. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. 268 THE BEASTS OF PREY. often passes quite unexpectedly from lazy sulkiness into the best of spirits by turning a somersault; and in spite of all his self-restraint and sagacity he commits the silliest blunders when once his desires have been aroused. "In the numerous leisure hours which fill to the lot of every captive Raccoon, he occupies himself with a thousand things for his amusement. He will either sit erect in a lonely corner and with the utmost gravity try to tie a grass-blade around his nose; or he will play meditativ
. The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals;. Mammals. 268 THE BEASTS OF PREY. often passes quite unexpectedly from lazy sulkiness into the best of spirits by turning a somersault; and in spite of all his self-restraint and sagacity he commits the silliest blunders when once his desires have been aroused. "In the numerous leisure hours which fill to the lot of every captive Raccoon, he occupies himself with a thousand things for his amusement. He will either sit erect in a lonely corner and with the utmost gravity try to tie a grass-blade around his nose; or he will play meditatively with the toes of his hind foot, or make dashes at the wagging tip of his long tail. At other times he will lie on his back, pack a large heap of hay or dry leaves on his stomach and try to compress the whole pile by drawing his tail over it with his fore-paws. If he. THE RACCOON. Perhaps no wild animal of the forest is better known to Americans than the Raccoon. It is destructive, raiding cornfields while the corn is green, visiting Hen roosts intent on robbery, and despoiling gardens "of various kinds of vegetables. It is therefore much hunted. It has dense gray fur with markings of white and blaclc, and has several brownish-black rings on its tail. These markings, the stout boHy, the pointed muzzle and other, features of the Raccoons are seen in the picture. {Procyon lotbr.) can reach a stone wall, he scratches the mortar out of the joints with his sharp claws and in a short time causes a sad devastation. Like Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem, he then crouches in the midst of his mound of rubbish, casts grim glances at the sur- roundings and loosens his collar with his fore-paws, exhausted by the hard labor. "After a prolonged drought, the sight of a tub filled with water rouses hip enthusiasm, and he tries every means of approaching it. Then the first step he takes is to investigate the depth of the water, for he only likes to dip his feet into it in order to
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1895
