Wild Animals of North America Intimate Studies of Big and Little Creatures of the Mammal Kingdom

The desert regions of western North America have developed several peculiar types of mammals, and among them are none handsomer or more interesting than the kangaroo rats. These...

This method of control has proved so ineffective, however, that the Federal Government has engaged in the task of suppressing them, together with the other less numerous predato...

Soft, shining fur, delicate coloring, and graceful form distinguish the silky pocket mice from others of their kind. The family of which they are members consists of rodents pec...

In the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas the tiger-cat is rather common, with the eyra-cat, in areas densely overgrown with thorny chaparral. Like most of the cat tribe, it is st...

All efforts to rear the young in captivity have failed. The food of the sea otter is mainly of shellfish of various kinds, secured by them from the bottom of the sea.

The Virginia opossums have from 5 to 14 young, which at first are formless, naked little objects, so firmly attached to the teats in the mother’s pouch that they can not be shak...

From the early settlement of the United States to the present day cottontails have been so abundant that they have served as a valuable source of our game food supply. They are...

In the East known as woodrats, in the West, where much more numerous and better known, these animals are called “mountain rats” or “trade rats.” Despite a certain superficial re...

Like the black bear, the grizzlies are commonly nocturnal, but in remote districts often wander about in search of food by day. They roll over stones and tear open rotten wood i...

This squirrel shows a strong preference for coniferous forests, whether of hemlock, spruce, fir, or pine, but may be common in woods where conifers are few and widely scattered....

The usual conception of wild sheep as habitants of the cold, clear upper world at timberline and above is justified in the case of the Rocky Mountain sheep. In early spring its...

The weasel family includes not only the true weasels, but numerous other carnivores, as the sable or marten, mink, ferret, skunk, and land and sea otters, all of which rank amon...

The aptness of the name “white-tail” for the Virginia deer is obvious to any one who has startled one in the forest and seen it dash away with the tail upright and flashing vivi...

At this time it cuts twigs from bushes and gnaws the bark from the trunks and roots of the smaller trees, sometimes completely girdling and killing trees more than two feet in d...

On the highlands of Mexico I have many times camped in localities where patches of ground were rooted up nightly by these skunks to a depth of two or three inches as thoroughly...

Several litters of young containing from three to seven each are born, the first usually appearing in spring and the last in fall. The young are blind and helpless at birth, and...

The most notable recent outbreak of this kind in the United States took place in the Humboldt Valley, Nevada, where, during the winters from 1906 to 1908, they swarmed over the...

Prairie-dogs hibernate in severe weather, those living in high, snow-covered mountains or in the far north sometimes sleeping through five or six months. In many places their hi...

The young, varying from one to eight in number, are born in April or May. At first they are naked and helpless, but when large enough accompany the mother on her search for food...

The length of their hibernation varies with the severity of the climate, but is rarely under five months. It is said to run through seven months on the higher mountains of south...

This varying environment has worked on the plastic organization of the species and modified it into a considerable number of well-marked geographic races which together make up...

Its nests are compact little balls of fine grass, weeds, or leaves in dry underground chambers excavated in its burrows. The nests are a foot or two underground, but above the l...

The fox squirrels become fatter than most of their kind and their flesh is not so dry, although all furnish appetizing meat. Owing to their size and the quality of their flesh,...

For some reason, perhaps owing to their small size and defenselessness against birds and beasts of prey, the great majority of small mammals, including hundreds of species and u...

When brought to bay, the herd forms a circle about the calves and, with heads out, presents to the enemy an unbroken front of sharp horns. So long as the circle remains unbroken...

Text Illustration page. page. Antelope, Prong-horn 452 451 Badger 420 419 Bear, Alaskan Brown--(_Frontispiece_) 441 Bear, Black 437 439 Bear, Cinnamon or Black 437 439 Bear, Gla...

“I have certain memories of travel on the plains, when for the whole long day one would pass a continual succession of small bands of antelope, numbering from ten to fifty or si...

Like the red bat, it lives in the open, hanging from twigs and leaves in the tops of trees or bushes in the broad light of day rather than in the dark, stifling crevices where s...

In offering this volume of “Wild Animals of North America” to members of the National Geographic Society, the Editor combines the text and illustrations of two entire numbers of...

Between the colored pictures and the written sketches the public can gain from this contribution a better idea of our principal mammals than from any other available publication...