 known scientifically as Canis procyonoides, is common 

 throughout China, Japan, and Manchuria, and stretches even 

 into southern Siberia. Brownish-yellow and black are its 

 usual tints, though its colouration varies considerably. The 

 face, however, always has a combination of black, white, 

 and grey. The muzzle is sharp, the ears short and rounded, 

 the tail bushy and not very long. In winter it is well 

 protected by a coat of fur at once long and thick. Its habits 

 are usually nocturnal, and in some parts it is saidto hibernate. 

 It is a true dog, but is said to be a welcome adjunct to a 

 Japanese bill-of-fare, whilst its fur is highly esteemed. 



Foxes are numerous in most parts of China. So are 

 wolves in the wilder and more hilly districts. These are 

 well known along the Yangtze, and stories are told at times 

 of their carrying off little children. In the northern prov- 

 inces, in Manchuria, Mongolia, and especially in Shensi, 

 wolves are as familiar in the folklore as they are in Russia. 

 Terrible devastation has been wrought by them at times. 

 One of the ten great depredations of which the Shensi people 

 have records was that of an invasion of wolves. They are said 

 to have been "beasts of brazen heart and iron courage". They 

 killed men, women, and children by the hundred thousand. 

 They had "hemp-stalk legs", they ran like lightning. They 

 set their teeth, raised their bristles, sprang at their prey and, 

 in a moment, all was over. They did not eat of the flesh 

 but merely drank the blood. Such is the story told by an old 

 native writer. Other irruptions, into the same territory, of 

 deer and sand-grouse are known in Chinese annals. From 

 the direction in which they came, the sand-grouse were locally 

 known as " Turk's birds." In all but size many of the 

 domesticated dogs of China have a true wolfish aspect, whilst 

 others are similar to the dogs of the Esquimaux, and some 

 others of like kind, which have evidently been allowed to 

 breed in the natural manner, and so have not had their 

 peculiarities perpetuated in distinct breeds as is the case 

 in the West. The Chinese, indeed, either have lost, or never 

 acquired, that instinct for improvement in breeds of domestic 

 animals which is so strongly developed in England. 



The Tibetan wolf is sometimes known as the golden 

 wolf, or red wolf, Canis chanco. It is somewhat larger than 

 the European. I am not sure whether the jackal, so well known 

 over a large part of Asia, forms part of the Chinese fauna. 



Badgers are well known, especially in the soft alluvial 

 soil of this province, into which they can burrow as 

 fast as men can dig. Being nocturnal in their habits, 

 however, they are seldom seen unless one goes out for the 



