THE GUINEA PIG FAMILY— PACA. 



363 



X)og be set on the trail, and the lair of the animal is 

 not in the thicket, the hunter nearly always succeeds 

 in catching it. The Dogs give tongue when the 

 game is run to earth, and one can then pull it out of 

 its hole or dig it out. If, however, the Agouti per- 

 ceives its pursuers in good time, it makes off imme- 

 diately, and its agility and speed soon put it out of 

 the reach of danger. 

 Characteristics, The Agouti is an inoffensive, timid 

 Food, etc., of the little animal surrounded by many 

 Agouti. perils, so that only its extraordinary 



agility and keen organs of sense can save it from 

 death. In jumping it reminds one of a small Ante- 

 lope and the little Musk-deer. Its food consists of 

 the greatest variety of vegetation, from roots to 

 buds or the grain. No vegetable substance can 

 resist the sharp gnawing teeth, which easily crack 

 the hardest nuts. In cultivated portions of country 

 to which it sometimes, 

 makes incursions, the 

 Agouti becomes annoy- 

 ing by reason of its vis- 

 its to the sugar-cane 

 plantations and or- 

 ■chards. \ 



About the propaga- 

 tion of the Agoutis in a 

 state of nature we still 

 lack exact accounts. It 

 is known that the ani- 

 mal is rather prolific, the 

 breeding not being re- 

 stricted to a special sea- 

 son of the year, and that 

 the litters number sev- 

 eral young. 



Rengger says that 

 when an Agouti is taken 

 young and reared with 

 care, it may become al- 

 most completely domes- 

 iicated. "I have seen 

 several Agoutis," says 

 he, " that could be per- 

 mitted to run about pro- 

 miscuously, never at- 

 tempting to escape. 

 When once tamed they 

 do not yield to tempta- 

 tion to abscond, even 

 when liberated in large 

 woods, which are their 

 .abode in the free state. 

 In the forests of northern Paraguay, in the huts of 

 natives, I saw two tame Agoutis which spent the 

 morning and evening in the forest, noon and night 

 . with the Indians. Their yearning for liberty is sub- 

 dued, not so much by their attachment to people as 

 ■by their growing accustomed to one place. They 

 are but little devoted to human beings, do not dis- 

 tinguish their keeper from other people, seldom re- 

 spond to the calls of their keeper and look for him 

 only when pressed by hunger. Neither do they like 

 to be fondled by him; they tolerate no restriction, 

 live entirely according to their own wishes and the 

 most they can be trained to do is to look for their 

 food in one particular place. They are fed on every- 

 thing that is eaten in their owner's house. They are 

 not so fond of meat, however, as Azara has alleged 

 them to be, eating it only when their proper food is 

 wanting. They like to eat roses, and whenever one 



THE COMMON AGOUTI. This long-legged Rodent, sometimes called 



the Gold Hare, is an inhabitant of South America. Its coarse hair is of a bright 

 yellow, and the tail is a very short naked stump. The hind legs are considerably 

 longer than the fore limbs and the feet have strong claws. (.Dasyfrocta agutz.) 



is brought near their domiciles they scent it imme- 

 diately, and assiduously search for it. Their food is 

 usually taken up with the incisor teeth; then they 

 seize it between the rudimentary thumbs of the fore- 

 feet, sitting on their haunches like Squirrels. Some- 

 times they also eat after the manner of Rats in a 

 crouching position, usually when the morsels are 

 very small or too small to be effectively handled by 

 the fore-paws. I never saw them drink, but they 

 are said to occasionally drink water, lapping it after 

 the manner of a Cat or Dog." 



The Agouti an Bodinus justly remarks that the 

 Eligible dainty form, beautiful appearance 

 ^®*'. and cleanly habits of the animal 



recommend the Agoutis to fanciers of animal pets, 

 and that their only drawback is their great gnaw- 

 ing propensities. Those kept by Bodinus became, 

 in course of time, so tame as to take proffered dain- 

 _ ties from people's hands 

 and eat them, giving the 

 donor a really grateful 

 look. Others are partic- 

 ularly interesting by rea- 

 son of one trait, which I 

 have as yet never seen 

 mentioned. They are 

 wont to bury a goodly 

 portion of their food, 

 storing it up to insure 

 against want in hard 

 times. As soon as their 

 food is given them, they 

 begin to eat eagerly if 

 not greedily; then they 

 select small pieces of 

 carrot or certain kinds 

 of imperishable fruit, 

 carry them away in their 

 mouths, dig little holes 

 in the earth and put their 

 treasures into them. 

 Then they put the earth 

 back and press and pack 

 it closely with their fore- 

 paws. It is extremely 

 ludicrous to see how 

 carefully they look 

 around all the while, en- 

 deavoring to escape ob- 

 servation while burying 

 their treasures. They 

 thus continue in captiv- 

 ity the habits natural to 

 them in the wild state, of retaining food until such 

 time as they need it. 



THE PACA. 



The Paca ( Ccelogenys paca) is distinguished by a 

 peculiarly thick head, large eyes and small ears, a 

 rudimentary tail, five-toed feet, coarse, stiff hair and 

 especially by the remarkably expanded cheek bone, 

 the expansion being due to an internal molar cavity 

 or hollow. The fur consists of short, thickly set 

 hairs of a yellowish brown color on the upper parts 

 and yellowish white on the under surface of the 

 body and inner portions of the legs. Five rows of 

 yellowish white spots of a circular or ovoid shape 

 extend along both sides from the shoulder to the 

 hinder portion of the thigh. Adult males attain a 

 length of twenty-eight inches, are about fourteen 

 inches high and weigh as much as eighteen pounds. 



