. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE FBNNEC. 73 lives in burrows, which it excavates in the earth during the summer months, and prefers to construct its simple dwellings in small groups of twenty or thirty. The Fennec, or Zerda, is an inhabitant of Africa, being found in Nubia and Egypt. It is a very pretty and lively httle creature, running about with much activity, and anon sitting upright and regarding the prospect with marvellous gravity. The colour of the Fennec is a very pale fawn, or " Isabel" colour, sometimes being almost of a creamy whiteness. The tail is bushy, and
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE FBNNEC. 73 lives in burrows, which it excavates in the earth during the summer months, and prefers to construct its simple dwellings in small groups of twenty or thirty. The Fennec, or Zerda, is an inhabitant of Africa, being found in Nubia and Egypt. It is a very pretty and lively httle creature, running about with much activity, and anon sitting upright and regarding the prospect with marvellous gravity. The colour of the Fennec is a very pale fawn, or " Isabel" colour, sometimes being almost of a creamy whiteness. The tail is bushy, and partakes of the general colour of the fur, except at the upper part of the base and the extreme tip, which are boldly marked with black. The size of the adult animal is very inconsiderable, as it measures scarcely more than a foot in length, exclusive of the bushy tail, which is about eight inches FENNEC.—{Vulpes Zaarensis.) . It is said that the Fennec, although it is evidently a carnivorous animal, delights to feed upon various fruits, especially preferring the date. Such a predilection is according to vulpine and canine analogies, for the common English Fox is remarkably fond of ripe fruits, such as grapes or strawberries, and the domestic dog is too often a depredator of those very gardens which he was enjoined to keep clear from robbers. But that the animal should enjoy the power of procuring that food in wliich it so delights is a very extra- ordinary circumstance, and one which would hardly be expected from a creature which partakes so largely of the vulpine form and characteristics. The date-palm is a tree of a very lofty growth, and the rich clusters of the fruit are placed at the very summit of the bare, branchless stem. Yet the Fennec is said to possess the capability of climbing the trunk of the date-palm, and of procuring for itself the coveted Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhan
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
