Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1913-09-24
KIN OF ANT EATER
South African Animal That Digs
Hole and Disappears.
Aard-Vark Has Only Rudimentary
Teeth With Legs Like Those Of
the Kangaroo-Specimens Very
Hard to Secure.

New York.-Did you ever see an
aard-vark? asks writer in the New
York World. Perhaps you know it
better by it's Latin name, orycteropus?
No? They haven't got one in the 20
illogical collection in Bronx park, nor,
SO far as the writer has been able
to learn, in any of the famous ZOOS or
menageries of the world. For the
aard-vark is a delicate animal, accord
ing to Curator Ditmars. and not easily
acclimated.
The aard-varth was thought to be a
myth until the Dutch and English be-
gan to settle Africa. 1t was first de-
scribed by p Kobe in 1742 in an ac-
count of his travels in Cape Colony,
but Button called in question his de-
scription. However, this is known to
be accurate.
The Paris museum has just received
an orycteropus, which it has had
stuffed and placed on exhibition.
There are three species, and that in
Paris is the excessively rare Orycter-
opus Ethiopicus from the regions of
the Blue Nile and Abyssinia. The
commonest species is that which Is
found in eastern and southern Africa
as far north as Angola. The third
species is peculiar to Senegambia.
The hardware belongs to the order
of Edentata, so called because its
members are either toothless or have
only rudimentary or defective teeth.
1t is a cousin of the ant bears, the
armadilloes and the pangolins of
South America 1t is about six feet
long, including the tail. and about
twenty inches high. It's back is
arched, its head long and ending in
a snout like pigs, only sharper and
longer. Its forelegs are short. it's hind
legs much larger, like those of a kan
CARGO, and it's tail is heavy and almost
as long as its body Its ears are long
and erect, like an ass. 1t has small,
piggy eyes, a very thick skin, like
pigs, covered with sparsely scattered
hair, and yellow all over.
It's tonge is very long, extensive and
always covered with gummy saliva
1t protrudes from mouth that is lit
tie more than a round hole. The
young animal has eight molars in tbs
upper jaw and six in the lower, but
the adult has only five above and four
below, and all of these are rudiamen
tary.
The Ethiopian species lives in the
dessert, always near ant hills, for the
ants are it's food In the daytime it
stays curled up and asleep in bur-
row which it closes behind it. 1t digs
a hole even in the hardest ground
with incredible rapidity and disap
pears in few moments, for the four
toes on it's front feet are armed with
strong claws which it plies rapidly.
scooping out the earth and throwing
it behind itself in great cloud of
dust.
At night it energies and goes out
hunting for ant hills. AS soon as it
has found one it makes sure that no
danger is menacing, then it lies down
with it's snout against the ant hill.
and waits. Soon its tongue is covered
with ants, caught like flies on sticky
fypaper. Then it draws in its tongue,
chews up the ants and begins again.
1t is very timid and so keen of ear
that it catches every faint sound. At
the slightest alarm it digs hole and
buries itself. 1t never attacks any
thing but insects, yet when attacked
it defends itself with it's powerful
claws in a way that makes it danger
Gus.
When surprised by the hunter 1t al
most always has it's head and shout
ders in hole, and it takes so tight a
grip on the earth that if the hunter
tries to pull it forth he is almost GER
tain to fail.
It's flesh is highly priced in Africa
and it is said to taste like pork. 1t is
easily tanned in it's native land, and
in the days of Egypt's ancient great
ness must have been pet for ladies,
as on the tomb of Abd-elGournah OF
the nineteenth dynasty there is
craven a picture Of a noblewoman
with an orycteropus following her like
a dog.