. A hand-book to the marsupialia and monotremata. d ease, and to these, and thehollow trunks of fallen trees, it flies for shelter when pursuedby its enemies. In regard to its burrowing habits, Krefft states that in spiteof its strong claws, the Striped Bandicoot seldom digs holes ex-cept in search of its food, which comprises bulbous roots, plants,and insects. Nocturnal and social in its wild state, this animal,according to the writer quoted, bears captivity well, and be-comes an adept in Mice-catching. He observes that theBandicoot would tumble the Mice about with its fore paws,break their h
. A hand-book to the marsupialia and monotremata. d ease, and to these, and thehollow trunks of fallen trees, it flies for shelter when pursuedby its enemies. In regard to its burrowing habits, Krefft states that in spiteof its strong claws, the Striped Bandicoot seldom digs holes ex-cept in search of its food, which comprises bulbous roots, plants,and insects. Nocturnal and social in its wild state, this animal,according to the writer quoted, bears captivity well, and be-comes an adept in Mice-catching. He observes that theBandicoot would tumble the Mice about with its fore paws,break their hind legs, and eat generally the head only. I haveseen a single individual kill as many as twenty Mice a veryshort time, breaking their bones successively, after which itwould satisfy its hunger. The young are born from May to August, and are generallyfrom two to four in number, although the female has upwardsof eight teats. In captivity a specimen lived chiefly on insects and rawmeat, which were encircled by tlie long tongue and conveyed t ,^. ooo M n< iz; tfeDfc fiANbicooTs. 139 to the mouth piece by piece. In consequence of the extremedelicacy and thinness of its integuments, this species is one ofthe most difficult of Mammals to skin. 11. gunns bandicoot, perameles gunni. Perameles gunni, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1838, p. i; Thomas,Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 245 (1888). {Plale XXI.) Size large ; form slender; fur soft, not spinose; muzzle longand slender; ears large and pointed, reaching, when laid for-ward, to beyond the eyes, their backs yellowish-brown, with adarker blotch on the anterior portion of the terminal colour grizzled yellowish-brown ; under-parts white oryellowish-white; sides of rump with four transverse verticalstripes. Soles of hind feet hairy and black posteriorly, nakedand white anteriorly, with small rounded striated pads at thebases of the third and fourth toes. Tail very short and slender,white except for a short portion of the base of th
Size: 1158px × 2159px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorlydekker, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1894
