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364
THE G[RL’S OWN PAPER. ’
OUR BEAUTIFUL FURS, AND VVHERE THEY COME FROM.
PART III.
Opasxzmz.-The tree opossum is a native
of the -American continent, and is a large
animal, its length from head to root of tail
COMMON OPOSSUM .
is twenty-two inches, and the tail fifteen
inches.
The largest and most valued for its skin is
the Virginian 0 ossum (Dicleljahix Virgin-
iana) ; it is not a together a pleasing looking
-"-rt-3 2 ..
MUSQUASII OR MUSK-KAT.
animal, about the size of a large cat. -,
The colour of the animal varies :1 good
bit from dirty board colour to a darker
tinge ; the ears are bare, so is the snout
and end of tail which is white. It is
also a pouched animal like the
-- kangaroo. The young, directly
they are born, are placed by the
mother in the pouc , where they
remain until old enough to run
about for themselves. The teats
are in the pouch of the mother.
The fur is much valued for mulls,
carriage wrappers and ladies‘ tra-
velling hoods, etc.
.l[11.rgmz:7z.-I suppose all our
readers have heard ofthe beautiful
fur of the musquash, but, as far
as I have seen, few know what
the animal is like or how it lives,
so a few words on this useful fur
animal may be interestin".
The musquash is really a large
water-rat amphibian, measuring
about two feet, of which measure-
ment the tail occupies about ten
inches; its food mostly is of a
vegetable nature, but will eat
mussels and oysters when it can
get at them; they are also dread-
fully destructive in a garden,
eating carrots, turnips, parsnips,
maize and other vegetables. The
animal lives in burrows, the en-
trance of which is mostly under
water. The fur is much used for
gentlemen's fur-lined coats. For
trimmings of all kinds, and ladies’
fur-lined circulars, the fur is much valued.
The animal is also called musk-rat on
. account of the xnusky odour emanating
from :1 gland in the body.
Grey Squirrel.-One of the largest of
its kind, and I think the most valued of squirrel
kind on account of its skin, comes from the
south of Canada and Mexico; its length is
about eighteen inches head and body. They
vary in colour, some being much darker in
colourthan others. The destruction
of these little animals is also very
GREY SQUIRREL.
so good that he does not forget where he has
hidden his store away, but scratches away the
snow until he comes upon it. A pity some of
us human beings c:m’t take a lesson, and lay
up a store for a rainy day. I think few then
would suffer so much as they do in our hard
winter months.
The last but not the least valued fur is the
beautiful little silver fox. The much valued
skin comes from the upper reaches of the
great, the demand being great, but
fortunately they are pretty prolific.
Ladies are very fond of t e fur for
their driving coats, and
, ordinary fur-lined coats,
and for luxurious opera
and travelling hoods.
Every one is familiar
with the lively little
English squirrel, which
we have all watched in
the woods. I myself
have often watched them
in the quiet spots of
Richmond Park, feeding
upon the nuts and acorns
to be found in such quan-
tities there, and when
winter comes how they
lay up a store for them-
selves.
The grcy- squirrel is
one of the same species,
description is unneces-
sary. They arc all hiber-
nating little animals, and
lay up a store every win-
ter, and hide their nuts
and acorns away in all
sorts of odd corners, and
even when the snow
comes down and covers
the ground with a white
mantle, his memory is
GREY FOX.
