Tod Asmussen, age 13, of Sioux City, Iowa, for his question:
What kind of animal is the tayra?
In character, the tayra is a friendly, sociable type, very curious and sometimes too trusting for his own good. He is a busy hunter and a mortal enemy of the ratty rodents. In appearance, he is a furry little beauty and a member of the most expensively dressed family in the entire animal kingdom. He natives of North America regret that the charming tayra makes his home south of the border.
Let's start with a sprightly how do you do to our local chapter of the animal family Mustilidae known to backward folks as the weasel clan. True, the mustilines are hungry little carnivores. True, the northern wolverine is reputed to be a cunning, bad tempered glutton and without a doubt the rather lazy skunk defends himself with an unforgivable kind of chemical warfare. But without them, the rodent population would explode out of bounds.
Other local mustilines include the stoats and polecats, the minks and martens, the charming otters and the busy badgers, the, weasels and the luxury class ermine. They wear the most lavish fur coats in the world thick and silky soft. Most of these well dressed cousins favor earthy brooms, like the weasel's summer coat. Others wear grizzly greys or patches of skunkish black and white. In winter, the northern weasel dons a white ermine coat, fit for a ruling monarch.
The tayra is the southern cousin of our mustilines. He is at home in the forests of Mexico, throughout Central America and southward into Argentina. An adult tayra weighs about ten pounds and may measure three and a half feet, almost half of which is handsome tail. He has a slender, supple body with rather long legs and very tough claws. His rounded ears are smallish and his pert little face is always alert.
Naturalists who know him well report that the color of a tayra's exquisite fur coat depends upon where he lives. Along the coastal plains he favors velvety black. Farther inland, the basic color is lightish brown, often sprinkled with silver threads. A tayra of the central savannahs may wear pearly greys or creamy tan with an ermine vest. Regardless of the basic color, a tayra always wears a brooch, a very light star or patch on his throat.
A tayra may live alone, though usually he or she shares a life with 15 or so chummy relatives. The charming creatures go on moonlight safaris and take daytime siestas. Often they wake up at mid day and frolic like frisky acrobats through the tree tops.
Not much is known about tayra family life. The den may be a hollow tree or a deserted armadillo burrow and the female bears a couple of well dressed cubs. Soon they are ready to join the mid night hunts for rodents and bird eggs.