. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammals; Animal behavior. THE SPINY HEDGEHOGS—TANREC. 297 inaccessible holes under stones and in rocky crevices and the burrows of other animals. They are very timid and look upon the most trifling disturbance as foreboding danger. They are true diurnal animals, and might even be termed creatures of the sun which feel most comfortable in the most torrid noonday heat when they follow the chase with the greatest ardor. Their food consists mainly of insects, which they capture very dext
. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammals; Animal behavior. THE SPINY HEDGEHOGS—TANREC. 297 inaccessible holes under stones and in rocky crevices and the burrows of other animals. They are very timid and look upon the most trifling disturbance as foreboding danger. They are true diurnal animals, and might even be termed creatures of the sun which feel most comfortable in the most torrid noonday heat when they follow the chase with the greatest ardor. Their food consists mainly of insects, which they capture very dexterously, and pull out of crev- ices and slits in the hillside. Nothing is so far known about their mode of reproduction and no observations seem to have been made with captive specimens of the species. makes its appearance only after sunset. It shows itself only during the spring and summer of those countries: that is, after the first rain and until the commencement of the dry season. During the great- est drought it retreats into the deepest chamber of its burrow, hibernating from April to November in the same way that the Common Hedgehog lies torpid in winter. Its food consists principally of insects, but also of worms, Snails, Lizards and various fruits. It seems to have a special predilection for water. In captivity the Tanrec eats raw meat, boiled rice and bananas. It sleeps through the day and be- comes very lively at night. Zbc Spln\> IbcfcocboQS. FIFTH FAMILY: CentetimJ. The members of the fifth family of the order under consideration are the Centetidae, or Spiny Hedgehogs, taking their appellation from an insect- ivorous, Hedgehog-like in- habitant of Madagascar. They are of elongated build, long-headed and distin- guished by a fairly long snout; the eyes are small, the ears of moderate size, the tail either altogether lacking or long and desti- tute of hair; the legs are short and terminate in five- toed feet, armed with strong claws. They are clothed partly with
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1895
