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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 







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AMERICAN MINK TRACKS, SHOWING VARIOUS ARRANGE- 

 MENTS AND TAII, MARKS 



The typical track of a mink is as in the bottom set at the 

 left, which also illustrates the tail mark. Twelve to twenty- 

 four inches are usually cleared at each bound. This illustra- 

 tion is greatly reduced from natural size (see opposite page 

 and pages 453 and 472). 



young are able to travel they 

 trot along with the old one dur- 

 ing her foraging trips. 



Early one afternoon, when 

 riding along a trail in the heavy 

 forest of southern Oaxaca, ac- 

 companied by an Indian boy 

 and a pack of dogs, I suddenly 

 came upon an old armadillo 

 and eight young about two- 

 thirds grown. They had heard 

 our approach and stood motion- 

 less in a compact little group 

 half hidden in the grass. I had 

 barely time to stop my horse 

 when the dogs spied them and 

 made a rush. The armadillos 

 darted into the undergrowth 

 in every direction like a litter 

 of pigs, and with the exception 

 of two caught by the dogs 

 gained safe refuge in their bur- 

 row. This we found dug in 

 the level ground about fifty 

 yards from where we en- 

 countered them. 



The Maya Indians of the pen- 

 insula of Yucatan have a leg- 

 end that the black-headed vul- 

 ture (Catharista at rata) in old 

 age changes into an armadillo. 

 The tale runs, that when a vul- 

 ture becomes very, very old it 

 notifies its companions that the 

 time has come and alights be- 

 fore a hole in the ground that 

 resembles the den of an arma- 

 dillo. The other vultures bring 

 food and the old one remains 

 there for a long time. Its wings 

 disappear, the feathers are lost, 

 and when the change is com- 

 plete the newly created arma- 

 dillo enters the hole and be- 

 gins its new life. If skepticism 

 is expressed as to this meta- 

 morphosis, the Indians point 

 out as proof of the legend the 

 similarity between the appear- 

 ance of the bald pate of the 

 vulture and that of the arma- 

 dillo. 



tion of stomach contents, covers a wide range 

 of- insect and other small life, including many 

 species of grasshoppers, crickets, roaches, cater- 

 pillars, beetles, ants, spiders, centipedes, and 

 earthworms. As the list includes also wire- 

 worms and other noxious species, these inoffen- 

 sive animals deserve thorough protection as a 

 most useful aid to the farmer. 



Some time from February to April each year, 

 litters of from four to eight young are born. 

 They have their eyes open at birth, and the 

 armor is soft and flexible like fine leather. The 

 hardening of the skin into a bony armor is 

 progressive, continuing until after the animal 

 fully completes its growth. As soon as the 



THE RING-TAILED CAT (Bassariscus 

 astutus and its relatives) 



(For illustration, see page 460) 



The mild climate and the proximity of the 

 Southwestern States to Mexico and the tropics 

 brings within our borders numerous strange 

 types of wild life. Of these the ring-tailed cat 

 is one of the most strikingly marked and in- 

 teresting. In the United States it is known by 

 several other names, including "civet cat," 

 "coon cat," and "band-tailed cat." In Mexico 

 it still bears the old Aztec name cacomixtle, 

 except in Lower California, where it is the 



