WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



this country in good health. To obtain these creatures 

 in the first instance is a task of great difficulty, as they 

 have to be dug out of the earth, and, in many instances, 

 after many days' toil, the hunters fail to capture them un- 

 injured, and frequently the dogs employed in the pursuit 

 are killed, or so mutilated that the}'^ are obliged to be 

 destroyed ; and it not unfrequently happens that after the 

 animal is caught, it is so wild and ill-tempered, that it 

 refuses all kind of food, and dies in a few days. The 

 mode of attack is by striking with its fore-feet, the claws 

 of which are long and powerful, with sharp cutting edges, 

 and are capable of inflicting very dangerous wounds upon 

 any animal within reach. The ant-bear, although a heavy 

 animal, strong, and doubtless when enraged a very awkward 

 customer for a dog or other enemy to attack, is a trifle 

 when compared with the more powerful and active ant- 

 eater of South America (Myrmecophaga jubata), whose 

 enormous strength renders its attack so much to be feared 

 by the Indian hunters, whose dogs are frequently killed 

 by this beast. The determined courage displayed by this 

 shaggy brute when it attacks a man or other animal has 

 been more than once witnessed by the writer, who upon 

 one occasion narrowly escaped being very severely handled 

 by a full-grown adult male of this species. The mode of 

 attack is by a sudden rush upon you ; his spiny hairs all 

 erect, and the little fierce eyes protruding above his long 

 and tapering snout, he utters at the same instant a loud, 

 savage, and half choking, roaring bark, and strikes with 

 wonderful swiftness at the object with his powerful fore- 

 foot ; the strong hooked claws bringing the animal thus 

 caught between his fore-legs, and instantly tearing open 

 the abdomen or lower parts of the body with his incredibly 

 sharp hooks, the points of which are so well preserved by 

 never coming in contact with the ground while the animal 



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