The Rodents, or Gnawing Animals 



157 



FliOto by A. .S. litailaaO <i- .Sons. 



LONG-EARED JERBOA. 



These ciiviinis little .inimals are mainly desert creatures. Tbey iinive 

 a series of lea])s. 



by 



These creatures have cheek-pouches to 

 aid thein in carrying food. In addition 

 they are most voracious and inquisitive, 

 so that the hamster is a type throughout 

 (_'entral Europe of selfishness and greed. 

 We are sorry to add that John Bull 

 occasionally appears in German cartoons 

 as the " Land-hamster," or land-grabber. 

 Hamsters are numerous from the Elbe 

 to the Obi. They burrow and make 

 cellars in the corn- and bean-fields, and 

 convey thither as much as a bushel of 

 grain. As soon as the young hamsters 

 can shift for themselves, each moves off, 

 makes a separate burrow, and begins to 

 hoard beans and corn. As the litter 

 sometimes contains eighteen young, the 

 mischief done by the hamster is great. 

 Its coloration is peculiar. The fur, which 

 is so thick as to be used for the linings 

 of coats, is a light yellowish brown 

 above. A yellow spot marks each cheek. 

 The lower surface of the body, the legs, and a band on the f)rehead are black, and the feet 

 white. Thus the hamster reverses the usual natural order of colour in mammals, which 

 tends to be dark on the back and light below. The animal is 10 inches long, and very 

 courageous. Hamsters have been known to seize a horse by the nose which stepp)ed on their 

 burrow, and at all times they are ready to defend their home. Besides vegetables and 

 corn, they destroy smaller animals. They spend the winter in a more or less torpid state in 

 their burrows, but emerge early in spring. They then make their summer burrows and 

 produce their young, which in a fortnight after l^irth are able to begin to make a burrow for 

 themselves. 



Among the South American members of the group to which the hamster belongs are tire 

 Fish-eating Rats, with webbed hind feet. The Eice-rat, which is found from the United 

 States to Ecuador, lives on 

 the Texas prairies much as 

 do the prairie-marmots, though 

 its burrows are not so exten- 

 sive, and often quite shallow. 

 In these the rats make beds 

 of dry grass. 



The Voles. 



The Voles are allied to 

 the preceding groups, but are 

 marked externally by a shorter 

 and heavier form than the 

 typical rats and mice. Their 

 ears are shorter, their noses 

 blunter, their eyes smaller, 

 and the tail generally shorter. 

 They are found in great num - 

 bers at certain seasons, when 



.i_r:^-..-^ -: ^-.M^- 



Photo by A. S. RaiHand ti- !Soiis. 



CAPE jnilPING-HARE. 

 Tills anim.-il Is very common in Soutli Afilca. The Boers call it the " Springhiias.' 



