Jerboas,] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



59 



fc 



Its general colour is brownish yellow, merging into 

 white beneath. The length of the head and body 

 is about five inches, that of the tail five and a half. 

 Dr. Richardson remarks, respecting the jumping 

 mice, of which there are, it would appear, several 

 species, that those inhabiting different districts in 

 America require to be compared with each other, 

 before the true number of species, and their geo- 

 graphical distribution, can be ascertained. 



247.— The Cape Leaping Hare 

 {Pedetes Capensis, 111. : Helamys Capensis, F. Cuvier). 

 Grande Gerboise, Buffon ; Spring Haas of the Dutch 

 Colonists ; Cape Jerboa, Pennant. 



This curious animal, the only known example of 

 the genus Pedetes. occupies an undeterminate situa- 

 tion^among the Rodents ; but is most probably the 

 most nearly related to the true Jerboas, which it 

 resembles in external appearance. The molars are 

 four on each side, in each jaw, of simple structure, 

 with two lamina; ;• the incisors are large, strong, 

 and broad (see Fig. 2-18). The anterior limbs are 

 short, but very strong, furnished with five toes 

 armed with powerful claws. The hind limbs are 

 developed and muscular, four-toed, the toes armed 

 with long-pointed and somewhat hoof-like claws. 

 Tail long. The leaping hare equals our common 

 hare in size : the fur is soft, and of a dark fawn or 

 brownish yellow, passing into white beneath ; the 

 tail is hairy, and tufted at the extremity with a 

 -Dencil of black. The head is large, the ears are 

 ong and pointed; and the eyes full and dark. 

 Native country, South Africa. 



The leaping hare is a burrowing animal, making 

 its holes in the soft, sandy ground, which it diss up 

 with its fore paws, spurting it backwards with its 

 hind feet, as is done by the rabbit. In these bur- 

 rows it sojourns during the day, secure from the 

 attacks of the various carnivorous animals which 

 infest the precincts of its retreat. Night is the 

 season of activity : it steals forth on the close of 

 daylight to feed ; and in some districts where it 

 abounds, the depredations which it commits in the 

 fields of grain are very serious. It proceeds in the 

 same manner as does the jerboa, by a series of 

 bounds : and when the animal is pursued, each 

 bound it makes clears a space of twenty or thirty 

 feet. It eats sitting nearly upright, and using its 

 fore feet in the manner of a squirrel, to bring the 

 food to the mouth. It also sleeps in the same atti- 

 tude, excepting that the head is bent down between 

 the hind limbs, while the fore paws cover the eyes 

 and ears. 



The leaping hare gives preference to the sides of 

 steep and craggy mountains, and in some places 

 they colonize a considerable extent of ground, 

 making it a complete warren. Mr. Burchell, on his 

 second journey to Asbestos Mountain, observed 

 their burrows in abundance. Whether this animal 

 lays up a store of winter provision, or whether it 

 hybernat.es during a part of the year, does not ap- 

 pear to be ascertained : but it is very certain that, 

 in the localities it frequents, it is not only subject 

 to a low temperature during the cold season, but 

 that it will also experience a scarcity of its usual 

 food. 



The voice of the leaping hare is a kind of inarti- 

 culate grunt. 



The Cati'res esteem these creatures for food, and 

 expel them from their burrows by pouring water 

 into the entrances, when they issue forth and are 

 easily taken. 



249. — Burton's Gerbiixe 

 (Gerbillus Burtonl). The Gerbilles belong to the 

 family Muridse (and not to that of the true jerboas). 

 The contour of the skull and the characters of the 

 teeth are confessedly murine (see Fig. 250 : a, the 

 skull, profile ; b, the same seen from above ; c, the 

 same seen from below , d, e, teeth of the same). 

 Though the gerbilles have the posterior limbs 

 developed, their development is by no means to the 

 same extent as in the jerboas ; and there is a far 

 more equal proportion between them and the 

 anterior pair ; hence these animals run as well as 

 leap. They are active, elegant little creatures, living 

 in burrows which they excavate to a considerable 

 depth, and are nocturnal in their habits. F. Cuvier 

 enumerates eight, species, respectively natives of 

 Egypt, and other parts of Africa, and India. The 

 species figured (Fig. 249') has been recently described 

 by F. Cuvier (see 'Trans. Zool. Soc.' vol h.) Of its 

 peculiar habits we know nothing definite, but they 

 in all probability agree with those of the Indian 

 Gerbille, so well described by General Hardwicke 

 in the eighth volume of the 'Linn. Trans.' The 

 Indian Gerbille is common inHindostau, and seems 

 to be gregarious, great numbers associating together. 

 "'These animals are very abundant about cultivated 

 lands, and are particularly destructive to wheat and 

 barley crops, of which they lay up considerable 

 hoards in spacious burrows near the scenes of their 

 plunder. They cut the culms of the ripening corn 



just below the ears, and convey them thus entire to 

 one common subterraneous repository, which when 

 filled they carefully close, and do not open for use 

 till supplies abroad become distant and scarce. 

 Grain of all kinds is their favourite food, but in 

 default, of this they have recourse to the roots of 

 grass and other vegetables. About the close of 

 day they issue from their burrows, and traverse 

 the plains in all directions to a considerable dis- 

 tance ; they run very fast, but oftener leap, making 

 bounds of four or five yards at a time, carrying the 

 tail extended in a horizontal direction. When 

 eating, they sit on their hind legs like a squirrel, 

 holding the food between their fore feet. They 

 never appear by day, neither do they commit depre- 

 dations within doors. I have observed their manners 

 by night, in moonlight nights, taking my station on 

 a 'plain, and remaining for some time with as little 

 motion as possible. I was soon surrounded by 

 hundreds at the distance of a few yards, but on 

 rising from my seat the whole disappeared in an 

 instant, nor did they venture forth again for ten 

 minutes after, and then with much caution and cir- 

 cumspection. 



"A low tribe of Hindoos called Kunjers, whose 

 occupation is hunting, go in quest of these animals 

 at proper seasons to plunder their hoards of grain ; 

 and often within the space of twenty yards find as 

 much com in the ear as could be crammed into a 

 common bushel. They inhabit dry situations, and 

 are often found at the distance of some miles out of 

 the reach of water to drink. In confinement this 

 animal soon becomes reconciled to its situation, and 

 docile ; sleeps much in the day, but when awake 

 feeds freely at night. The Hindoos above mentioned 

 esteem them good and nutritious food." 

 • The Indian' Gerbille is of the size of a common 

 rat ; its eyes are full and black ; the ears are 

 large, rounded, and almost naked. The general fur 

 is bright bay, variegated on the back, with pencil-like 

 strokes of dark brown ; the under parts are white ; 

 the tail is cylindrical, thickly covered with short 

 hair except at the tip, which is somewhat tufted, and 

 of a dark brown. 



251.— Mitchell's Geeboa. 



This animal, a native of Australia, and described by 

 Mr. Ogilby under the name of Dipus Mitchellii 

 (' Linn. Trans,' vol. xviii.), belongs, as we have every 

 reason to believe, to the genus Hapalotis (Lich- 

 tenst., ' Sang.,' pt. vi. 1829). It seems to take the 

 place, on the open plains of Australia, of the jerboas 

 and gerbilles of the deserts and plains of Africa and 

 Asia ; or of the jumping mice of North America. 

 This singular species was found on the reedy plains 

 near the junction of the Murray and Murrumbidgee, 

 on the northern boundaries of Australia Felix. 

 The cut is taken from the figure in Sir T. Mitchell's 

 account of ' Three Expeditions into the Interior of 

 Eastern Australia.' Sir T. Mitchell states that the 

 fore and hind legs of this animal resemble in pro- 

 portion those of a kangaroo ; and it. used the latter 

 by leaping on its hind-quarters in the same manner. 

 It was not much larger than a common field-mouse, 

 but the tail was longer in proportion than even that, 

 of a kangaroo, and terminated in a hairy brush 

 about two inches long. We may here remark that 

 the genus Hapalotis is the sameasConilurus, Ogiiby 

 ('Linn. Trans.,' xviii. pt. i., p. 124, 1838), and must 

 be retained, according to the law of priority. 



252, 253. — The Common Mouse 



(Mus Muscidus). The genus Mus, which includes 

 the true rats and mice, "is typical of the extensive 

 family Muridse. The characters of this genus may 

 be thus summed up : incisors of the usual number ; 

 those of the lower jaw compressed and pointed ; 

 molars on each side, both above and below, three, 

 with true roots, and a transversely tuberculated sur- 

 face, the ridges varying in number in each tooth ; 

 the anterior molar is the largest, the posterior the 

 smallest. (See Fig. 254.) The muzzle is elongated 

 and sharp ; the ears are oblong or rounded, and al- 

 most naked. The toes of the anterior feet are four, 

 with the minute rudiment of a thumb; those of the 

 hind feet are five. The limbs are short ; the tail 

 is long, cylindrical, tapering, and annulated with 

 scales of epidermis, from between which emerge 

 short hairs, forming a scanty covering. The fur is 

 soft, but traversed by long outer hairs of a stiffer 

 quality than those composing the under-coat. All 

 these animals are of small size, yet many are among 

 the greatest pests to man. Although vegetable 

 aliment, as grain, peas, &c, forms their principal 

 food, still, to a certain extent, they are carnivorous. 

 We know the partiality of the mouse to cheese, 

 butter, lard, tallow, &c, and of the brown rat to 

 raw flesh. The stronger and larger species often 

 prey upon the smaller, and in times of scarcity they 

 will attack and devour each other. All are noc- 

 turnal, and most, if not all, subterranean in their 

 habits, and also gregarious. Some frequent the 



fields and woods, some the gardens, and some the 

 abodes of man, undermining floors and walls, and 

 breeding within the precincts of his habitation. 

 They are spread through every quarter of the globe ; 

 and the common mouse and the brown rat have 

 been introduced by the indirect agency of man, 

 even into the remotest and most desolate islands. 

 (See ' Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle — 

 Mammalia,' No ii. of pt. ii., p. 31, et seq.) With 

 respect to the brown rat (Mus decumanus), some- 

 times erroneously called the Norway rat, it appears 

 to have been originally transported from Persia or 

 India into Europe ; its place was previously occu- 

 pied by the black rat (Mus rattus), a smaller and 

 more timid animal, and in some districts now quite 

 extirpated by its more powerful rival. The brown 

 rat. was not known in England before 1730, nor in 

 France before 1750. According to Pallas, it did 

 not appear in Russia and Siberia till 1766 ; and Dr. 

 Harlan states that, it did not make its appearance 

 in North America till 1775. When Dr. Richardson 

 wrote his ' Fauna Boreali-Americana,' it was com- 

 mon in Lower Canada, but had not advanced much 

 beyond Kingston in Upper Canada. He did not 

 observe it in the fur countries, and believes, if it. 

 exists there, that it is only at the mouth of the Colum- 

 bia river or at the factories on the shores of Hud- 

 son's Bay. Mr. Darwin found it at Buenos Ayres, 

 Valparaiso, East Falkland Island, and Keeling 

 Island. With respect to the black rat, even that 

 is in all probability of foreign origin. It was not 

 known in Western Europe before the middle of the 

 sixteenth century, and Gesner was the first who 

 described and figured it. 



In the island of Ascension, in the Atlantic Ocean, 

 Mr. Darwin found two varieties, as he and Mr. 

 Waterhouse consider, of the black rat (Mus rattus). 

 These two animals differ in the colour of the fur, 

 one being of a grizzled brownish colour, the other 

 black, with more soft or glossy fur. " The specimen 

 which has a black and glossy fur frequents the short 

 coarse grass near the summit of the island, where 

 the common mouse likewise occurs. It is often 

 seen running about by day, and was found in num- 

 bers when the island was first colonized by the 

 English a few years since. The other and browner 

 coloured variety lives in the outhouses near the- 

 sea-beach, and feeds chiefly on the offal of the tur- 

 tles slaughtered for the daily food of the inhabitants... 

 If the settlement were destroyed, I feel no doubt 

 that this latter variety would be compelled tu 

 migrate from the coast. Did it originally descend 

 from the summit ? and in the case first supposed' 

 would it retreat there ? and if so, would its black. 

 colour return? It must, however, be observed that 

 the two localities are separated from each other by 

 a space, some miles in width, of bare lava and ashes. 

 Does the summit of Ascension, an island so im- 

 mensely remote from any continent, and the summit 

 itself surrounded by a broad fringe of desert vol- 

 canic soil, possess a small . quadruped peculiar 1o 

 itself? or, more probably, has this new species been 

 brought by some ship from some unknown quarter 

 of the world ? Or, I am again tempted to ask, as I 

 did in the case of the Galapagos rat, has the com- 

 mon English species been changed by its new habi- 

 tation into a strongly marked variety ? — D." (' Zool. 

 of Voyage of Beagle,' p. 36.) 



This zoological problem is one of the many so 

 difficult to solve. Mr. Waterhouse remarks, "" It 

 appears as if the brown and black rats (M. decuma- 

 nus and M. rattus), and likewise the common mouse, 

 all of which follow man in his peregrinations, and, 

 which to a certain degree are dependent upon man, 

 and maybe therefore termed semi-domestic animals,, 

 are, like really domestic animals, subject to a greater 

 degree of variation than those species which hold 

 themselves aloof from him." (Ibid.) 



The common mouse is undoubtedly indigenous in 

 Europe : and has been known from the earliest 

 times ; it is the Anglo-Saxon Mus, the German 

 Maus, the Danish Muys, the Latin Mus, and the 

 Greek M??. In Spanish its name is Rat ; in Portu- 

 guese Ratinho ; in Italian it is called Sorice ; and in 

 French Souris : from the Latin Sorex, employed by 

 zoologists to designate the Shrews. 



This elegant but troublesome little animal needs, 

 no description ; all are well acquainted with it. 

 " Domestic in its habits," says Mr. Pell, " nourished 

 by almost every article of human food, and finding 

 effectual shelter in the secret recesses of the habi- 

 tations which human art has raised, it has accom- 

 panied man in all his adventures for colonization, 

 and identified itself with every new territorial occu- 

 pation of our race." The mouse is easily tamed, 

 and it is interesting to observe it sitting up holding 

 its food between its paws, or cleansing with them 

 the sides of its face and the back of its ears, its 

 black eyes glistening with animation. An Albino 

 variety (white, with red eyes) is not uncommon 

 (Fig 253), and often kept in cages for the sake of its 

 beauty. It breeds freely in captivity, perpetuating 

 a white race, which, born and bred in captivity, are 



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