. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia. Mammals; Animal behavior. 368 THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. Every couple excavates a burrow about three feet deep and from sixteen to twenty-four inches wide, in which they spend the night and sometimes also part of the day. In this habitation the female gives birth to from four to six young, which begin to follow her about at a very early age. The Coypu is an excel- lent swimmer, but an indifferent diver. On dry land its gait is very slow, for its legs are so short as to
. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia. Mammals; Animal behavior. 368 THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. Every couple excavates a burrow about three feet deep and from sixteen to twenty-four inches wide, in which they spend the night and sometimes also part of the day. In this habitation the female gives birth to from four to six young, which begin to follow her about at a very early age. The Coypu is an excel- lent swimmer, but an indifferent diver. On dry land its gait is very slow, for its legs are so short as to allow the abdomen to nearly drag on the ground; the animal therefore proceeds by land only when it is crossing the intervening country from one body of water to another. When alarmed it instantly rushes. S^8^ THE COYPU OR NUTRIA. This Rodent, inhabiting the temperate regions of South America, is aquatic in its habits, frequenting interior streams and bodies of water. As shown by the picture, it has a bare, Rat-like tail and such short legs that its body nearly touches the ground. It is awkward on land but at home in the water. (Myopota- mus coypu.) and dives into the water; if it be pursued closely it finally retreats into its hole, which it inhabits only at night at times when it is left undisturbed. Intellectual Char- Its intelligence is slight. It is shy acteristics of and timid and evinces these qualities the Coypu. even when in captivity. It can not be called a teachable animal, though it gradually comes to know its keeper. In the London zoolog- ical garden it is a permanent feature and recently it has also been kept in other zoological gardens. "The Coypu," says Wood, "is a quick and lively animal and very amusing in its habits. I have often watched its funny antics and have been much amused by the manner in which it traverses its domain, and examines everything that seems to be novel. If a tuft of grass is thrown to it, the Coypu picks it up in its fore-p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectmammals
