Edgar A. Proctor, Jr.# age 11s of Indianapolis, Ind.,for his question:
What is a cuscus?
Andy's readers are fall of curiosity about strange, out‑of‑the‑way animals. So they will be charmed by the cuscus. He is another one of those strange animals from the out‑of‑the‑way continent of Australia. He is also found in New Guinea, the Solomons and a few other lonely Pacific Islands.
The cuscus is fv furry animal whose body is about the size of a large house pat or small spaniel. His furry tail is as long as his body and it is a prehensile tail. This means he can grasp things and hold on. Sometimes he hangs down from a branch, holding on only with this prehensile tail.. He has sharp claws on his furry feet, a pretty little heart‑shaped face, small round ears and big bright eyes.
Altogether, the eus4us is a pretty animal but, when it comes to character, he is one of the laziest creatures on earth. He spends so much time sitting curled up in a bough that he wears a light patch on his behind. Even when he moves he is in no hurry. He climbs through the trees like a snail in slow motion.
As you might expect, this old lazy‑bones hates to be disturbed. Andy was unable to find out how the cuscus got his name. But if you wake him up he chatters at you with an endless stream of cusswords ‑ or so it seems. If you simply stare at him his anger turns to fear. He turns around to hang down by his tail, perhaps pretending to be dead. He will hang this way until he falls to the ground from exhaustion.
Mr. Lazy‑Bones always sleeps through the daylight hours, wearing away the seat of his pants. H© wakes up after sunset and slow‑pokes his way through the trees looking for leaves to eat. Some experts say that he sometimes catches and eats a bird. If this is so, surely the bird must have been fast asleep at the time .
The cuscus is classed as a phalanger, one of the smallish, furry marsupial animals. He is a cousin of the lovely flying phalanger famous for his gliding and aerial acrobatics. All these animals nurse and cradle their babies in soft, fur‑lined pouches.
Mrs, Cuscus may give birth to four tiny babies at a time. They lava in her fur‑lined pouch until they are large enough to leave home and make a lazy life of their own.
The cuscus is considered good to eat on certain Pacific islands. This is rather strange because the animal gives off an unpleasant odor. In fact, the natives can often smell out his hiding place. Because of his laziness he is a very easy animal to catch. The hunter may also trick him by staring him down. The little fellow then continues to hang by his tail while the hunter prepares a glowing peat fire in which to roast him.
The cuscus of Australia is gray‑brown. On some of the Pacific islands the male cuscus is a spotted animal. Basically, his thick coat is any color from brown to pearly gray. The darkish brown cuscus has large white dots for his spots. The spots of the pearly gray cuscus are darker gray