THE HONEY RATEL 
Ratel and its cousin the badger are probably two 
of the strongest and toughest animals upon earth 
for their size. 
No ordinary cage would hold Jeannie the ratel. 
We had a cage specially made, but she demolished 
it. Another was erected which the maker guaran- 
teed was ratel-proof. She broke out of it a score 
of times until it was covered with unsightly patches. 
Just about that time we were temporarily exhibiting 
a series of live animals with explanatory labels in 
special cages in the museum; these were renewed 
from time to time by others kindly loaned by a 
dealer in animals. We thought that at last we 
had Jeannie securely confined. For over a month 
she had failed to make any'impression on the cage. 
However one night she broke out, and next morning 
I met the caretaker at the door with a woebegone 
expression on his face. ‘“ Why, what’s the matter, 
Brown? Is your mother dead or what?” “‘ Jeannie 
got out last night, sir; come and see.” ‘There lay 
the ratel in her cage, and when she saw me she 
sprawled onher back andcrooned affectionately. She 
seemed particularly pleased with herself that morn- 
ing. Glancing down the hall, I saw a heap of broken 
glass. It was the front of a cage in which we had 
a number of tame Fruit Bats. She had deliberately 
thrown her body through the glass, captured and 
ate the bats, the odd scraps of whose bodies bore 
witness to the fact. The next cage was a smaller 
one, and contained dormice in different compart- 
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