.362 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



my son with a loud, excited squeal whenever it 

 hears his steps; when he gives it food it utters a 

 loud grateful purring sound; my little daughter is 

 not greeted with a squeal, but with a low murmur; 

 my wife and myself are never saluted with the purr- 

 ing noise. When my wife passes the nest of the ani- 

 mal late at night, a plaintive squeal invariably greets 

 her, while the animal is always silent when I go by, 

 for it knows that I never give it anything so late. 

 The creature is then capable of distinguishing be- 

 tween four persons. It also performs tricks, feigns 

 death and jumps up at a word of command." 

 Guinea Pigs are very sensitive to a cold and damp 

 temperature; they become sick when exposed to 

 Tough weather and are then likely to die. 



Services of The Guinea Pigs have rendered good 

 the Guinea Pig services to science, though, it is true, 



to Science. against their will. Bischoff has used 

 them in his investigations of animal development 

 and thereby secured them an honorable place in the 

 literature of science. [Pasteur, likewise, in his in- 

 vestigations of the rabies bacillus, has made good 

 use of the species in the propagation of the germs 

 of hydrophobia. Thus, taking all things into con- 

 sideration, aside from the mere amusement which 

 Guinea Pigs have afforded Man, they have played a 

 not unimportant part in advancement of scientific 

 knowledge.] 



THE MARA OR PATAGONIAN CAVY. 



An uncommonly queer animal of the desert, the 

 Mara i^Dolichotis patagonica) , represents the second 

 species of Cavies. Resembling the Hare in many 

 respects, it "differs from them very greatly in its 

 long legs and the greater shortness and bluntness 

 J of the ears. An adult specimen measures twenty 

 inches, the stub-like tail occupying about two inches 

 of this total; the shoulder height in some individuals 

 may amount to as much as eighteen inches, thus at 

 a first glance giving the animal the appearance of a 

 small Ruminant rather than of a Rodent. 



The Range The Mara is not found north of the 

 of the thirty-seventh parallel of south lati- 



n/lara. tude. The stony, arid desert of Pata- 



gonia is its native country, and at the point where 

 the Sierra Tapalquen bounds this desert, and the soil 

 becomes damper and more fertile, it disappears. To 

 the west it ranges nearly to Mendoza; reaching then 

 the thirty-third parallel of south latitude. A few 

 decades ago it was much commoner than now, being 

 at present found only where the inhospitable char- 

 acter of the country protects it most from the pres- 

 ence of its enemies. Despite the fact that it is 

 fairly numerous it is not generally easy to obtain a 

 specimen of the animal, for the simple reason that 

 its shy and retiring habits render it difficult to catch. 

 Either it is hidden in its hole, or lies closely and 

 flatly against the ground where it is easily over- 

 looked by reason of the close assimilation to the 

 ground in the earthy color of its fur. Its timidity 

 also protects it from capture. The Mara flees at 

 the slightest alarm. It is entirely diurnal in its 

 habits, though it takes refuge in its hole during the 

 noon heat. Its food consists of plants, and their 

 roots and bark, substances usually of a character 

 refused by other mammals. In some parts of Pata- 

 gonia, where but few dry, thorny shrubs lead a mis- 

 erable existence on the stony ground, it is the only 

 living animal to be perceived. 



Goering observed an adult Mara for a considerable 

 time in confinement in Mendoza. It was an amiable, 



good-natured, Inoffensive creature. From the first 

 day it showed great confidence in its master, unhesi- 

 tatingly took the food he proffered out of his hands, 

 and suffered itself to be touched and stroked withr 

 out exhibiting any sign of uneasiness. It was very 

 responsive to caresses; when one petted it, it arched 

 its back, put its head to one side as if it wished to 

 see the friendly hand, and uttered a highly gratified 

 but indescribable squeal or grunt. Indians and 

 Gauchos are passionately fond of hunting it, espe- 

 cially on account of the skin, of which exceedingly 

 pretty, soft rugs and blankets may be made. 



THE AGOUTIS. 



The Agoutis i^Dasyproctce) show a striking resem- 

 blance to the little Musk-Deer in th,eir shape; they 

 are long-legged, strongly built Rodents, with long 

 heads and pointed muzzles, small, round ears, bare, 

 rudimentary tails, and hind legs which are percepti- 

 bly longer than the fore pair. The fore paws have 

 four toes and a small rudimentary thumb, while the 

 hind feet possess only three very long and com- 

 pletely separated toes. All their toes are armed 

 with strong, broad, slightly curved, hoof-like nails, 

 those of the hinder feet being especially developed; 

 the thumb-like protuberances on the fore paws are 

 furnished with small, flat nails. On the whole, the 

 build of the Agoutis is light and elegant, and makes 

 upon the observer an agreeable impression. The 

 teeth are strong; the flat gnawing teeth are espe- 

 cially prominent, and would be conspicuous by rea- 

 son of their color alone, the upper pair being of a 

 tolerably bright red, the under pair yellowish 



The Agoutis are generally found in couples or 

 small communities in wooded plains, the thickest 

 forests of river valleys being particularly favored by 

 them ; some of them, however, range in mountainous 

 districts as high as 6,000 feet above the sea. 



The Common The Common Agouti, sometimes 



Agouti, or Gold called Gold Hare on account of the 

 Hare. golden color of its pretty fur {Dasy- 



procta aguti), is one of the handsomest members of 

 the whole family. It has a thick, heavy, close-set 

 fur; the wiry, coarse, bristle-like hair is very lus- 

 trous and is of a reddish lemon-yellow tint, dashed 

 with blackish brown. The general colormg is sub- 

 ject to modifications according to the season, being 

 lighter in summer, darker in winter. The length of 

 the body of an adult male is sixteen inches, while 

 the tail measures only about half an inch. 



Native Country The Agouti is a native of Guiana, 

 oftheSpe- Surinam, Brazil and northern Peru. 

 <"^®' It is tolerably common in most local- 



ities, especially near the low-lying river valleys in 

 Brazil. There, as in other places, it inhabits wood- 

 lands, frequenting alike the damp unbroken forests 

 and the drier ones of the interior country; it roams in 

 the adjacent grassy plains, however, taking the place 

 of the Hare in those regions. It does not exist in 

 cultivated regions. Usually it is found above the 

 ground, in hollow trees near the ground, and more 

 often solitary than in company with others of its spe- 

 cies. By day it quietly lies in its lair and it prowls 

 about only in such localities as afford it security 

 from interruption At sunset, it sallies forth to seek 

 food and spends the whole night in feeding if the 

 weather is good. It is in the habit of leaving and 

 returning to its habitation by a uniform route, and 

 this repeated travel to and fro causes the wearing of 

 a narrow footpath, sometimes one hundred yards 

 long, which betrays the situation of its abode. If a 



