282 
POSSIBLE PETS 
little claws, to hold it steady while it licked its face. 
The staircase and banisters furnished a gymnasium 
for exercise in the winter, and in summer it could 
be trusted among the trees in the garden. This 
opossum is becoming scarce, owing to the demand 
for its fur ; but there is little doubt that specimens 
could still be bought for a moderate sum. That 
owned by the writer cost three pounds. The 
American grey squirrel is a common and hardy 
species, which becomes very tame, though scarcely so 
pretty as our red squirrel ; and the South American 
coatis, especially the small kind, are most amusing 
pets ; though, like the mongoose, they need to be kept 
warm. All the coatis are sociable, lively creatures, 
quite omnivorous, and with as many odd tricks as 
a monkey. The mongoose, that “ familiar ” of Indian 
households, has such a natural bias for human society, 
that, according to Mr. Kipling, it will often come 
into a house from the jungle, and voluntarily enrol 
itself among the members of the family. It is a slim, 
active little animal, varying from a foot to nearly two 
feet in length, of a curious mottled silvery-grey colour, 
and so amazingly rapid in its movements that its 
victory over the cobra is not surprising. Provided 
that it is kept warm in winter, it will live well in 
an English home, and loses none of those domestic 
qualities which make it such a favourite in India. 
The marmot and the viscacha, or prairie-dog, are 
amusing little fellows, and if allowed the use of a 
small enclosure in which the marmots can burrow and 
