172 TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 
different purpose. Its use is to cover the owner when asleep. 
When the animal lies down to sleep, the tail is flung over the 
body, and the long, wavy hair forms a thatch so thick that 
no other portion of the creature is visible. It looks like a 
pile of brown hay. A medium-sized specimen that lived for 
about a year in the New York Zoological Park measured 12 
inches in length of head; the neck and body, 31 inches; and 
tail vertebrae, 26 inches. 
In its wild state the Ant-Eater feeds upon ants, which it 
devours in great quantities. In fact, Nature has provided 
this Family of animals in order to restrict the number of 
plague-like ants which, even with Ant-Eaters in the forests, 
are entirely too numerous. Its long and powerful front claws 
are very useful in tearing open ant-hills, and dissecting decayed 
logs, but as a means of defence they are quite inadequate. 
Neither are they well formed to walk upon. The tongue is 
very long and slender, and can be thrust out 9 inches; but, 
contrary to innumerable misstatements, it is as clean and 
smooth as the tongue of a dog, and is not coated with sticky 
saliva, or anything like it. 
This animal is very clumsy on its feet, and being defence- 
less, unable to climb and too large to live in a burrow, it is 
a wonder that all the Great Ant-Eaters were not killed and 
devoured long ago, by jaguars and pumas. Although quite 
rare, even in South America, a goodly number of specimens 
find their way into captivity. Until settled down sensibly 
to a diet of chopped meat, milk and eggs, they are difficult 
to keep alive. One specimen persistently refused to eat 
ants. 
