The red book of animal stories/The Homes of the Vizcachas

THE HOMES OF THE VIZCACHAS

One of the most curious and interesting of all the dwellers in the pampas of South America is a little fat creature, rather like a large guinea-pig, found from the Rio Negro to the Uruguay, and called the Vizcacha. It is nearly related to the Chinchilla, but does not enjoy mountain life or solitude, and, indeed, prefers to live in a settlement with twenty or thirty companions.

Like the beaver, the vizcacha is a great builder, and his houses are always made on the same plan. He first of all chooses a level spot, where the soil is neither sand nor gravel, and then digs deep trenches or passages which lead into the inner apartments, the front doors being very large and handsome, often as much as four or five feet wide. At the end is a large round room, and the whole dwelling is in the form of a Y.

Of course, during the process of building, a great deal of soil has to be thrown out, and the vizcacha, who is very neat and thorough about all he does, erects this into a mound, which serves as a protection to the burrow and prevents it being trampled under foot by the passing cattle, or being washed away by the heavy rains, as often happens to the homes of armadillos and other animals. On the sides of this mound burrowing owls make their nests, and various small birds are to be found that exist (as far as is known) in no other place, while foxes and weasels find it quite a pleasant residence. These vizcacha burrows, or vizcacheras, as they are called, often cover as much as two hundred square feet of ground, and are so numerous in Patagonia that you can hardly ride half a mile without coming on one at any rate. The villages go on in the same place for generations, except that every now and then, when the dwelling is getting uncomfortably crowded, a vizcacha of unusual energy will look out for a suitable spot fifty or sixty yards from his old home, and form a new burrow; his lazy companions, however, taking care not to join him till all is ready, when they drop in by accident one by one.

When once the vizcachera is built, in nice soft ground, and its park (about half an acre in extent) of smoothly cropped grass is properly laid out, the vizcachas show themselves to be people of regular habits.

In winter it is their custom to stay in their burrows till dark, but in summer they come out before sunset, to take advantage of the evening air. First one of the elders will appear and sit quietly on the mound, and then, gradually, the doorways are filled with loungers, the males standing upright, and the females, smaller and livelier and lighter than their masters, sitting on their haunches. Like their two-legged sisters, they become eagerly curious at the sight of any passer-by, and make strange noises. If he approaches, they dash quickly into their burrows; but often their sharp eyes and little noses may be seen peering round the corner, longing for another look.

All vizcachas are very careful about their fur, and spend much time combing it out smooth with their paws. They are very sociable, but do not consider it good manners to enter each other’s houses; visits are paid at the entrance, and even when pursued, a vizcacha will hardly ever seek refuge across his neighbour’s threshold. They have no idea of self-control, and any sudden noise occurring when they are feeding gives rise to a perfect babel of cries and screams. A vizcacha has a great variety of notes, and can make himself heard at a great distance. He also has a very odd trick of stopping in the middle of his dinner to utter loud shrieks, and at night he never seems to stop talking, as dwellers on the pampas know too well.

Vizcachas are hardy little creatures, who can do without water as long as they can get green food. But in dry summers, when nothing is to be had but withered grass or dry thistle-stalks, they are forced to drink when they can. They are very busy and energetic, and when once their house is ready, time seems to hang heavy on their hands—at least, that is perhaps the reason why they are so careful to leave nothing lying about, but drag every kind of refuse to the mouth of the burrow and pile it up in a mass. This trick is so well known, that, in the pampas, when any article is missing, it is at once looked for in a vizcachera, just as we should search a magpie’s nest, and it is on record that a man’s watch was once discovered there. The little animals show a sense of fun, too, which must make them amusing to watch, especially in their dealings with dogs. Except when they are feeding, when anything upsets them, the appearance of a dog produces no effect on the nerves of a vizcacha. He will continue sitting quietly on his mound till the dog gets near, when he retreats quietly into his burrow. The dog never can resist the sight of a vizcacha, and never learns that it is impossible to catch one, so this game goes on for ever, to the great enjoyment of the vizcacha.

The birds and beasts and insects who profit by the work of the vizcachas and make their homes on the mounds are on the friendliest terms with them, and, indeed, the foxes take a base advantage of the friendliness of the little creatures. They come into the vizcacha dwellings, and stay there till a ‘wing’ is given up to them. The good-natured and easy-going vizcachas, however, do not resent this, and may even be seen taking the air with their guests on summer evenings. All goes well till the young ones are able to leave their cells, when the foxes throw off their masks and seize them for dinner, even fighting the old ones first.

For a long while, the vizcachas, being of no use to mankind, were let quite alone, but of late they have grown so very numerous, and the land has been thrown so much more into cultivation, that it has become necessary to destroy them. Efforts have been made to stop up some of their burrows, but their friends learn in some wonderful way of the danger of their comrades, and will come even from great distances to dig them out. Their wonderful powers of endurance enable them to stand a long siege, and they can live without food for as long as fourteen days. If they are allowed to die a natural death in their own inner chamber, the dead vizcacha is left to lie in state, for a few days, after which he is carried out by his relatives, and placed solemnly on the side of the mound.