Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 29

NATIVE NAME.--_Biju_, Hind.; _Biyu-khawar_, Telegu; _Tavakaradi_, Tamil; _Bajru-bhal_, at Bhagulpore (Santali?); _Bharsiah_, Nepalese.

HABITAT.--Throughout India.

[Figure: _Mellivora Indica_.]

DESCRIPTION.--The upper half of its body is ashy-grey; the lower half, muzzle, limbs, and tail black; the general appearance is that of a black animal with a grey cloak on its back. The only difference between the Indian and the Cape Ratel is, that the grey cloak of the latter has a conspicuous white border which is wanting in the Indian species; the tail also of the latter is shorter, otherwise they are the same, and were for a long time considered the same.

SIZE.--Head and body, 26 to 32 inches; tail, 5 to 6 inches.

Jerdon says it is chiefly found in hilly districts, and that he has not found it in Lower Bengal nor on the Malabar coast. In Central India it is not uncommon. It has got a reputation for digging into graves, and is called in some parts "the grave-digger;" but I do not believe in its carnivorous propensities to this extent; it lives princ.i.p.ally on small fry, insects, and small animals, honey and vegetable food. Jerdon says it is destructive to poultry, which is probable, for it will eat small birds. Both it and the Cape species will eagerly look out for bees, but it is not to be supposed, as some books would make out, that bees and honey form the staple diet. Its thick and loose skin, the stiffness of the hair above, and the layer of fat below, effectually preserve it from the effects of the stings.

The tail glands contain a very strong and pungent secretion.

Some years ago, before I knew exactly what they were, the Ratels in the London Zoological Gardens used to interest me greatly. They had a low cage, on the ground I think, and their peculiar antics never failed to draw a crowd. They used to run round in an idiotic sort of way, and always at one point gravely turn head over heels and then proceed as before and repeat. In Ca.s.sell's 'Natural History' this is alluded to, only the writer says that now they are in fresh quarters, and the flitting seems to have disturbed them. He adds: "We have often watched one of them run round and round the cage in the usual purposeless manner of captive animals, but with this peculiarity: when he reached a particular corner of the den, he quietly, and without effort, turned head over heels, and then went on again. On one occasion, after he had been doing this with great regularity for some rounds he seemed to become abstracted, and pa.s.sed the usual spot without the somersault; when, however, he had proceeded a few paces he recollected himself, stopped for a moment, returned to the exact place, turned over as usual, and proceeded without further let or hindrance." The African species is said to live largely on bees--I suppose ground bees, such as our English humble bee, for these animals are not arboreal--and it is said to exhibit great skill in tracking the flying insects to their nest.

"Sparrman states that it seats itself on a hillock to look for the bees, and shades its eyes with one forepaw against the rays of the setting sun." Here is something for our Indian naturalists to observe.

Some other animals are said to do the same; whether the Biju does it or not I cannot say. McMaster says of it: "Two that I saw in confinement appeared very good-tempered, and much more playful than tame bears would have been. They were, I think, fed entirely upon vegetables, rice and milk." This animal is the same as Hodgson's _Ursitaxus inauritus_, the _Bharsiah_ which figures as a separate genus in Cuvier. The skull is very like that of the wolverenes in general form.

_GENUS GULO--THE GLUTTON OR WOLVERENE_.

This animal was placed by Linnaeus among the _Ursidae_, and is cla.s.sed by some with the _Melididae_, but its dent.i.tion is more that of the Martens, which occupy the next group. The true Glutton (_Gulo luscus_) is not known in India, but we have some so-called Wolverenes (_Helictis_) to which I shall presently allude. Still a few remarks about the typical animal, which is by no means an uninteresting creature, may not be out of place. The Glutton inhabits a wide tract of country in the Northern Hemisphere, the colder regions of Europe, Asia, and America; it is abundant in Siberia and Kamschatka, and is the pest of the trappers in North America. Fabulous stories were told of this animal in olden days, some of which are still propagated at the present time. It was supposed to be of insatiable appet.i.te, and to attack its prey (deer, &c.) by dropping down from the branch of a tree on to the back of its victim, and to eat its way into a vital part, whilst being carried along--a decided fallacy, for neither the Glutton nor our Indian species of _Helictis_ are arboreal in their habits. Then it was accused of eating to such a pitch of distention that it had to squeeze itself between two close-growing trees for relief ere it returned again to the repast. There is no doubt, however, that it is to a great extent voracious and extremely cunning; and what it cannot eat it will carry off and hide. The trappers complain bitterly of it, and spare no pains to kill every one they can come across; but it is not easily to be caught, and only a very cunningly-devised bait will succeed.

Were I to relate some of the stories recorded of this animal I might get accused, if not of being a romancer myself, at all events of being a too credulous propagator of other people's romances. It is told of it that it will discover hidden stores, and, digging them up out of the snow, carefully smooth the surface over again; that it will avoid every trap set for itself, and, going round to the back of spring guns, gnaw through the string connected with the trigger before it drags away the bait. It follows up the lines laid down by the trappers, taking the martens out, and devouring them, or hiding what it cannot eat, and by wearying out the patience of the hunters, compel them to strike a new "marten-road."

It is said by Dr. Coues to possess a singular habit of sitting down on its haunches, shading its eyes with a forepaw, and gazing earnestly at the approaching enemy before it takes to flight. I have already alluded to the Cape ratel doing this on the look-out for bees.

The Indian form of Wolverene is a slighter and much smaller animal, with a still more weasel-like appearance. The Glutton is comparatively a large beast, the body being about 2-1/2 feet, and the tail 10 inches; the _Helictis_ is only half the size, and there is a slight difference in the dent.i.tion.

_GENUS HELICTIS_.

"Head tapering; nose acute, conical; muzzle bald, obliquely truncated; other side hairy, with a central groove; nostrils inferior; ears ovate; body slender; legs short; toes 5.5; front claws elongate, curved; hinder short and acute; sole of foot hairy behind, bald in front, and rhombic for half the length of the foot, with three large oblong pads on the front, and three small ones on the hinder edge; toes elongate; thumb short; fur black, like _Herpestes_; tail moderate, sub-cylindrical; teeth, 38; premolars, 4--4/4--4; grinders, 5/6."--Gray.

There are four species of this genus, and of these two come within the geographical limits of these papers, viz., _Helictis Nipalensis_ and _H. moschata_; the third, _H. orientalis_, belongs to Java; and the fourth, _H. subaurantiaca_, to Formosa.

NO. 175. HELICTIS NIPALENSIS.

_The Nepal Wolverene_ (_Jerdon's No. 95_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Oker_, Nepalese; _Kyoung-pyan_, Arakanese.

HABITAT.--Nepal, Arakan, and Pegu.

DESCRIPTION.--Hodgson, who first described this animal in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Beng.' (vol. v. pp. 237-38), says: "Above earthy brown; below, with the edge of the upper lip, the insides of the limbs, and terminal half of the tail, yellow; a white mesial stroke from the nape to the hips, and a white band across the forehead, spreading on the cheeks, and confluent with the pale colour of the animal's lower surface; head and body vermi-formed; digits and nails of the anterior extremities stronger; half way from the os calcis to the fingers hairy; fur of two sorts and abundant, but not lengthened, nor harsh, nor annulated; tail cylindrico-tapered, pointed, half the length of the animal." He goes on to add: "The anterior limbs are decidedly fossorial, and the hinder suited for walking in a sub-plantigrade manner; both wholly unfitted for rapatory or scansorial purposes."

SIZE.--Head and body 16 inches; tail 7-1/2 inches, 9 inches, including hair.

The habits of this animal are nocturnal. Swinhoe mentions this in his account of the Formosan species, and Dr. Anderson relates that he is aware that the Nepal one is similar in its ways, and that it not unfrequently enters Bhotia huts at night; and on one occasion he killed one in a Bhotia hut, thinking it was a large rat, greatly to the chagrin of his host, who informed him that the animal was in the habit of visiting him nightly, and was most useful in destroying c.o.c.kroaches and other insects.

NO. 176. HELICTIS MOSCHATA.

_The Chinese Wolverene_.

HABITAT.--China, also Burmah (Pegu, Yunnan).

DESCRIPTION.--Similar to the last, but differing in dent.i.tion and the formation of certain points in the skull. The teeth are smaller, and the infra-orbital foramen much larger. Both the above species are noted for long skulls and palate, whereas _H. orientalis_ has a short skull and palate. The following are the chief characteristics:--

Short head and palate, large teeth, _small_ infra-orbital foramen = _H. orientalis_.

Long head and palate, large teeth, _small_ infra-orbital foramen = _H. Nipalensis_.

Long head and palate, _small_ teeth, _large_ infra-orbital foramen = _H. moschata_.

Dr. Anderson obtained a specimen of this species at an elevation of 5000 feet, at Teng-yue-chow in Yunnan.

MUSTELIDAE--MARTENS AND WEASELS.

In India the members of this family are restricted to the Weasels and Martens, but in other countries are included the Grisons, Zorillas, Skunks, &c. They are small animals of elongated form, with short legs, commonly expressed as vermiform; where the head of a weasel will go his body will follow--at least that was my experience in my boyish days, when I was particularly interested in vermin, and the gamekeeper was my first instructor in natural history. The face is rounded like a cat, but the skull behind the eye is very long and pear-shaped when viewed from above; in proportion to a cat's skull the brain case is a fourth longer. They are most sanguinary in their habits, and their agility is great, so on the whole they are most formidable to many animals, not only smaller, but in many cases four times their own size. The ferocity of the common weasel (_Putorius vulgaris_) ought to be as proverbial as its watchfulness. A case has been known of a kite carrying off one of these animals, but falling dead after a time with the large blood-vessels under the wing cut through by the savage little prisoner, who, on reaching _terra firma_, escaped apparently unhurt. I think in Wolff's admirable 'Ill.u.s.trations of Natural History' this fact, related by Bell, is made the subject of a picture called "Catching a Tartar."

[Figure: Skull of _Putorius_.]

Most of the animals of this group are eagerly sought for on account of their fur. In Northern India the skin of one species, probably a variety of _Martes abietum_, is sold in the bazaars at Peshawur and Lah.o.r.e. In 1868 I bought sufficient to line a large overcoat, which proved most comfortable in travelling in the cold weather in the Punjab, as well as in subsequent wanderings on the European continent in winter.

Dr. E. Coues, in his monograph on the North American Mustelidae, gives the following interesting information regarding the number of skins of various species sold by the Hudson's Bay Company in London during the century 1769-1868:--

Sables, 1,240,511; otters, 674,027; wolverenes, 68,694; minks, 1,507,240; skunks, 218,653; badgers, 275,302; sea otters, 5349. In 1868, which appears to have been a prosperous year, the Company sold: Sables, 106,254; otters, 14,966; wolverenes, 1104; minks, 73,473; skunks, 6298; badgers, 1551; sea otters, 123.[8]

[Footnote 8: In the same year were sold by other firms, 22,000 otter skins and 4500 sables. See Appendix _C_ for further statistics.]

When one considers the number of those whose skins are damaged and cast aside, the number that fall victims to larger predatory animals, and the operations of disease, from which no animals, small or great, are free, we may form some idea of the immense mult.i.tude of these little creatures.

The ordinary divisions of the restricted Mustelidae are the Martens (_Martes_), Pole-cats (_Putorius_), and Weasels (_Mustela_), but Gray has further subdivided them chiefly on the characteristics of the feet.

The Martens have four more teeth than the rest, which are distinguished as follows:--

_Putorius_.--Short ovate head; feet very hairy, especially between the pads; body stout; underside blackish.

_Mustela_.--Narrow, elongated head; feet very hairy between the pads; slender body; under-side yellow or white.

_Vison_.--Head elongate, narrow; feet slightly hairy; pads exposed; body rather slender; under-side same colour as upper.

_Gymnopus_.--Head elongate, narrow; feet rather naked, bald beneath, between, and rather behind the pads; toes largely webbed; soles hairy behind; body slender.

It is doubtful whether these distinctions are of sufficient importance to warrant so much subdivision; and unnecessary multiplication of genera is a thing to be avoided as much as possible.

_GENUS MARTES--THE MARTENS_.

A more or less arboreal group of larger size, and possibly less sanguinary habits than the weasels, although in this respect I do not think there is much difference. The tail is longer, though not so long as the head and body, and it is bushy; the fur is fine and in general highly prized; the dent.i.tion differs from the typical _Mustela_ in having four more teeth and an additional false molar on either side in each jaw; and the inner side of the carna.s.sial or flesh tooth has a tubercle which is not present in the weasels; head elongate; feet very hairy; s.p.a.ce between the pads hairy, often covering them from sight, except in the case of _Martes flavigula_, of which the soles are nude.