Odd Animals and Lizards of Levy County, Florida

Some Odd Animals and Lizards of Levy County,  Chapter XXIV

From Romantic and Historic Levy County (Florida) by Ruth Verrill, 1976. Digitized by Doug Frizzle, April 2013.

Many years ago when living was less hurried, the writer went on long, aimless walks about the countryside just to see what might be found.

Many things scientists call "specimens", were gathered and sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C, Department of Entomology (bugs, moths and such), and Herpetology (snakes and lizards), also the public zoo in Philadelphia. A large number of specimens sent proved to be unrecorded and unknown to science.

Three were of unusual interest in themselves. An adult shrew, a little smaller than a five-cent piece, found under a scrap of old felt roofing paper, lying on the ground at the old Clyatt farm at the side of Long Pond, was not only unknown in the Americas, but smaller than any known from other continents. It was velvety, dark reddish-brown, nearly blind as are all shrews. It was shipped in a can of dirt with food and water to a museum where it attracted a great deal of interest.

While raking out an old, rotted pine stump for "sawyers" with which to go fishing, a grayish, rust-colored lump wiggled. This turned out to be a variety of "nurse-frog", previously unrecorded in North America. It was about the size of an average lima bean, satin-smooth, pointed-nosed, and with fairly deep natural pits in its back.

In these pits, which only the males have, the females lay their eggs, then a delicate membrane grows over the eggs and pits, protecting the eggs during incubation. The frogs when hatched remain in their pits, a frog to a pit, until they have outgrown their parental incubator. The pits close and can only be seen by close observation.

Then there is the harmless so-called brittle or glass snake (Ophisaurus), which is not a snake at all, but a true lizard. Legs? Yes, it has legs, but they are embryonic legs which only an x-ray or autopsy can reveal.

The part that breaks off from the rear of the body is its tail. When this happens, if the lizard is otherwise uninjured, a new tail gradually grows back again.

There are a number of color-varieties of these harmless, insect-eating, handsome lizards. The most beautiful of them all is the turquoise and golden variety. These resemble Egyptian high-gloss enamel inlay. Several of these were shipped to museums. Two of the color-varieties were previously unknown to science and regarded as a great rarity.

A house lizard of the ANOLIS family, looking like a wee dragon, with an erectile "fan" on the back of its neck was also unrecorded until sent to the Smithsonian. Currently, July 1969, there is one of these miniature dinosaurs living around the writer's porch. The "fan" is a dull black, and only erects when the lizard, a male, is showing off or angry with an ordinary ANOLIS lizard.

From Levy County have also been sent new varieties of dragon-flies "Devil's darning needles", wasps, moths, grasshoppers, tumble-bugs and ant-lions. Several Goliath beetles, both male and female were also sent to the museum, and considered prizes.

It was a surprise to learn that the American Museum of Natural History had no "gopher" turtle smaller than a saucer until Mr. Verrill sent them two, freshly-hatched. They had been caught out in the full sun without shade and it had killed them. When soft, freshly-hatched, they cannot endure much heat. These also created a lot of interest, not only among the various curators, but the public as well.

When the writer began clearing away the woods from the land where home and garden was to be, called ANHIARKA for the winter camp of Captain Hernando De Soto, 1539-1540 that had been in the immediate area, a patch of aged and weather-bleached dog bones were found scattered on the ground near an old, fallen. rotted log with a hollow in it.

Mr. Verrill was called and at once declared: "Dog-Killer"! The smallest skull appeared to be that of a Pekingese, and the largest that of a bull-terrier or similar dog. The hollow log may have been the home of the dog-hating and eating mammal who had apparently inhabited the place for quite some time. These "Dog-Killers" are given different names according to where they are found. In early Bolivia in South America, they were called WARI-WILKA'S. Wari meaning fierce or war-like. They are represented in symbolical, or cult-arts, carved in stone, and in paints on ancient pottery, relics well-known to archaeologists interested in South American cultures. These WARI-WILKAS were considered sacred to the sun, and as its guardians.

Carved stone likenesses of them are also found in Mexico and Yucatan, where they too were considered sacred. A finely engraved sea shell from Spiro mound, Spiro, Oklahoma, has representations of these "Sun-Dogs" that had some part in the religious cult of the people who constructed the mound, with its burial chamber. These felines are graceful, with a tail as a friend said: "like a gun barrel", long in proportion to the body and varying in size and color. Some are golden-reddish brown, others dull, light-brown, and only rarely are they black. An adult has been reported that measured six feet in length, including the tail.

In temperament they vary almost from moment to moment. One may be stroked, cuddled and hand-fed in captivity while showing every indication of affection, gentle and docile. Then, quick as the proverbial flash, it is a tornado of snarls, hisses, flashing teeth and awful claws. Thrashing and lunging about in such fury, though chained it brings a chill to the observer's senses. Raging at the chain that securely holds it in its cage, it displays the most violent hate toward man, and for no discernable reason.

A laborer from a ranch in Honduras brought to us in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, a healthy, young, golden-brown one he had picked up while working on the ranch. The writer, with Mr. Verrill, was on an expedition to collect live birds, reptiles, and animals throughout Mexico from north to south, for an "animal farm", a public attraction on the coast of southeast Florida.

This feline, known to science as a BASSARICION seldom known in captivity, was added to the animal collection and all eventually transported by plane to Miami. We soon learned to feed, water and care for the "wild cat" with utmost caution.

The Florida Department of Conservation, and the Department of State Parks, call the felines, Teyra (Tayra) cats, and though not common they are known throughout Northern Florida. They have spread gradually, coming northward from Mexico, and around northern margins of the Gulf of Mexico. They are rarely seen, and more rarely shot and killed as they are extremely shy, cautious, and very fleet of foot. Dogs are their pet hate and favorite food, but they also attack young calves, goats and deer.

Two were shot and brought in to Anhiarka in 1941. Mr. Verrill had previously shot at one himself but did not hit it. Many do not know of this wily predator and its existence in Florida, but it has been in the state many years, having it is said, come in from Louisiana. As far as known, none have ever attacked a human being.   They are the most elusive and secretive of all mammals.

The writer has not heard or read of a manatee being seen in Levy County for several years. There are several varieties of the huge mammals. A dugong of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean is of this family. Florida's manatee or "sea cow" has been quite well-known in the past. The young are born alive and nursed as a mother nurses her baby. They are slow-motioned, harmless and lazy. The brain is small for their size and possesses no high degree of intelligence. Their bones are very heavy which helps them stay on the bottom underwater to feed or rest. They close the valve-like slits they have for a nose to prevent water getting in when they dive. The amount of air in their lungs is so controlled they can float, sink, or rest halfway between water surface and the bottom, though they must hold their noses above water every two or three minutes to breathe.

The Florida variety is the smallest of them all, an adult being about nine feet in length. They are dark gray, the skin finely-wrinkled and very thick. The ears are not noticeable, there is no forehead or shoulder blades. The tail is flat, rounded and paddlelike. The head is small and joined to the body without a neck. The eyes are also small and nearly covered with loose folds of thick skin. The upper and lower lip have short, stiff bristles as whiskers. They have a voice and can bellow like a bull, moan or scream. When in the water they will at times come to the surface and make a loud blowing sound. When they find a place undisturbed by people, they will crawl upon the shore and sunbathe. Some scientists have denied this, but Mr. Verrill from his own observation, reported that they can and do come onto land, and if stranded by a receding tide, drag themselves back into the water.

The Florida manatee lives in the comparatively shallow water of creeks, rivers and lagoons that are connected with the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean; but do not live in the ocean itself. They feed on aquatic vegetation, grasses and weeds. Manatee grass was named for them as it is their favorite food. They are very shy and several may live in a place and not be seen. Hunters would have exterminated them years ago if they were not protected by strict conservation laws. They were valuable for their thick, tough skins, oily fat and excellent meat.

Early Spanish colonists in the West Indies gave these mammals the name of MANATEE because they use their paddle-like flippers as hands, for they are well-jointed. These flippers are where arms would be, and each flipper has three flat nails or claws.

Manatees do not thrive in captivity, but there is the case of one kept in an aquarium in England for sixteen months, which is highly unusual. It was fed with lettuce, endive, tender cabbage, turnip leaves and carrot tops. It was published that this manatee was one of the earliest to be studied while living, and that its habits were very interesting.

The armadillo is not a native, but an immigrant, having wandered up from Mexico around the Gulf. It has spread over the entire peninsula of Florida becoming a menace to sugar cane shoots and some crops. When first born they are a very pretty dusty-rose color and quite flexible like a soft purse. When grown, the carapice over the shoulders and hips are fairly rigid, though not thick. Between these are nine bands of a more pliant covering, all of which is hinged together by strong, tough, but thin skin. The underparts are ordinary soft skin with long, stiff bristles sparsely covering the belly. Legs and head are covered with hard, glossy, gray scales, and the feet provided with sharp, strong claws that are not retractile like those of a feline. The eyes are lidded, the jaws have no front teeth and cannot bite, but there are well-developed molars at the back of the jaw with which to crush and chew its food. The heavy, long, tapered tail is covered with segments or rings of overlapping, rather hard "leather" over its entire length. The ears are delicate, elongated, leaf-like ovals, and hearing is excellent. They can dig and burrow in almost an instant if opportunity and need require it. They swim readily and enjoy bathing. They are very clean animals. When fully adult they become very large and heavy. A female brought from Mexico weighed seventeen pounds and was a very difficult creature to handle.

The flesh is very delicate and in taste and texture is much like the meat on the neck and back of a chicken. Natives dress them, place the meat with herbs and vegetables in the armadillo's carapice or shell, and bake the whole. When done it is served in the shell, even at the table.   (No baking pan to wash!)

The young after weaning may be brought up in the home as a pet. They are readily trained to "walk" as one might his dog, morning and evening, and are completely "house-broken", they are not destructive, nor do they have any odor. They enjoy a bath in the family tub and scrub all over with minute care; they are intelligent affectionate and interesting. The writer had one for over two years. until he slipped off a bookcase he was climbing and fell to the floor, breaking his back and had to be killed. They are nimble climbers, have no voice and are easily fed. They like canned dog food, chopped boiled eggs, sliced grapes, bits of beef or horsemeat, lettuce, spinach, bits of apple, a saucer of milk, and drink quite a bit of water.

The flora and fauna (vegetable and living wild creatures) of Levy County were of such interest to science, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City sent a panel truck, laboratory-equipped, to the Suwannee River area with a staff of scientist-collectors to collect specimens of those things. In the mind of the writer it had an all too hurried schedule to do more than "scratch the surface" of Levy County's natural history. The writer has lived in the county off and on since September 1937 and still discovers new and interesting things.

Fossils collected in the county have been welcomed by the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland, which it is said has the largest, finest collections of fossils in the world. Some of the specimens were requested, and eventually obtained.

Crabs from the shore and bordering waters of the Gulf of Mexico have been preserved and prepared for a natural history museum in Milan, Italy, along with other Florida collections, and some from the British West Indies.

No, Levy County is not an unknown, uninteresting place, an isolated portion of Florida's geography. It is rich in many ways for those who possess sufficient interest and take time to look for and enjoy what it has to offer.

Lola's and Valerie's Pets

Lola's and Valerie's Pets

By A. Hyatt Verrill

Photographs by the Author

From Everyland magazine, Nov.1918; researched by Alan Schenker, digitized by Doug Frizzle, Mar. 2012.

OF course many readers of EVERYLAND remember Lola and Valerie, the girls who traveled through the West Indies and wrote about their trip for Everyland. Since then they have lived for nearly two years in British Guiana in South America, and while in that faraway land, they had some of the most interesting and curious pets you can imagine.

Of course they had parrots, for Guiana is famous for its great variety of parrots. Even right about the big city of Georgetown and in the public gardens, you can see wild parrots and parrakeets flying about among the trees. Lola's and Valerie's parrots were not the common green Pollys which most people see, but were gorgeous birds of many colors and with the funniest and most interesting ways.

First there was Caesar, a little green and orange parrakeet that Valerie bought in the big Georgetown market on her first visit to South America. Caesar has made the long journey back and forth between New York and South America four times; and when his mistress is in the United States, Caesar travels everywhere she goes in the motor-car; so he has toured all over New England. He is so accustomed to traveling that he knows he's going on a trip just as soon as his mistress commences to pack her trunk, and he gets excited as a child. Unlike most parrakeets Caesar is a great talker. He's never tired of saying “pretty boy," "bad boy," and "pretty, pretty, pretty." and when he's excited he cries "Hurry up! Hurry up!" or "Come on! come on!" over and over again. He also yells, "Hip, hip hooray!" and whenever he sees wagons passing he calls, "Cash paid for rags." He is very tame and likes to be petted and fondled, but he is terribly jealous and is as peevish as a spoiled child if he doesn't receive enough attention.

Lola's first parrot was Boy Blue, a lovely bird with blue back and purple breast, and with the most beautiful scarlet and blue wings and tail. He has traveled almost as much as Caesar, and he talks almost as well, and he whistles like any schoolboy. But while Caesar's voice is shrill and harsh, Boy Blue's is soft and low. He has great, mild, brown eyes and looks very gentle, but he has a bad temper and snaps and bites at strangers although he lets his mistress handle him and play with him by the hour. Then there was Robert, a huge blue and yellow macaw, who was a perfect baby in his love for being petted and who constantly begged everyone to "scratch pretty Robert."

But the funniest parrots of all were two roly-poly creatures which the girls called Tweedledum and Tweedledee. These little chaps had green backs and white breasts with orange-yellow necks and black caps, and a little band of yellow across the chest and on the legs; so that Valerie used to say they looked exactly like little dwarfs dressed in green coats, yellow trousers, and yellow cravats. Tweedledum and Tweedledee couldn't talk, but they mimicked every bird, beast, and sound they heard like regular mocking-birds, and they were as frolicsome and playful as little kittens. They rolled over and over, pretending to fight each other: they hung head down by one leg and spun round and round, and chased their own tails in the funniest way. But strangest of all, they always slept snuggled down side by side on the floor of their cage.

Last, but by no means least, was Juanita, a magnificent sun parrot. Juanita had a green back and a purple breast and a gray head, but on the back of her head was a wonderful crest of crimson and blue feathers which she could raise until it formed a gorgeous, fan-like crown. Juanita could not talk well, but she was very gentle and lovable, and best of all, she could do all sorts of funny tricks. She stood on her head when told to, or she lay on her back and played dead, and then, when she was told to "come to life," she hopped up and raised her lovely crest and whistled, as pleased as could be at the fun.

But the parrots were not the only bird pets which Lola and Valerie had in their South American home. There were Toto, the toucan, whose story has been told in Everyland, and two other big, black, white, and scarlet toucans, besides two smaller ones with soft green and brown dresses. The toucans were always amusing, for they looked very droll with their enormous beaks, and the girls never tired of tossing them bits of food or paper balls, which they always caught in their big bills. Toucans are very funny birds and sleep with their beaks buried in the feathers of their backs and with their tails folded up over all, so they look for all the world like round balls of feathers. They are very lively, active creatures and make the funniest barking and yelping sounds, just like puppies, and they are always hungry. They are fond of bananas, and it is very funny to see one of these queer birds swallow a whole banana at one gulp. Whatever a toucan eats he first tosses into the air; then he catches it in his beak and gulps it down, and he is just as expert in doing this with a tiny seed as with a big banana.

Another funny bird the girls owned was the sun bittern, a dainty creature with mottled brown, yellow, and black feathers, and red, yellow and black wings which he spread out until they looked like a rising sun. He had long, slender, yellow legs and the slenderest neck you could imagine, and he walked mincingly about like a dainty lady. When frightened, the sun bittern crouched down, opened his sharp bill, and swayed his neck and hissed just like an angry snake, but he was really a very gentle, harmless creature. The sun bittern loved insects, and he spent most of his time catching flies. It was very funny to see him stalk silently toward a fly until within striking distance; then out darted his slender neck like a streak of lightning, and Mr. Fly disappeared as if by magic. Sometimes, too, the sun bittern stood for hours motionless, with the tip of his bill against the ground, or he would stand quietly and sway back and forth on his slender legs like an elephant in the zoo.

Valerie didn't care so much for the sunbird as for Peter. Peter was a funny, white-headed tree-duck, a real live "Quacky Doodles" only he never quacked like ordinary ducks but whistled in a queer, plaintive way.

But the most interesting of all the bird pets was Warri, the trumpet-bird. He was a very sleek, genteel-looking creature with a soft, gray back and velvety black head, breast and neck, and with a little spot of metallic green and purple feathers on his breast. He was about the size of a Bantam hen, with long slender legs and a slender neck and with the biggest, brightest, black-eyes you ever saw.

He was very tame and wandered at will about the yard and house, and whenever any one appeared, he came racing forward with his wings half spread and making a queer, deep, trumpeting noise in his chest. He loved to take charge of the chickens and bossed them about like a regular tyrant, and strangest of all, he was terribly feared by even the most pugnacious old roosters. If a strange rooster appeared, the trumpet-bird instantly rushed at him, and although he didn't have spurs, he could strike so hard with his big feet and peck so viciously and was so swift in his motions that no rooster could resist him. He would attack a marauding hawk, or even a dog or cat, just as readily. For this reason the natives of South American countries always keep trumpet-birds with their chickens, for they feel sure that as long as one of these creatures is on guard, no enemy will dare molest the fowls.

Besides all these birds and several others I have not mentioned, there were the four-footed animals, some of which could scarcely be called pets at all. First, there was the armadillo, a stupid but funny beast. His only ambition was to be left alone, and he slept nearly all the time. It made every one laugh to see the queer chap burrow into the ground, for he could dig so quickly that he disappeared almost instantly, and it was all a person could do to pull him out again.

Then there was the huge ant-bear which the girls named "Fluffy Ruffles." I doubt if there is any stranger animal in all the world than the ant-bear. It has no neck, and its head is all nose, while it walks with its huge front claws bent back, and when it sleeps it wraps itself in its enormous bushy tail. The ant-bear has no teeth, but it has a slender snake-like tongue nearly a yard long; with this it laps up the ants upon which it lives, while its powerful front feet and strong claws are used in digging out the ants and tearing their nests to bits. Nature created the ant-bear to feed on ants, and it is proof against their bites. It also has a very ugly and unsociable disposition and a most uncertain temper. Sometimes Fluffy Ruffles would let a person stroke her head, but at other times she would rear up on her hind legs and strike viciously with her front claws. When an ant-bear does this, it is very dangerous. Even the big, spotted jaguars fear it; so you can imagine that Fluffy Ruffles was not a favorite pet with the girls and that they always kept well out of her reach.

Very different was Jimmy, the tapir. Jimmy was only a baby a few weeks old, a fawn-colored chap spotted with white, and the dearest little fellow you ever saw. He followed the girls about like a dog, answered to his name when called, and just loved to be petted and stroked. The only sound he could make was a low, shrill whistle, and his favorite food was bread and milk. His body was short, but his head was large and it tapered into a flexible nose that was shaped something like an elephant's trunk, only very much shorter. Do you wonder that Jimmy was a constant source of amusement and pleasure for the girls?

Of course Lola and Valerie could not take all these strange pets with them to the United States; so they decided to keep just Caesar and Boy Blue, and the others were sent to the Zoological Park in New York. If any of Everyland's readers visit Bronx Park, they will see Juanita and Robert and Toto and all the rest—even Jimmy the tapir, although you'd never recognize him, for he has lost his pretty white spots and has grown to be a big, brownish-gray beast altogether too large for any girl to hold in her arms.

How the Animals Were Made

 The original article had a lot of small drawings of animals, perhaps drawn by Beche, the Carib boy, a PDF copy of the article is here.

How the Animals Were Made

By A. Hyatt Verrill

From Everyland magazine, Sept. 1918; researched by Alan Schenker; digitized by Doug Frizzle Mar. 2012.

The following story is one that Carib mothers tell to their boys and girls. The Caribs are Indians who formerly lived in Central America and the West Indies. When the white men came to their country, they killed or captured most of the Caribs, and now a handful of people is all that remains of the ancient race.

WHEN Tuminkar, the creator, had made the earth and waters, the rivers and the land, all the forests and the mountains, the plants, the fruits, and the flowers, he tossed the remaining bits of leaves and blossoms and twigs into the air. As he did so, he gave life to them, and they became insects. The flowers became butterflies; the leaves became grasshoppers and similar things; the twigs and bits of earth became beetles, bugs, scorpions, and other crawling things; while the grains of sand became the ants.

Then, taking a bit of clay, Tuminkar modeled it with a head and body and eyes, but he could not make good legs; so, tossing it into the river, he said, "You are too ugly to be seen; go live out of sight in the mud." Thus the manatee was made.

Again Tuminkar tried to make a creature, but still he was not successful. Each piece of clay that he formed was cast into the river and became a fish.

At last, Tuminkar made the snakes and serpents, and by adding legs, he made the frogs and toads. But they were still ugly things, until Tuminkar tried adding a tail and thus made the lizard. He was pleased at the result and made them larger and larger, first the solenodon, then the iguana, and finally the alligator. Then he said to himself, "There must be some one to rule all these creatures. Why should I not make something in my own form which they will know as the ruler of them all?" And so it came about that Tuminkar made men and women and gave them greater knowledge than all other creatures; but at first they were friendly with all things and ate only the fruits and seeds and roots which Tuminkar had provided.

Having made man and woman, Tuminkar decided to make other creatures to live upon the earth with them, for the man and woman found the toads, the frogs, the lizards, and the serpents, dull and ugly creatures, while the insects flew away or stung them and the fishes could not leave the waters to be with them.

As Tuminkar fashioned the new creatures, he gave them voices and calls and asked each where he preferred to dwell and what he would choose to eat. Then, according to their choice, he gave them teeth, claws, and colors.

The first creature he made was the monkey, for Tuminkar had just finished the man and his fingers unconsciously moulded the clay into a shape like the man. Then, in order that the monkey might be easily distinguished from man, he gave him a tail and a coat of hair.

The monkey was so proud of being like man that he strutted about on the ground and could not make up his mind where to live or what to eat; therefore, while he waited for the answer, Tuminkar went ahead with the next beast, the jaguar.

When the jaguar was asked where he would dwell and what he would eat, he glanced about, and seeing the monkey, exclaimed, "I will live on the ground and eat other creatures." With that, he sprang at the monkey. But the jaguar had not yet been given claws and teeth; so the monkey slipped from him and leaped into the nearest tree, screaming, "I will live in the trees and eat fruit.” Here, feeling safe, he chattered at the jaguar and threw fruit at him, and these, striking the jaguar's yellow coat, left black marks, which you may still see. To this day the monkeys chatter when they see the jaguar, and the jaguars love monkey meat better than any other food.

Next Tuminkar made the deer, while the jaguar and the monkey watched. When the deer was finished, he looked at the trees and seeing the monkey so like a man he feared to live there. Then, glancing upon the ground, he saw the jaguar with his cruel teeth and claws. But the deer was fleet of foot and felt sure that he could outrun the jaguar and would be safer on the ground than in the trees; so he said in a very low voice, "I will live on the ground and eat grass." Then Tuminkar gave him his teeth and his hoofs and turned him loose. Instantly the jaguar sprang at him; but the deer was almost out of reach and the jaguar's teeth closed upon the deer's tail, biting a bit of it off and leaving two white edges where the sharp fangs scraped along.

Next Tuminkar made the wild hogs, or peccaries. The hog, when asked where he would like to live, replied, "Make more of us, that we may consult together where best to live and feed." So Tuminkar made more hogs, and consulting together, they decided they would live in the forest and eat roots. As there were many of them, the jaguar feared to attack them, and grunting they ran unmolested into the forest. Ever since that time wild hogs always have lived together in herds.

Then Tuminkar made the labba, or paca. The labba chose to live on the ground, for his short legs and heavy body would not do for climbing trees. As he waddled off, the jaguar sprang upon him, but the labba rolled into the river and the jaguar let go of his hold, and you may still see the white marks of his claws upon the labba's sides and back.

Tuminkar next made the kinkajou. As he formed him, the monkey cried out that all the beasts were choosing the ground and he would be left alone in the trees; so because Tuminkar's ears were filled with the monkey's words, he absent-mindedly formed the kinkajou partly like a monkey. As soon as the kinkajou was finished, and before Tuminkar could ask him where he would live, the monkey screamed, "Say you will live in the trees and eat fruit." Then, being a very greedy creature and fearing there might not be enough for two, he added "and insects and honey." The kinkajou still lives with the monkeys in the trees and eats fruits and insects and honey.

When Tuminkar began to make the agouti, he was interrupted by the monkey, who wanted another companion. Tuminkar became angry this time, and raising his hand, he threw a bit of clay at the monkey. Now this happened to be the clay for the agouti's tail and so the agouti has always had to do without a tail.

After the agouti, Tuminkar made the tapir, and as the monkey looked on from the trees and saw the great beast taking form, he said to himself, 'Suppose that fellow should decide to live in the trees. He is so big and heavy, he will break the branches, and to fill his big stomach would take all the fruit. Of course, he should live on the ground; but if he sees that hungry jaguar, he never will."

But the monkey was afraid to call down to the tapir, as he had done to the kinkajou, for fear Tuminkar would throw clay at him, and, thought he, "Suppose it should strike me; it would be a great nuisance to have a tail or a leg sticking out of my head or my back."

So seeing Tuminkar was busy, the monkey climbed down from the tree, and getting out of sight behind the tapir's back, he whispered in his ear, "Don't say anything." When Tuminkar asked the tapir his choice, the creature was silent for, thought he, "This fellow whispering in my ear is so like a man he must know more than I." Again Tuminkar asked the question, but once more the monkey whispered, "Don't answer," and again the tapir was silent.

Then Tuminkar became vexed and cried out, "You are a stupid beast. Go live where you please and eat what you can get. Be off with you!" So saying, he grasped a stick and struck the tapir across the rump. The stick, hitting the tapir's new-made tail, broke it off; so today the tapir lives on the ground and is silent, while he eats leaves from the trees as well as grass and weeds, and has but a stump of a tail.

Tuminkar saw the monkey scrambling away and guessed he had been up to mischief. Becoming disgusted with the choices of the creatures, he exclaimed, "None of you know what is best for yourselves; so hereafter I'll leave you no choice, but settle the matter myself." "And as for you," he continued, addressing the monkey, "you're a meddler and a mischievous fellow; but I'll soon settle that."

So he made the ocelot, and giving him sharp teeth and claws, he said to him, "Go after that rascally monkey. If you cannot catch him for your food hunt on the ground." The ocelot sprang after the monkey, but the latter had been listening and leaped off and the ocelot's fresh coat was rubbed and blurred and streaked in spots, as he knocked against the branches while chasing the monkey. So, even to-day the ocelot is the monkey's enemy, but when he cannot catch him, he feeds on other creatures on the ground.

So Tuminkar continued to make the animals. He made the coati and the raccoon, the opossum, and the hacka, the fox and the rat, the otter and the squirrel, and many other creatures. At last nearly all the claws were used, and when he came to the sloths, he could spare but three claws for one and two for the other for fear none would be left for the other animals. Then he found he had used the last of the teeth; so, when he made the anteater, he was obliged to let them go without teeth. But he placed so much hair on the ant-bear that none was left, and as he had no teeth and only a few claws, he made the birds, giving them feathers instead of fur and hair, and beaks in place of teeth, and two legs in order to save claws.

Finally only a lump of dirty clay and a few claws were left. Tuminkar formed these into the armadillo; but it was such a naked, helpless thing that he took pity upon it. Rising, he took the basket which had contained the clay, and clapping it over the armadillo, he exclaimed, "You have no teeth with which to bite and no hair to protect you; so live in holes in the earth and hide yourself beneath the basket when you come forth."

To this day, the armadillo lives in a burrow and never is seen without the basket-like covering on his back.