THE WEASEL FAMILY 85 



entirely on fruit and insects, and its long easily movable lips are 

 of the greatest value in collecting its food. 



The sloth bear lives in the hills and jungles of India, where it is 

 one of the commonest of all wild animals. But it is rarely to be 

 seen by day, for most of its hunting is done between sunset and 

 sunrise. In diet it is by no means hard to pJease, but its favourite 

 food is a dish of termites or white ants. 



The manner in which it procures these tiny victims has been 

 described in a very interesting way by a well-known naturalist. 

 In the sloth bear, he says, " the power of suction, as well as of 

 propelling wind from its mouth, is very great. It is by this means 

 it is enabled to procure its common food of white ants and larvae 

 with ease. On arriving at an ant-hill, the bear scrapes away with 

 the fore-feet until he reaches the large combs at the bottom of the 

 galleries. He then with violent puffs dissipates the dust and 

 crumbled particles of the nest, and sucks out the inhabitants of 

 the comb by such forcible inhalations as to be heard at two 

 hundred yards' distance or more. Large larvae are in this way 

 sucked out from great depths under the soil." 



Except when provoked, the sloth bear seldom attacks man. 

 But when wounded or driven into a corner it becomes an exceed- 

 ingly dangerous foe, and can inflict terrible injuries with its 

 powerful claws. 



The Weasel Family 



The Weasel family include not only the active little poacher 

 from which they take their name, but various kinds of polecats, 

 the badger, the otter, and a host of other animals. Members 

 of the family are to be found in every part of the world except 

 Australia and Madagascar, and, although they vary greatly in 

 appearance, most of them have long, thin bodies and short legs. 

 They are as a rule small in size, but very active and extremely 

 skilful hunters. In pursuing their prey, which consists largely of 



