Chapter Twenty Three. Quadrupeds with Pockets - Book of Zoology for Boys by Mayne Reid
In the year 1711 was brought to France, from the Island of New Guinea, an animal of an unknown species, and one that was singular in many respects; but especially so, from the fact of its having a double skin, covering a part of its belly, and forming a sort of pocket or pouch. This animal was Le Brun’s Kangaroo; very properly named after the naturalist who first described it, since it was the first of the marsupial or pouched animals known to the scientific world.
The Opossums of America were afterwards scientifically described; but it is only of late years that the numerous species and genera of pouched animals—constituting almost the entire mammalia of the Australian world—have become generally known to Europeans.
The peculiarity of the pouched animals is in reality the pouch, common to all of them. Otherwise they differ in many respects—some being carnivorous, others graminivorous, others insectivorous, and so on. In fact, among them we have forms analogous to almost all the different groups of ordinary mammalia. Some naturalists have even classified them in the different groups, but with little success; and it is perhaps better to keep them together, retaining the “pouch” as the common characteristic.
The marsupial animals bring forth their young before they are fully developed. The mother places the mouth, of what is little more than a foetus, to her teat; and there it remains till it is able to go alone. The pouch covers the teats, and serves to protect the young, while the process of development is going on. Even after the little ones are able to run about, they continue to use this singular nest as a place of repose, and a refuge in case of attack by an enemy!
The pouched animals are not entirely confined to the Australian island. The large island of New Guinea possesses some of them; and there are species in Java, and others of the Asiatic islands. America (both North and South) has the opossums, in numerous species; but it is in Australia, and the contiguous islands of Van Diemen’s Land and New Guinea, that we find both the genera and species in greatest numbers. These countries are, in fact, the head-quarters of the marsupial animals.
The true genera are not numerous, though the species of most of them are; and it is but natural to suppose that many new ones—both genera and species—will yet be discovered, when the vast terra incognita of Australia comes to be explored. In fact, every expedition into the interior brings home with it some new animal that carries a pouch!
As the opossums were the first of these animals whose habits became generally known to Europeans, we shall speak first of them; and it may be remarked, that although there are several species in the Australian countries resembling the true opossums, and are even called opossums, yet among naturalists the name is usually limited to the pouched animals of America.
The old writer, Lawson, gives as succinct an account of the habits of the best known species—the Virginia opossum—as may be found anywhere. We shall adopt it verbatim:—“The possum,” says he, “is found nowhere but in America. She is the wonder of all the land animals—being of the size of a badger, and near that colour. The female, doubtless, breeds her young at her teats, for I have seen them stuck fast thereto when they have been no bigger than a small raspberry, and seemingly inanimate. She has a paunch, or false belly, wherein she carries her young, after they are from those teats, till they can shift for themselves.
“Their food is roots, poultry, or wild fruits. They have no hair on their tails, but a sort of scale or hard crust, as the beavers have. If a cat has nine lives, this creature surely has nineteen; for if you break every bone in their skin, and smash their skull, leaving them quite dead, you may come an hour after and they will be quite gone away, or, perhaps, you may meet them creeping away. They are a very stupid creature, utterly neglecting their safety. They are most like rats than anything. I have for necessity, in the wilderness, eaten of them. Their flesh is very white and well-tasted, but their ugly tails put me out of conceit with that fare. They climb trees as the racoons do. Their fur is not esteemed or used, save that the Indians spin it into girdles and gaiters.”
Bating the exaggeration about their tenacity of life, and also the error as to their mode of bringing forth, the above account hits off the opossum to a nicety. Lawson might have added that their tails are highly prehensile, and are not only used for suspending them to the branches of trees, but also employed by the female for holding her young upon her back—in which fashion she often carries them about.
The flesh of the opossum is not only eatable, but much eaten, and even sought after as a delicacy both by negroes and whites.
It is surprising how the number of species of this animal has lately multiplied, under the research of naturalists. Perhaps no creature illustrates more forcibly the folly of setting limits to the species of animals, by simply trusting to the account of those known or described. Over thirty species have been found in America, of which five or six belong to the northern division of the continent. The tropical region is their head-quarters; but they are not confined to the torrid zone, since there are species existing everywhere, from Canada to Chili.
Another form of pouched animal that can scarcely be called an opossum is the Yapock of tropical South America. It is a smaller animal than the opossum, aquatic in its habits, and in fact approaches nearer to the family of the water-rats. Of this, too, there are several species.
Crossing to Australia we find the pouched animals, as already observed, of several different and very dissimilar genera.
Taking them in the usual order of mammalia, we have three kinds truly carnivorous. First, the Tasmanian wolf, a creature which possesses all the fierce attributes of his synonyme, and is, in fact, a wolf, only one who carries a pocket. He is an animal as active as fierce, and lives by preying on the kangaroos and other kindred animals. He is also troublesome to the breeders of sheep; as, since the introduction of these innocent animals to his country, he appears to have formed a preference for mutton over kangaroo flesh. Fortunately his range is not extensive, as he is confined to the island of Van Dieman’s Land, and has not been observed elsewhere. Only one species has been yet discovered.
Another pouched animal, equally carnivorous, is the Ursine Opossum. This is a burrowing creature about the size of a badger, and of equally voracious habits.
In some places it proves extremely destructive to the poultry of the settler, though it will also eat carcass, or dead fish—in short, anything.
In a state of captivity it will not submit to be tamed, biting everything that comes near it, at the same time uttering a sort of yelling growl. Small though it be, in many of its actions and habits it resembles the bear, and might be regarded as the Australian representative of the ursine family; but several of its species approach nearer to the weasels—for it is not so poor in species as the Tasmanian wolf, there being at least five kinds of it in Australia and Van Dieman’s Land. One variety of it is distinguished by the name of Native Devil!
Another genus of Australian carnivora is in the Phascogals. These animals are smaller than the last, and dwell upon trees like squirrels. From their having bushy tails, they might readily be mistaken for animals of the squirrel kind; but their habits are entirely different—since to birds, and other small game, they are as destructive as the weasel itself.
After the true carnivora come the Bandicoots. These are named after the great bandicoot rat of India, to which the early settlers fancied they bore a resemblance. They are insect-eaters, and represent in Australia the shrews and tenrecs of the Old World. They also feed upon roots and bulbs, which with their strong claws they are enabled to scratch up out of the ground. Their mode of progression is by leaps—not like those of the kangaroo, but still more resembling the pace of a rabbit or hare—and they appear to prefer mountainous regions for their habitat. There are several species of them in Australia and the adjacent islands.
The Phalangers, or Fox Opossums, come next in order. These creatures are so called from a sort of resemblance which they bear to the well-known Reynard; but, fortunately, the resemblance does not extend to their habits, as they are all supposed to be innocent creatures, living on fruits and seeds, and climbing trees for the purpose of obtaining them. The true Vulpine Opossum—which is a native of Australia, near Port Jackson—is very much like a small fox; but there are two sub-genera of the phalangers that differ much from this form. One of these is the Scham-scham, a very beautiful spotted creature found in the Molucca and Papuan islands. Several other species of phalangers inhabit these and other Asiatic islands, especially Celebes and New Ireland.
The other sub-genus is that of the Flying Squirrels, usually known as Norfolk Island Flying Squirrels, though it is not even certain that they inhabit the last-mentioned island. It needs only to be said that these animals are very much like other flying squirrels; and in fact they are squirrels, only squirrels of the marsupial kind. There are several species already described.
Another pouched animal is the Koala, or Ashy Koala as it is called. It differs in appearance from all the others, being of stout make, and almost without a tail. It is not unlike the bear in its form and movements; but its bulk is scarce equal to that of a moderate sized dog. It can climb trees with great facility, though it makes its lodgment among their roots, in a den which it hollows out for itself. Its food is supposed to be fruits, and very likely it is the Australian representative of the frugivorous bears. It has the singular habit of carrying its young one upon its back, after the latter has grown too large to be conveniently stowed away in the pouch. Two species of koala have been spoken of, but as yet one only is described and certainly known.
The Wombat is another animal of thick stout form, and also without tail. It is a slow creature, easily overtaken by a man on foot. It burrows in the ground. During the day it remains in its hole, issuing forth only at night to procure its food, which consists mainly of herbage. There is but one species known, belonging to both Van Dieman’s Land and New South Wales.
I have kept the Kangaroos to the last: not that they are the least interesting, but because these very singular animals are now so well-known, and their habits have been so often described, that it seems almost superfluous to say a word about them. I shall content myself with observing that the genus of the kangaroos has been divided into two sub-genera, the true Kangaroos, and those known as Kangaroo Rats. The difference, however, is not very great, since the rats are as mild and inoffensive in their habits as the kangaroos themselves. Of the kangaroo rats there are several species; but when we arrive at the true kangaroos we find a list altogether too numerous to mention. They are of all sizes, too, from that of the great giant kangaroo, that stands, or rather squats, full five feet in height, down to little tiny creatures not bigger than rabbits or squirrels. There are nearly fifty species in all inhabiting the known parts of the Australasian islands. It may be remarked, in conclusion, that two or three other kinds of pouched animals, differing from all the foregoing, have been lately brought to light by recent explorers; but, since nothing certain has been ascertained in regard to their habits, it would be idle in this place even to mention their names.