Till'; 1-M.I-;SI l-lv\'l'l N(i MAMMALS. 



5:}!) 



s\vaiiii)s. 'I'wo or move littci's of young are produced each year, 

 llie nest being placed on hillocks in the swamps or in fallen hollow 

 trees. 



In Tennessee, according to Mr. Rhoads, they are never seen on 

 the hills and seldom in the open, but they have held their own in 

 numbers in the cane brakes and deep woods. When pursued they 

 take to the water by preference and can outswim a dog, not infre- 

 quently swimming sloughs and streams many yards wide. During 

 the spring freshets they may be seen sitting on floating logs far 

 out in the streams. The water hare is doubtless extinct within our 

 limits at the present time, but it has always been too rare to have 

 been of much importance in the fauna of the State. Because it 

 shiuis the vicinity of human beings, this species does not do injury 

 to crops and orchards as the other rabbits sometimes do. 



Order FERAE. 



THE FLESH-EATERS. 



Mammals adapted for eating flesh and for capturing and kill- 

 ing their prey. The canine teeth are well developed and the molars 

 have sharp, cutting crowns; the incisors are generally small and 

 placed in a transverse row between the canines; the tooth row is 

 not broken between the incisors and the molar series, but the teeth 

 are all relatively close together. (See fig. 2.) Feet provided with 

 strong, sharp claws. Brain large and eyes and ears well developed. 

 Size medium or large, the weasels being the smallest American 

 representatives of the order. 



This order is indigenous to all parts of the world except Aus- 

 tralia. It contains about a dozen families and probably more spe- 

 cies than any other order of mammals excepting the Glires. About 

 15 species, belonging to five families, are members of the Indiana 

 fauna, past or present. 



Family FELIDAE. 



THE CATS. 



Feet not plantigrade; toes retractile; hind toes four; front 

 toes five, the inner one not reaching the ground; skull short and 

 rounded ; teeth 28 or 80. 



This family has a world-wide distribution (excepting Australia) 

 but contains only two or three genera and relatively few species. 

 Two genera are native to North America and both were found in 

 Indiana in the early days of its settlement. 



