Part 38 (1/2)
ATTACK OF THE WHITE ANTS
Leon looked down to ascertain what had caused hiht that round beloas alive andA white stratum of ants covered it on all sides to the distance of several yards _They were ascending the tree!_ Nay,of them had already crawled up; the trunk was crowded by others cohs! It was one of these that had stung him!
The fate of the as--which he had just witnessed--and the sight of the hideous host, caused hiain to scream out At the sa hi the upper branches
He soon reached the highest; but he had not been a moment there, when he reflected that it would be no security The creatures were crawling upwards as fast as they could coain, leap fro the vermin under his feet, make for the bark-cutters He had made up his mind to this course, and was already half-dohen _he remembered the puma_! In his alarotten this enemy, and he now remembered that it was directly in the way of his intended escape He turned his eyes in that direction It was not there!
The ant-bears were still upon the ground--the young one dead, and the onies; but no puhtened hilade, he now beheld the fierce brute crouching a towards him! What was to be done? Would the puma attack him in the tree? Surely he would; but what better would he be on the ground? No better, but worse At all events he had not time for much reflection, for before two seconds the fierce puave himself up for lost He could only cry for help, and he raised his voice to its highest pitch
The pu up the tree at once, as Leon had expected On the contrary, it crouched round and round with glaring eyes and wagging tail, as if calculating the mode of attack Its lips were red--stained with the blood of the ant-eaters--and this added to the hideousness of its appearance But it needed not that, for it was hideous enough at any ti it to spring up the tree All at once he saw it give a sudden start, and at the sa passed rapidly through the air Ha! so in the body of the puma! It is an arrow,--a poisoned arrow! The purowl--it turns upon itself--the arrow is crushed between its teeth Another ”hist!”--another arrow! Hark! a well-known voice--well-known voices--the voices of Don Pablo and Guapo! See! they burst into the glade--Don Pablo with his axe, and Guapo with his unerring gravatana!
The puma turns to flee He has already reached the border of the wood; he staggers--the poison is doing its work Hurrah! he is down; but the poison does not kill hih his skull Hurrah! the monster is dead, and Leon is triumphantly borne off on the shoulders of the faithful Guapo!
Don Pablo dragged the puet his fine skin The ant-eaters, both of which were now dead, he left behind, as he saw that the terun their work of devastation Strange to say, as the party returned that way, going to dinner, not a vestige remained either of the as or the ant-eaters, except a few bones and some portions of coarse hair The rest of all these animals had been cleared off by the ants, and carried into the cells of their hollow cones!
It was, no doubt, the noise of the bark-hunters that had started the ant-eaters abroad, for these creatures usually prowl only in the night
The sah he is not strictly a nocturnal hunter
A curious incident occurred as they approached the glade on their way ho the dry leaves, and Guapo, instead of running upon hi the creature, warned them all to keep a little back, and he would show the the leaves, so that they rattled as if rain was falling upon them At this the ant-eater jerked up its broad tail, and appeared to shelter itself as with an u it before hioat, and in this manner he took it all the way to the house Of course Guapo took care not to irritate it; for, when that is done, the ant-eater will either turn out of his way or stop to defend itself
The taht be i his small toothless mouth and slow motions His mode of defence is that which has been described, and which is quite sufficient against the tiger-cat, the ocelot, and all the smaller species of feline animals No doubt the old female would have proved a uard by his seizing upon her young It is even asserted that the great ant-bear souar to death; but this I believe to be a mistake, as the latter is far too powerful and active to be thus conquered Doubtless the reseuar to some of the sreatthe prowess of the _Aer_
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 enus of animals They are _tree-clireat 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 These are characteristics entirely distinct froreat_ ant-eater
One of these species is the _tauero_ (ant-bear) The ta only three and a half feet in length, while the latter is over seven The for a snout in proportion, nor such claws The claws, , and are not so round It is, therefore, a more active creature, and stands better upon its limbs Its fur is short and silky, but the tail is nearly naked, and, as already stated, highly prehensile, although it does not sleep hanging by the tail as some other animals do
The tah it varies in this respect, so that several species have been supposed to exist It spends most of its time upon the trees; and in addition to its ant-diet, it feeds upon wild honey, and bees too, whenever it can catch the at a birth, and like the other species, carries it upon her back until it is able to provide for itself The tamandua has sometimes been called _tridactyla_, or the ”three-toed ant-eater,” because it has only three claws upon each of its fore-feet, whereas the tamanoir is provided with four
Another species of ”ant-bear,” differing from both in size and in many of its habits, is the ”little ant-eater” This one has only two claws on each fore-foot, hence its specific narey squirrel--with a prehensile tail like the tamandua The tail, however, is not entirely naked--only on the under side near the point It is not so good a walker as the three-toed kind, thoughupon its hind-feet, and supporting itself also by the tail--which it has already thrown around some branch--the little ant-eater uses its fore-feet as hands to carry food to itsthe trees, and feeds upon wasps, bees, and especially the larvae of both; but it does not use the tongue to any great extent It is, on this account, an essentially different sort of aniht yellow colour, brownish on the back; but there are many varieties in this respect, and some are of a snohiteness Its fur is soft and silky, sohtly curled or ed, with the prevailing colours of the body
So much for the ant-bears of America
CHAPTER XXVII
THE ANT-LION
Ants are disagreeable insects in any country, but especially so in warly appearance, their destructive habits, but, above all, the pain of their sting, or rather bite--for ants do not sting as wasps, but bite with the jaws, and then infuse poison into the wound--all these render them very unpopular creatures A superficial thinker would suppose that such troublesome insects could be of no use, and would question the propriety of Nature in having created theive the subject a little attention, we find that they were not created in vain Were it not for these busy creatures, ould beco substances found in soetation and the dead animal matter? Why, in anised into new forms of life, it would produce pestilence and death; and surely these are far s than ants
Of ants there are reatest nu to warm countries, where, indeed, they are most useful