Identifier: americannaturalh02hornuoft (find matches)
Title: The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937
Subjects: Natural history -- North America
Publisher: New York : C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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watching for a chance to escape.This discovery led me to keep the animal alive in confinement,until finally it did escape. The Virginia Opossum is the species found in the UnitedStates, from New York to Florida, and westward throughthe southern states to Texas. In Mexico and tropicalAmerica several other species are found. Notwithstandingthe persistent destruction of the Opossum, both for moonlightsport and for food, it still manages to survive throughoutits entire original range, and bids fair to outlive the nativeAmerican. The persistence with which the Opossum keepsup its numerical strength in the face of persecution is al-most beyond belief. In 1911 C. M. Lampson & Co. ofLondon handled 1,011,824 skins of our friend the VirginiaOpossum. As a pet, or cage animal, the Opossum shows off very poorly,and is rather uninteresting. In the daytime its sole desireis to curl up into a furry ball and sleep. If disturbed, it opensits pink mouth very widely, in silent protest, and as soon as
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A MOUSE-LIKE OPOSSUM 195 the trouble Is over, again tucks its head under its body, outof sight, and sleeps on. The Murine Opossum^—a name which means Mouse-like Opossum—is a South American species which is remark-able because of its diminutive size. The full-grown femalespecimen shown in the accompanying illustration, with abrood of seven hairless young clinging to the fur of her body,was about the size of an Eastern chij^munk. The abdominalpouch is wholly wanting in this species, and from birth thenaked and almost helpless young must either cling to the furof the mother or die. As they grow larger, they travel onthe back of the mother, with their tendril-like tails clingingto her tail. The specimen shown reached New York just as a score ofothers have before it,—hidden in the interior of a bunch ofbananas! ^ Mar-mosa murina. CHAPTER XVIORDER OF EGG-LAYING MAMMALS MONOTREMATA There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,Than are dreamt of in your philosophy^ THERE are two F

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