Arbuckle - Natural History Album

Otocyon, Tiger, Zebra, Spring Haas
(Otocyon lalandii, Tigris regalis, Equus zebra, Pedetes caffer)

A remarkable genus of the African fox, found in the country of the Hottentots, in the southern portion of the Dark Continent, and noted for the great length of its ears, which are nearly equal to its head in length, are erect and well covered with fur. It is sometimes called the eared dog. It is much smaller than the English fox, being only about fifteen inches long. It is something like a civet. Its fur is thick, tail short but bushy, its legs are long. It has forty-six or forty-eight teeth, more than any other known heterodent mammal. Prof. Huxley looks upon the otocyon as the most primitive of the canis, regarding the presence of the four molar teeth as a survival of a condition of the dentition exhibited by the common ancestors of the existing canidæ and the existing carnivorous marsupials. There is but one species. Its habits are but little known.

Tiger.

The tiger is one of the two largest living members of the cat tribe. It has no mane, and inhabits southern Asia and some of the larger islands of that continent, having the same position there that the lion holds in Africa. It attains its full development in India, where the name Bengal tiger is used as synonymous with those specimens which appear to be the most typical and most powerful representatives of the species. In habit it is far more agile and active than the lion, and exhibits a large amount of fierce cunning. It generally selects its lair near a water course whence to spring upon the animals which approach to drink. Its tread through the jungle is stealthy, and it rather shuns than courts danger. Unless brought to bay it generally does not attack man, but in some cases shows a special liking for human prey, boldly approaching villages to secure it, such tigers being known as man-eaters. When taken young it can be tamed, and it is known in a domesticated state in India. Tiger hunting is usually pursued by Europeans, these animals being shot from the backs of elephants. Even a slight wound from a tiger has been known to produce lock-jaw, presumably on account of some peculiar effect of the claws on the nervous system. Captain Williamson after twenty years in Bengal, says he never knew a person to die from the wounds of a tiger's claws without having lock-jaw, those cases seeming to be the least alarming proving the most fatal.

Zebra.

An African animal related to the horse and ass, having the body more or less striped. There are at least three well-marked species. The one represented is the true or mountain zebra. It stands about four feet and a half high at the shoulders; the head is light, the ears are moderately large, limbs slender, mane short, tail tufted. The general form is light and symmetrical, like that of most wild asses, and seems to indicate speed rather than bottom. It is one of the most beautiful as well as one of the wildest and least tractable of animals. It has often been kept in confinement and occasionally tamed, but generally retains its indomitable temper. It inhabits, in herds, the hilly and mountainous countries of South Africa, seeking the most secluded places, so that from the nature of its haunts, as well as its watchfulness, swiftness and acuteness of the senses, it is difficult to capture. It is however, much hunted and seems destined to extermination.

Spring Haas.

The spring haas, or cape gerboa, is sometimes called the cape leaping hare. It is a native of Southern Africa, and is found in considerable numbers upon the sides of mountains where it inhabits burrows, which it tunnels for itself. Sometimes, in sandy ground, the earth is completely honeycombed with them. It is rarely seen by daylight, seldom coming out as long as the sun is above the horizon. The natives, who hunt it for its flesh, of which they are fond, in the day-time place a sentinel at the mouth of the burrow and proceed to drown out the poor little fellows by pouring in water. In an open field they can baffle almost any foe by their mere power of jumping, which is simply astonishing, clearing as they do from twenty to thiry feet in a single leap and keeping up these most extraordinary bounds for a great distance. They are mischievous, making mighty raids upon corn-fields and gardens. With the exception of shorter ears, and larger head, they are not unlike the common hare. Their tail is about as long as the body, and serves to keep them balanced while shooting through the air. The fore legs have each five toes, armed with powerful claws. They bear resemblance to kangaroos, not only in appearance, but in habits, sitting upright in order to look about.