File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17540845183).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo17amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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. LITTLE-KNOWN MAMMALS FROM CHINA 521 our hurdciis and ran to an o;)cning in tlic forest where we tlioiig-ht the animal must pass. Instead of coming out wliere we expected, the (hig appeared higher up. at the heels of a crested muntjac which was bounding along in front at full speed. 1 had one chance for a shot at two Inindrt'd yards as the pair crossed a little opening in the trees, hut it was too dangerous to shoot, for had I missed the deer. the dog certainly , would have been killed. I was heartbroken over losing this animal, but a few days latt'r a shepherd brought in an- other which had been wounded by one of our Lolo hunters above camp, and had run down into the plains to die. The red munt- jac is one of the most common ani- nuds throughout Yunnan and is much larger than the Indian or the other Chinese spe- cies. These ani- mals are often called barking deer be- cause of their loud, harsh bark which may be heard for a long distance if the night is still. At one of our camps they used to bark very frequently dur- ing the day. but it is not easy to kill one without the aid of dogs or beaters, for they live in such dense jungle that it is almost impossible to force one's way through the cover without a tre- mendous amount of noise. In the early morning or just at evening we some- times found them feeding in clearings on the edge of the heavy cover, but they
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Mrs. Andrews with a pet Yunuan squirrel.— Mrs. Andrews was the official photographer of the American Museum's Asiatic Zoological Expe- dition always kept a sharp watch and dis- appeared at the slightest sign of dan- ger. Till' muntjac is especially inter- esting because its antlers grow from greatly elongated ))edicles which are cov(>red with skin and hair, instead of rising abruptly from the skull as in other members of the deer family. On the Snow Mountain porcupines were not uncom- mon, and when hunting big game we often were greatly annoyed to find that our dogs had followed the trail of one of these animals. We would arrive to find the hounds dancing about the nnimars burrow with excited yelps, instead of having a goral or a serow with its back to a cliff, as we had expected. These porcupines are (piite different in appearance from those with which we are familiar in America, for the quills are some- times eighteen inches in length, and project far beyond the back. In the northern part of the province, it is said, bears are not uncommon, but as we were there during the winter when they were in hibernation, we were nc\cr al)le to find one. In the south, other carnivores are much more abun- dant than in the north. There are probably no tigers in the province ex- cept along the extreme southern border near Tongking. Leopards are certainly not abundant, but near the Burma frontier they sometimes are trapped by the natives.

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