“The Sea Lions belong to this same fin-footed order. The best known of these are the California Sea Lion and the Fur Seal, which is not a true Seal. The California Sea Lion is also called the Barking Sea Lion because of its habit of barking, and is the best known of the family. It is frequently seen on the rocks along the shore and on the islands off the western coast. These Sea Lions are sleek animals, exceedingly graceful in the water. They have long necks and carry their heads high. They are covered with short coarse hair and have small, sharp-pointed ears. Their front flippers have neither hair nor claws, but their hind flippers have webbed toes. They are able to move about on land surprisingly well for animals lacking regular legs and feet, and can climb on and over rocks rapidly. Naturally they are splendid swimmers.
“The largest member of the family is the Steller Sea Lion, who sometimes grows to be almost as big as a Walrus. He is not sleek and graceful like his smaller cousin, but has an enormously thick neck and heavy shoulders. His voice is a roar rather than a bark. The head of an old Sea Lion is so much like that of a true Lion that the name Sea Lion has been given this family.
“The most valuable member of the family, so far as man is concerned, is the Fur Seal, also called Sea Bear. It is very nearly the size and form of the California Sea Lion, but under the coarse outer hair, which is gray in color, is a wonderful soft, fine, brown fur and for this the Fur Seal has been hunted so persistently that there was real danger that soon the very last one would be killed. Now wise and needed laws protect the Fur Seals on their breeding grounds, which are certain islands in the Far North. The young of all members of this family are born on shore, but soon take to the water. The Fur Seal migrates just as the birds do, but always returns to the place of its birth. Man and the Polar Bear are its enemies on land and ice, and the Killer Whale in the water. Mr. Fur Seal always has many wives and this is true of the other members of the Sea Lion family and of the Walrus. The males are three or four times the size of the females. Among themselves the males are fierce fighters.
“The true Seals are short-necked, thick-bodied, and have rather round heads with no visible ears. The Walrus and Sea Lions can turn their hind flippers forward to use as feet on land, but this the true Seals cannot do. Therefore they are more clumsy out of water. Their front flippers are covered with hair.
“The one best known is the Harbor or Leopard Seal. It is found along both coasts, often swimming far up big rivers. It is one of the smallest members of the family. Sometimes it is yellowish-gray spotted with black and sometimes dark brown with light spots.
“The Ringed Seal is about the same size or a little smaller than the Harbor Seal and is found as far north as it can find breathing holes in the ice. You know all these animals breathe air just as land animals do. This Seal looks much like the Harbor Seal, but is a little more slender.
“Another member of the family is the Harp, Saddle-back or Greenland Seal. He is larger than the other two and has a black head and gray body with a large black ring on the back. The female is not so handsome, being merely spotted.
“The handsomest Seal is the Ribbon Seal. He is about the size of his cousin the Harbor Seal. He is also called the Harlequin Seal. Sometimes his coat is blackish-brown and sometimes yellowish-gray, but always he has a band of yellowish-white, like a broad ribbon, from his throat around over the top of his head, and another band which starts on his chest and goes over his shoulder, curves down and finally goes around his body not far above the hind flippers. Only the male is so marked. This Seal is rather rare. Like most of the others it lives in the cold waters of the Far North.
“The largest of the Seals is the Elephant Seal, once numerous, but killed by man until now there are few members of this branch of the family. He is a tremendous fellow and has a movable nose which hangs several inches below his mouth.
“The queerest-looking member of the family is the Hooded Seal. Mr. Seal of this branch of the family is rather large, and on top of his nose he carries a large bag of skin which he can fill with air until he looks as if he were wearing a queer hood or bonnet.
“The Seals complete the list of animals which live mostly in the water but come out on land or ice at times. Now I will tell you of a true mammal, warm-blooded, just as you are, and air-breathing, but which never comes on land. This is the Manatee or Sea Cow. It lives in the warm waters of the Sunny South, coming up from the sea in the big rivers. It is a very large animal, sometimes growing as big as a medium-sized Walrus. The head is round, somewhat like that of a Seal. The lips are thick and big, the upper one split in the middle. The eyes are small. It has but two flippers, and these are set in at the shoulders. Instead of hind flippers, such as the Seals and Sea Lions have, the Manatee has a broad, flattened and rounded tail which is used as a propeller, just as fish use their tails. The neck is short and large. In the water the Manatee looks black. The skin is almost hairless.
HARDSHELL THE ARMADILLO. This is the nine-banded Armadillo of the southwest. See page 259.
“This curious animal lives on water plants. Sometimes it will come close to a river bank and with head and shoulders out of water feed on the grasses which hang down from the bank. The babies are, of course, born in the water, as the Manatee never comes on shore. Now I think this will end to-day’s lesson and the school.”
Peter Rabbit hopped up excitedly. “You said that the largest animals in the world live in the sea, and you haven’t told us what they are,” he cried.
“True enough, Peter,” replied Old Mother Nature pleasantly. “The largest living animal is a Whale, a true mammal and not a fish at all, as some people appear to think. There are several kinds of Whales, some of them comparatively small and some the largest animals in the world, so large that I cannot give you any idea of how big they are. Beside one of these, the biggest Walrus would look like a baby. But the Whales do not belong just to this country, so I think we will not include them.
“Now we will close school. I hope you have enjoyed learning as much as I have enjoyed teaching, and I hope that what you have learned will be of use to you as long as you live. The more knowledge you possess the better fitted for your part in the work of the Great World you will be. Don’t forget that, and never miss a chance to learn.”
And so ended Old Mother Nature’s school in the Green Forest. One by one her little pupils thanked her for all she had taught them, and then started for home. Peter Rabbit was the last.
“I know ever and ever so much more than I did when I first came to you, but I guess that after all I know very little of all there is to know,” said he shyly, which shows that Peter really had learned a great deal. Then he started for the dear Old Briar-patch, lipperty-lipperty-lip.
Index
Antelope
Pronghorn; Fleetfoot; (Antilocapra americana)
Antelope Jack
Armadillo
Nine-banded; Hardshell; (Dasypus novemcincta)
Six-banded
Three-banded
Badger
American; Digger; (Taxidea taxus)
Bandy the Banded Lemming
Bassaris
Bat
Big Brown; House; Carolina; (Eptesicus fiscus)
Big-eared; (Corynorhinus macrotis)
Big-eared Desert; (Antrozous pallidus)
Hoary; (Nycteris cinereus)
Little Brown; Cave; (Myotis lucifugus)
Red; Tree; Flitter; (Nycteris borealis)
Silvery; (Myotis subulatus)
Bear
Alaska Brown; Great Brown; Bigfoot; (Ursus gyas)
Black; Buster; (Ursus americanus )
Cinnamon
Grizzly; Silvertip; (Ursus horribilis )
Polar; Snow King; (Thalarctos maritimus)
Beaver
American; Paddy; (Castor canadensis)
Mountain; Boomer; Chehalis; Sewellel; Showt’l; Stubtail; (Aplodontia rufa phæa)
Bigear the Rock Mouse
Bigfoot the Alaska Brown Bear
Bighorn the
Mountain Sheep
Billy Goat
Billy Mink
Bison
American; Buffalo; Thunderfoot; (Bison bison)
Blacktail the Deer
Blarina
Bobby Coon
Buffalo
Bugler the Elk
Buster Bear
Carcajou
Caribou
Barren Ground; (Rangifer arcticus)
Woodland; Wanderhoof; (Rangifer caribou)
Cat
Bob; Wild; Catamount
Jaguarundi; Eyra; (Felis ca-comitli )
Ring-tailed; Civet; Coon; Cacomixtle; Bassaris; (Bassariscus astutus)
Sneak
Tiger
Chatterer the Red Squirrel
Chipmunk
Rock Squirrel; Striped Chipmunk; (Tamias striatus)
Cony
Coyote
Danny Meadow Mouse
Deer
Black-tailed; Blacktail; (Odocoileus columbianus)
Mule; Jumping; Forkhorn; (Odocoileus hemionus)
White-tailed; Virginia; Lightfoot; (Odocoileus virginianus )
Digger the Badger
Elk
American; Wapiti; Bugler; (Cervus canadensis)
Ermine
Eyra
Ferret; Black-footed; (Mustela nigripes)
Fisher; Blackcat; Pennant Marten; Pekan; (Mustela pennanti)
Flathorns the Moose
Fleetfoot the Antelope
Flitter the Bat
Forkhorn the Mule Deer
Fox
Arctic; (Alopex lagopus)
Black
Blue; (Alopex lagopus pribilo-fensis )
Cross
Desert; (Vulpes macrotis)
Gray, Tree; (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
Kit; (Vulpes velox)
Red; Reddy; (Vulpes fulva)
Silver
Glutton the Wolverine
Goat
Rocky Mountain, Billy; (Oreamnos montanus)
Gopher
Pocket; Salamander; Grubby; (Geomys bursarius)
Ground Hog
Grubby Gopher
Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel
Hardshell the Armadillo
Hare
Arctic; Snow White; (Lepus Arcticus)
Little Chief
Northern; Varying; Snowshoe Rabbit; Jumper; (Lepus americanus)
Prairie
Swamp; Swamp Rabbit; (Lepus aquaticus)
Howler the Wolf
Jack Rabbit
Jaguar
El Tigre; (Felis hernandesi)
Jerry Muskrat
Jimmy Skunk
Johnny Chuck
Jumper the Hare
Lemming
Banded; Bandy; (Dicrostonyx nelsoni)
Brown; (Lemmus alascensis)
Lightfoot the Deer
Lion
Mountain; Cougar; Panther; Painter; Sneak Cat; Puma; (Felis couguar)
Little Chief Hare
Little Joe Otter
Little Robber the Cotton Rat
Longcoat the Musk Ox
Longfoot the Kangaroo Rat
Lynx
Bay; Bob Cat; Catamount; Wild Cat; Yowler; (Lynx ruffus)
Canada; Loup Cervier; Lucivee; Tufty; (Lynx canadensis)
Manatee
Sea Cow; (Trichechus latirostris)
Marmot
American; Ground Hog; Woodchuck; Johnny Chuck; (Marmota monax)
Gray; Hoary; Whistler; (Marmota caligata)
Prairie Dog
Marten
Pine; American Sable; Spite; (Martes americana)
Midget the Silky Pocket Mouse
Miner the Mole
Mink
American; Billy; (Mustela vison)
Mole
Brewer’s; Hairy-tailed; (Parascalops breweri)
Common; Miner; (Scalops aquaticus)
Oregon; (Scapanus townsendi)
Star-nosed; (Condylura cristata)
Moose
American; Flathorns; (Alces americanus)
Mouse
Beach; (Peromyscus poliono-tus niveiventris)
Grasshopper; Scorpion; (Onychomys leucogaster)
Harvest; (Reithrodontomys megalotis)
House; Nibbler; (Mus musculus )
Jumping; Nimbleheels; (Zapus hudsonius)
Meadow; Field; Danny; (Microtus pennsylvanicus)
Pine; Piney; (Pitymys pineto-rum )
Red-backed; (Evotomys gapperi)
Rock; Bigear; (Peromyscus truei)
Rufous Tree; Rufous; (Phenacomys longicaudus)
Silky Pocket; Midget; (Pyrognathus flavus)
Spiny Pocket; (Pyrognathus hispidus)
Wood; White-footed; Deer; Whitefoot; (Peromyscus leucopus)
Musk Ox
Longcoat; (Ovibus moschatus)
Muskrat
Nibbler the House Mouse
Nimbleheels the Jumping Mouse
Ocelot
Tiger Cat; (Felis pardalis)
Old Man Coyote
Opossum
Virginia; Possum; Unc’ Billy Possum; (Didelphis virginiana)
Otter
Canadian; Little Joe; (Lutra canadensis)
Sea; (Latax lutris)
Paddy the Beaver
Panther
Peccary
Collared; Texas; Javelina; Muskhog; Wild Pig; Piggy; (Pecari angulatus)
Pekan the Fisher
Peter Rabbit
Piggy the Peccary
Pika
Cony; Little Chief Hare; Little Chief; (Ochontona princeps)
Piney the Pine Mouse
Porcupine
Quill Pig; Prickly Porky; (Erethizon dorsatum)
Prairie Dog
Yap Yap; (Cynomys ludovicianus)
Prickly Porky the Porcupine
Puma the Panther
Rabbit
Antelope Jack; (Lepus alleni)
Cottontail; Brush; Gray; Peter; (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Jack; (Lepus californicus)
Marsh; (Sylvilagus palustris)
Snowshoe
White-tailed Jack; (Lepus campestris)
Raccoon
Bobby Coon; (Procyon lotor)
Rat
Black; (Mus rattus)
Brown; House; Norway; Wharf; Robber; (Rattus norvegicus)
Cotton; Little Robber; (Sigmodon hispidus)
Kangaroo; Longfoot; (Dipodomys spectabilis)
Musk; Musquash; Jerry; (Fiber zibethicus)
Wood; Pack; Trade; Trader; (Neotoma albigula)
Reddy Fox
Robber the Rat
Rufous the Tree Mouse
Rusty the Fox Squirrel
Salamander
Sea Cow
Sea Lion
Barking; California; (Zalophus californianus)
Fur Seal; Sea Bear; (Callorhinus alascanus)
Seal
Steller; (Eumetopias jubata)
Alaska Fur
Elephant; (Mirounga angustirostris)
Hooded; (Cystophora cristata)
Leopard; Harbor; (Phoca vitulina)
Ribbon; Harlequin; (Phoca fasciata)
Ringed; (Phoca foetida)
Saddle-back; Greenland; Harp; (Phoca grœnlandica)
Seek Seek the Spermophile
Sewellel
Shadow the Weasel
Sheep
Dall Mountain; (Ovis dalli)
Fannin’s Mountain; (Ovis fannini)
Rocky Mountain; Rocky Mountain Bighorn; Bighorn; (Ovis canadensis)
Stone’s Mountain; Black Mountain; (Ovis stonei)
Shrew
Common; Long-tailed; Shrew Mouse; Teeny Weeny; (Sorex personatus)
Short-tailed; Mole Shrew; Blarina; (Blarina brevicauda )
Marsh; Water; Black-and-white; (Neosorex palustris)
Silvertip the Grizzly Bear
Skunk
Common; Jimmy; (Mephitis mephitis)
Hog-nosed; Badger; (Conepatus mesoleucus)
Little Spotted; (Spilogale putorius)
Snow King the Polar Bear
Snow White the Arctic Hare
Spermophile
Gray Ground Squirrel; Gray Gopher; California Ground Squirrel; (Citellus beecheyi)
Striped Ground Squirrel; Gopher Squirrel; Thirteen-lined Spermophile; Seek Seek; (Citellus tridecemlin-eatus )
Spite the Marten
Squirrel
Abert; (Sciurus aberti)
Black
Douglas; (Sciurus douglasi)
Flying; Timmy; (Glaucomys volans)
Fox; Rusty; (Sciurus niger rufiventer)
Gray; Happy Jack; (Sciurus carolinensis)
Ground
Kaibab; (Sciurus kaibabensis)
Red; Chatterer; (Sciurus hudsonicus)
Rock
Striped Chipmunk
Stubtail the Mountain Beaver
Teeny Weeny the Shrew
Thunderfoot the Bison
Tiger Cat
Timmy the Flying Squirrel
Trader the Wood Rat
Tufty the Lynx
Unc’ Billy Possum
Walrus; (Odobenus obesus)
Wanderhoof the Caribou
Wapiti
Weasel
Common; Brown; Bonaparte; Short-tailed; Ermine; Shadow; (Putorius cicognanii)
Least; (Mustela rixosus)
Long-tailed; (Putorius longicauda)
New York; (Putorius noveboracensis)
Whale
Whistler the Hoary Marmot
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse
White-tailed Jack
Wolf
Prairie; Coyote; Old Man Coyote; (Canis latrans)
Timber; Gray; Howler; (Canis nubilus)
Wolverine
Carcajou; Skunkbear; Glutton; (Gulo luscus)