Of Fiber zibethicus, or rather a closely-allied form, F. osoyoosensis, from Lake Osoyoos near the Rockies, Mr. Lord writes[1] that it constructs for itself a house of bulrushes built up from the bottom in 3 or 4 feet of water. It is dome-shaped, and rises about a foot out of the water. "If a dead or badly-wounded duck be left on the pool, it is at once seized on, towed into the house, and doomed." Thus it appears that this Rodent, like so many others, is largely carnivorous. It has also been asserted that it eats fish.
Neofiber is an allied genus, North American in range. The species, N. alleni, is compared, as regards outward form, with the Water-Vole, M. amphibius. It has, however, a shorter tail.
Another very well-known member of this sub-family is the Lemming. The name, however, applies to two quite distinct genera. The genus Cuniculus, including the Banded Lemming, C. torquatus, is an inhabitant of North America, Siberia, and Greenland. The tail is short, its length being 12 mm. as against a body length of 101 mm. The feet are furred beneath, a not unusual state of affairs in Arctic mammals. The ears are very slight. The thumb is well developed, and bears a claw.
In Myodes, on the other hand, which is not so markedly an Arctic animal, though occurring in both Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, the ears are rather bigger, though still smaller than those of Microtus. The under surfaces of the feet are similarly furred. The tail is also short. It is commonly said that the two genera are to be distinguished by the furred feet of Cuniculus, and by the absence of fur in the present genus. That, according to Tullberg, does not appear to be the case. The differences are thus so much reduced that it seems almost unnecessary to retain the two genera. The best known species of Myodes is of course the Scandinavian Lemming, M. lemmus. This animal used to occur in this country in Pleistocene times (as did also C. torquatus), and recently Dr. Gadow has found remains with skins attached in caves in Portugal. It may still survive in the mountains of the Peninsula.
The actual habitat of the Lemming in Scandinavia is the great tablelands, 3000 feet high in the centre. The migrations do not take place with regularity; even twenty years may elapse before the appearance in cultivated lands of those countless
- ↑ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 95.
