The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-17
QUEER ANIMALS OF MEXICO.
The Cacomixtle That Lives in House
Roofs, and the Vampire Bat.

"There are plenty of qIeer animals in
Mexico" said P. L. Jouy, of the Smith
sonian Institution. 81 picked up some of
them on trip through that country, from
which have just returned. For example,
there is the 'cacomixtle,' a very odd
creature indeed, which lives commonly
in the roofs of houses. 1t is as big as a
cat, long and slender, ana in color yellow
ish brown. A species of civet cat it is,
but not true cat, you understand. 1t IS
beast intermediate in structure between
the cat and the weasel. In respect to its
habits also il resembles both weasel and
cat.
THE roofs of the houses in that part of
the country are usually covered with
tiles. The cacomixtle takes up its resi-
dence between the tiles and the rafters of
a dwelling, depending for its supplies of
food on its skill in foraging, Not few,
but great numbers, of these creatures
live in this fashion. They are strictly
nocturnal though occasionally one is
seen in the day time Not infrequently
one sees half dozen Of them playing to-
gether on a roof at night, They are very
skillful at catching chickens, and their
predatory ways cause them to be regarded
by householderS as enemies rather than
as pets.
why do not the people kill them
They do occasionally. But the animals
have such good hiding places in the roofs
that they are difficult to get at. They
only come out at night, and are very
wary. But the chief reason why they
| are tolerated is that the natives are too
lazy to take the trouble to catch them,
| preferring to put up with the loss of their
chickens, etc. l captured one by using a
| fowl for bait and surrounding it on all
| sides with steel traps. In the morning
/ several of the traps were sprung, but
save single instance only scraps of fur
remained to tell the tale, the beasts hav-
/ ing made their escape. When tsken
! young they are quickly tanned; but their
, bodies emit powerful and disagreed BILE
! efftuYium when they are excited so that
/ one has desire to be elsewhere. On
| that account they are not desirable pets.
| q had an odd adventure near Guadala-
| jara. That city is situated on high
! plateau. and owing to its elevation has a
! cool climate. Though actually in the
tropics, it is to all intents and purposes in
| distance of the town one may descend into
a region $40 feet below, where the vere-
tation is wholly tropical in character, and
| where coffee, pineappples and mangoes
are raised. Naturally the fauna of this
lower level is as different from that of
; The heights as the fora, and there ] found
an attractive hunting ground for birds
and small mammals. One morning. hav-
! ing spent the night at the bottom of bar
/ ranca, or canyon, l was somewhat
| alarmed to find my horse bleeding pro
| fusely from what at first took to be a
| stab wound inflicted by knife. On ex-
animation and inquiry it appeared that the
| animal had been bitten by vampire
! bat Such bats, the natives informed me.
! are quite plentiful in the neighborbood
| Sometimes they inflict serious injuries.
This species of bat is well known. tt
is not very large. having a wing spread of
| only ten or twelve inches. But it is rem
| dered formidable by rather extraordi-
/ nary dental equipment. Instead of the
usual four incisors it has only two: but
| they are very long and as sharp as razors
| They are shaped exactly like sabers
! They are set in heupperJ Jaw and fit into
| sockets in the lower jaw. Better instru-
meats for cutti ng could hardly be imac