Ant bear

“ Then the little Cub Bear saw why the ant-bear had such a long nose, and a long tongue that looked like a pink rope. Do you see why?
As soon as the ant-bear had eaten all of the ants, the little Cub Bear said, "The ants are such little things, I should think you would not get enough to eat."
But the ant-bear said, "Down in South America, where I came from, the ants are larger; they are as big as the big red and black ants, and they live in houses that are as large as a haycock. ”

“ Nature has wisely provided against the over increase of the ant family. No living thing has a greater variety of enemies than they. In all the divisions of animated nature there are ant-destroyers—ant-eaters! To begin with the mammalia, man himself feeds upon them—for there are tribes of Indians in South America, the principal part of whose food consists of dried termites, which they bake into a kind of “paste!” There are quadrupeds that live exclusively on them, as the ant-bear, already described, and the pangolins, or scaly ant-eaters of the Eastern continent. ”

“ The Indians have a great dread of coming in contact with the ant-bear and, after disabling him in the chase, never think of approaching him till he be quite dead. It is perhaps on account of this caution that naturalists have never yet given to the world a true and correct drawing of this singular animal, or described the peculiar position of his fore-feet when he walks or stands. If, in taking a drawing from a dead ant-bear, you judge of the position in which he stands from that of all other terrestrial animals, the sloth excepted, you will be in error. ”

“ These birds frequent the holes of Ant-bears in preference to an embankment when nesting, and the reason may be readily understood when it is seen what protection is thus afforded against their many enemies. Having observed that the bird was then only constructing its nest, I decided to revisit the spot shortly afterwards, when, to my surprise, I found that the Ant-bear had returned home to his old haunt, taking up his abode inside. ”

“ The flesh of the Ant-eater is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians; and, though black, and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of Europeans."
The habits of the Great Ant-Bear in captivity have been described scientifically yet popularly, from the Zoological Society's specimen, by Professor Owen, who writes:—"When we were introduced to this, the latest novelty at the noble vivarium in the Regent's-park, we found the animal busy sucking and licking up—for his feeding is a combination of the two actions—the contents of a basin of squashed eggs. ”

“ Ant′-bear, one of the largest species of the ant-eaters, found in the swampy regions in Central and Southern America, also called the Great Ant-eater; Ant′-cow (see Aphides) ; Ant′-eat′er, a genus of edentate South American quadrupeds, feeding on insects, and chiefly on ants, which they procure by means of their very long cylindrical tongue covered with a viscid saliva; Ant′-hill, the hillock raised by ants to form their nest: also figuratively applied, as to the earth; Ant′-thrush, a general name applied to birds of tropical and sub-tropical countries which feed to a large extent on ants. ”

“ Of a peaceable and harmless disposition, the ant-bear, when not provoked, never attacks any animal; but on the approach of an enemy, it assumes the defensive in such a way as to make the boldest aggressor pause. Resting on its left fore-foot, it strikes out its right with a force sufficient to tear off the hide of the thickest-skinned assailant. ”

“ It thus answers the purpose of a fork as well as a spade, the several points serving to break up the soil, and the flat palm to throw the earth aside.
This principle is carried out even more fully in the fore-paw of the African Ant-bear, or Aard-vark (Orycteropus Capensis) , a figure of which is given in the illustration. This animal is a great excavator, living in burrows of such dimensions that the wild boar is in the habit of making its home in them after they are deserted.
Something more, however, than a digging apparatus is needed for the Ant-bear. ”

“ We have seen that the Ant-Bear lives exclusively upon ants, to procure which he tears open the hills, and when the ants flock out to defend their dwellings, draws over them his long, flexible tongue, covered with glutinous saliva, to which the ants consequently adhere ”

“ Then we have the ant-bear with its body four feet long, its short legs, its strong claws, and its long, narrow, toothless muzzle provided with a threadlike, glutinous tongue for the purpose of digging out the white ants from their nests. ”

“ In these tiny ant-hills we see above ground
Small buildings of full twenty stories are found,
Supported by pillars and walls.
What wonderful instinct these creatures display
In the care of their young on a damp rainy day,
As they run from one room to another!
And up stairs and down stairs they hasten again,
As each little ant, to be kept from the rain,
Must be carried up stairs by its mother.
When the clouds are dispersed, again they must run,
These delicate ants could not bear the hot sun ”

“ In this genus the head is remarkably elongated, the jaws destitute of teeth, and the mouth furnished with a long, extensile [183] tongue covered with glutinous saliva, by the aid of which the animals secure their insect prey. The eyes are particularly small, the ears short and round, and the legs, especially the fore-legs, very strong, and furnished with long, compressed, acute nails, admirably adapted for breaking into the ant-hills. The most remarkable species is the Myrmecophăga jubāta, or ant-bear, a native of the warmer parts of South America. ”

“ Whenever he seizes an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body, and keeps it there till it dies through pressure,{258} or through want of food. Nor does the ant-bear in the meantime suffer much from loss of aliment, as it is a well-known fact that he can go longer without food than, perhaps, any other animal, excepting the land-tortoise. His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists the bite of a dog; his hinder parts are protected by thick and shaggy hair, while his immense tail is large enough to cover his whole body. ”

“ They are sluggish and very hard to kill, for their circulation seems to be as sluggish as their movements. The ant-bear is another strange animal occasionally encountered, and is very valuable, for it lives entirely on those pestering insects. ”

“ But ants are abundant on the surface of the [107] ground, and they excavate long tunnels in rotten wood. The black bear is a famous ant-hunter, yet his tongue is like a dog’s and he gets his ants by lapping them up after he has torn open the rotten logs in which they live. ”

“ Fortunately, however, in those regions where these insects most abound, an all-wise Providence has also placed a most remarkable animal—formed, as it would appear, expressly for the purpose of destroying them and preventing their overrunning the land—the tamandua, or, as we call it, the ant-bear. ”

“ The secret of these constant holes is that a noctur60anal animal called an ant-bear makes raids upon the ant-hills, which are like mole-hills, only bigger, destroys them, and scoops down to the new foundation in its search for the eggs, an especial dainty hard to get at. ”

“ The great ant-eater is a very bad walker, resting always on the heel of his awkward long feet, like the coati and bear; but he is a better climber, and so good a fighter, that no dog will hunt him, since whatever animal he catches between his fore claws (nay even the jaguar or tiger) he will not release while he has life. ”

“ Besides the tamanoir there are two, or perhaps three, other species of ant-bears in the forests of South America. These, however, are so different in habits and appearance, that they might properly be classed as a separate genus of animals. They are tree-climbers, which the tamanoir is not, spite of his great claws. They pursue the ants that build their nests upon the high branches, as well as the wasps and bees; and to befit them for this life, they are furnished with naked prehensile tails, like the opossums and monkeys. ”

“ When attacking an ant-castle, the tamanoir strikes a hole in the wall of clay with his powerful, crooked claws. The warrior-ants then issue out by thousands to resent the insult, while the labourers retire to the inmost recesses. The soldiers swarm on every part of their assailant, but their sharp mandibles are unable to pierce its thick skin. The bear then putting forth its long tongue, which is lubricated from two large glands situated below its root, the insects remain sticking in the glutinous liquid. ”

“ It appears that ant-bears are bold creatures and fear nothing, as everything else takes care to give them a wide berth. Though they only eat ants, they have a way of rising on their hind legs, gripping an adversary with their inturned front claws, and then tearing him open with their hinder ones. ”

“ The little ant-eater is usually of a bright yellow colour, brownish on the back; but there are many varieties in this respect, and some are of a snowy whiteness. Its fur is soft and silky, sometimes slightly curled or matted at the points, and the tail fur is annulated, or ringed, with the prevailing colours of the body.
So much for the ant-bears of America.
Top
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ANT-LION.
Ants are disagreeable insects in any country, but especially so in warm tropical climates. ”

“ In that region of the world the leaf-cutting ants present a very characteristic appearance as the column proceeds homewards, each ant carrying a piece of leaf held vertically in its jaws; and a homopterous insect has been found that faithfully resembles an ant bearing its burden. ”

“ They worship Parrots as Gods, and have a sort of Bears call’d Ant-Bears: They have long Heads, Snouts much longer than those of Swine, and Tongues like Spears, which they thrust into the Ant-Hills, and lick up those Insects, which are as big as the top of one’s finger, and being toasted over the fire, are eat by the Natives and Spaniards too as a Dainty. ”

“ Young ants, like young people, wish to set up for themselves in new homes. They spread their fine wings. Off they fly! Since there is not room in the old hill they will build a new one.
They swarm as the bees do. As they rise high from the earth, they drift off on the wind. Very many of them tire out and die, or are blown into the water, and are drowned. A few live and settle on places fit for a new ant-hill.
It is the mother or queen ant who chooses the new home. When she has found the right place, what do you think she does? She takes off her wings, as she does not care to fly any more. ”

“ We know that there are many animals on this continent not found in the Old World. These must have been carried from here to the ark, and then brought back afterwards. Were the peccary, armadillo, ant-eater, sloth, agouti, vampire-bat, marmoset, howling and prehensile-tailed monkey, the raccoon and muskrat carried by the angels from America to Asia? How did they get there? Did the polar bear leave his field of ice and journey toward the tropics? How did he know where the ark was? Did the kangaroo swim or jump from Australia to Asia? ”

“ The creature lives in the tree-tops and is diurnal in habits. It moves along the branches with great rapidity, either in an upright position or inverted like a sloth, the prehensile tail being used constantly. Ants form the food, and as these ascend even the highest trees, the little ant-eater has a never-failing and abundant supply; they are gathered up hurriedly as the little creature moves quickly along.
One day an army of carnivorous ants invaded our quarters while we were busily occupied preparing the specimens collected during the morning. ”

“ And bears of at least two species are here now, besides the California lion or panther, and wild cats, wolves, foxes, snakes, scorpions, wasps, tarantulas; but one is almost tempted at times to regard a small savage black ant as the master existence of this vast mountain world. These fearless, restless, wandering imps, though only about a quarter of an inch long, are fonder of fighting and biting than any beast I know. They attack every living thing around their homes, often without cause as far as I can see. ”

“ Towards evening he burrows deep holes in the earth, and searches for the larvæ of insects, or he ventures out of the forest, and visits the yucca fields, where he digs up the well-flavored roots. The ant-eater rakes up with his long curved claws the crowded resorts of ants, stretches out his long, spiral, and adhesive tongue, into the midst of the moving swarm, and draws it back covered with a multitude of crawling insects. ”

“ A Carrion-Crow, whom I met, pointed out the government of the ants as a suitable model, so you may understand how eager I was to study their system, and discover their secrets. On my way I fell in with scores of ants travelling for pleasure. They were all of them black and glossy, as if newly varnished, but utterly devoid of individuality, being all alike. After, indeed, one has seen a single ant, one knows all the others. They travel coated with a liquid which keeps them clean. Should one meet an ant in his mountains, on the water, or in his city-dwelling, his get-up is irreproachable. ”