168 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



-was told that it could kill Cows, lacerating their 

 -throats. Loewenhjelm, in his " Travels in the North," 

 mentions that it causes ravages among flocks of 

 5he'ep, and Erman was informed by the Ostjaks that 

 it would jump upon the neck of Elks and kill them 

 -with a few bites. My hunting companion, Eric 

 5wanson, told me that in Scandinavia it gently 

 approaches Snow-birds, pursuing them in the bur- 

 rows which they excavate for themselves, and easily 

 kills them. The Glutton is heartily detested by 

 the hunters. My companion assured me that when- 

 ever, having killed a Reindeer, he neglected to hide 

 the carcass under stones, he would find, on his return, 

 that his game had been partly eaten by the Glutton. 

 Frequently it steals bait from traps or eats a portion 

 of the animals caught in them. It acts exactly in the 

 same way in Siberia and America. It often creates 

 great ravages in the huts of Laplanders. It opens 

 for itself a way into the dwelling through doors or 

 roofs, steals meat, cheese, dried fish or similar things, 

 tears the skins of animals which the inmates have 

 prepared for market, and often, when famished, eats 

 part of them. It is active day and night in winter, 

 ^nd, when tired, scoops a hole in the snow and rests 

 in comfort. It eats smaller animals on the spot 

 where it kills them, but it carefully buries the uneaten 

 portion of larger animals, to which it returns for a 

 second repast. 



Methods of Owing to the great activity of its dep- 

 Hunting redations the Glutton does not enjoy 



the Glutton, t^g particular esteem of the northern 

 nations, and it is hunted, pursued and killed in every 

 possible way, though its fur is by no means widely 

 ^ised. Only the natives of Kamchatka value it 

 highly, but they believe that there is no fur superior 

 to the Glutton's pelt. 



Although a small animal the Glutton is an antag- 

 onist not to be despised, for it is strong, fierce, and 

 has a capacity for resistance out of proportion to its 

 size. It defends itself against Man only when there 

 are no means of escape. Usually it takes to flight 

 at sight of a hunter, and when pursued, it climbs a 

 tree or mounts high rocks, where its enemies cannot 

 follow it. In treeless plains it is soon overtaken by 

 Dogs, but defends itself against them with great 

 intrepidity. 



How the A young captive Glutton is very play- 



Glutton Acta ful, nearly like a young Bear. When 



in Captivity, tje^j ^o a pole, it runs back and forth in 

 ^ semicircle, shaking its head and grunting. When 

 it anticipates an unfavorable change of weather it 

 becomes sulky. Though not quick in its movements, 

 it is in constant motion when awake and lies still 

 only when sleeping. When a tree is brought into its 

 cage, it climbs it with ease and seems to delight in 

 performing gymnastic feats on the branches. 

 Three Gluttons The real character of the Wolverine is 

 Observed only completely displayed when it is in 



in Captivity, the society of animals of its own kind. 

 In the Berlin Tiergarten three Wolverines, an old 

 one and two young ones, shared a cage. It would be 

 difficult to imagine anything merrier than these two 

 young creatures. They were seldom seen at rest ; 

 the greater part of the day they spent in play, which 

 at first was good-natured, but soon became more 

 serious and occasionally ended in a duel, in which 

 both fighters made good use of claws and teeth. 

 When the play was over, they tripped through the 

 cage, sniffed in all corners, threw the dishes con- 

 taining food and water over and vexed the honest 

 washerwoman who had to clean their cage, display- 



ing a great liking for the investigation of things 

 which did not in the least concern them. Then they 

 again picked a quarrel with each other and resumed 

 their play, keeping people for hours before their 

 cage. When the keeper entered bringing the food, 

 they behaved quite differently. The first time I saw 

 them fed, I suddenly understood why they had been 

 called "Gluttons." Whining, howling, growling, bark- 

 ing, showing their teeth and boxing each other's ears, 

 they ran about the cage in a crazy manner, looking 

 at the meat with avidity. If the keeper did not 

 hand it to them immediately, they rolled themselves 

 on the floor in despair, and as soon as a piece was 

 thrown them, they rushed at it with such eagerness, 

 chewed jt with such an accompaniment of growling 

 and smacking of lips, devoured and swallowed it so 

 greedily, that one could no more doubt that the 

 older authors had found some foundation for their 

 stories about the Glutton, by observing the animal in 

 captivity. 



THE ORISONS. 



The Grisons ( Galictis) are members of this family 

 which live in Brazil, and they are of slender, Marten- 

 like build. They have a rather thick head, larger 

 behind, provided with low, rounded ears and rela- 

 tively large eyes, short legs, moderately large feet 

 provided with five toes connected with webs, bear- 

 ing sharp, curved claws, and naked, callous soles, 

 The tail is of moderate size, or rather long, the fur is 

 short and the teeth differ from those of the other 

 Weasels. The secretion of their scent-glaiids has a 

 strong odor of musk. There are two species known 

 now, both inhabiting forests and bushes. They are 

 very agile, climb well and prey upon small and me- 

 dium-sized animals; they also share the predilection 

 of the Ratel and the Bears for honey. The names 

 of the two species are the Tayra {^Galictis barbara) 

 and the Grison {Galictis vittatd). 



THE BADOERS. 



The second sub-order of the Martens is formed by 

 the Badgers {Melidcs) and numbers among its mem- 

 bers the stoutest forms as well as those giving forth 

 the most offensive odors. Their mode of walking is 

 plantigrade. 



The Badger is a complete type of a selfish, dis- 

 trustful, sulky, ill-humored creature. Nearly all 

 observers agree on this point, though they do not 

 depreciate the usefulness of the animal. The Badger 

 is the most harmless of all European larger beasts of 

 prey, yet it is hunted like the Wolf or the Fox, and 

 has not even found defenders among sportsmen, a 

 class of people who usually are fondest of the ani- 

 mals they pursue most. People condemn it, with- 

 out stopping to consider that it honestly makes its 

 living in its own way, and that only its peculiar 

 mode of life is at the bottom of this dislike. It is 

 really a sulky fellow, avoiding the society of Man or 

 beast, and as lazy withal as it is possible to be. 

 These qualities are not adapted to gain it many 

 friends, but I must confess that I personally am 

 fond of it; its mode of life and its actions amuse me, 



The genus Meles, represented by the Badger, is dis- 

 tinguished by a heavy, stout body, a thick neck, and 

 a long head, the snout tapering like a proboscis, the 

 eyes and ears are small, the soles naked, and the 

 ' fore-paws are provided with strong claws. The tail 

 is short, the fur coarse and thick, and under the in- 

 sertion of the tail there is a slit leading into the 

 scent-pouch. The teeth are surprisingly strong. 



