Victorian naturalists were well respected, and articles encouraged readers to explore the natural world - the woods, the fields, the hedgerows. To the Victorians, the burrowing mole in one's garden, or the squirrel in one's apple tree, could be as fascinating as the grandest elephant - perhaps the more so because it was so much closer to home! This section looks at the mammals of the world, from the humble harvest mouse of home to the most exotic creatures of the globe.

Aard-Vark

The Aard-vark, by Jason C. Beard (St. Nicholas, 1875)

Antelope

The Prong-Horned Antelope (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Bear

Amongst the Grizzlies (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Grizzlies at the London Zoo, and an account of a cataract operation on one of them.

The Black Bear (Century Magazine, 1882A)

The Black Bear (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Brown Bear (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Polar Bear (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The White [Polar] Bear (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 2: Zig-Zag Ursine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1892)**

From the Land of the Mountain King (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

An interesting encounter between man and bear on a narrow mountain pass.

Beaver

The Beaver, by H.P. Wells (Harper's Monthly, 1889A)

The Beaver Family (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Buffalo, Bison & Cow Family

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 25: Zig-Zag Bovine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1894)**

Camel

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 3: Zig-Zag Cameline, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1892)**

Cat Family

[The Tiger] The Despot of the Jungle (Little Folks, 1883)

Some Cats of a Larger Growth, by C.T. Buckland (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

Chiefly about tigers in India.

Adventures with Lions (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Dreaded Man-Eater (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Leopards and Panthers (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Primarily the tale of Sai, a panther captured to be the pet of an English duchess.

Lioness and Cubs (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

The Tiger (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Man-Eater of Chunda, by Captain Pasley (Stories of History, 1891)

The Zoological Gardens: The Cat Tribe, by the Rev. J.G. Wood (Stories of History, 1891)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 5: Zig-Zag Leonine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1892)**

The Larger Cats, by Gambier Bolton (Windsor Magazine, 1896A)

Coati-Mundi

Coati-mondis, by Richard Gurney (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Deer

The Haunts of the Wild Deer in the South (Leisure Hour, 1868)

An English Deer Park, by Richard Jefferies (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Elephants & Other Pachyderms

Elephants (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Our Largest Friends, by John Lewees (St. Nicholas, 1882B)

Over the Kaveri (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

A tale of an elephant.

Sweet Memories, by John Russell Corvell (St. Nicholas, 1889)

You've heard of the bull in the china shop; this is the tale of an elephant in a sweet shop.

Elephant Stories (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Escape from an Elephant (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

A hunter's narrow escape from a wounded elephant.

The Zoological Gardens: Elephants and Their Kin, by the Rev. J.G. Wood (Stories of History, 1891)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 6: Zig-Zag Elephantine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1892)**

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 16: Zig-Zag Pachydermatous, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Rhinos & hippos.

Elephants at Work, by L.S. Lewis (The Strand, 1897A)

Fox

The King of Cunning Animals, by James Manson (Little Folks, 1883)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Young Foxes (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 13: Zig-Zag Canine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Giraffe

On Giraffes Generally, by Gambier Bolton (Windsor Magazine, 1896A)

Goat

The Goat (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Gorilla

The Gorilla (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Kangaroo

The Kangaroo (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 11: Zig-Zag Marsupial, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Kangaroos & wombats.

Lions, Leopards, Panthers & Jaguars

See "Cat Family"

Mole

A Sapper and Miner, by George Manville Fenn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

A Mole, a Lamprey and a Fairy, by John Burroughs (Century Magazine, 1883A)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Mongoose

A Remarkable Fight (St. Nicholas, 1882A)

An account of a mongoose's battle with a cobra.

Mungo, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Mungo is, like Kipling's famous character, "eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity"!

Monkeys

Our Poor Relations (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Zoological Gardens: Monkeys, by the Rev. J.G. Wood (Stories of History, 1891)

Old World monkeys, New World monkeys and Madagascar monkeys.

Monkey Society (The Strand, 1892A)

A first-person account of monkey life in the London zoo.

Lemurs, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

On a pair owned by the author, and the habits of lemurs in the wild.

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 23: Zig-Zag Simian, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1894)**

The Monkey House in the Zoo, by Fred Miller (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895B)

The Wild Monkeys of India, by Gambier Bolton (Windsor Magazine, 1897B)

The Monkeys of Amber, by Clara Erskine Clement (St. Nicholas, 1900A)

The monkey inhabitants of Amber, an ancient, abandoned city outside Jeypore in India.

Some Four-Handed Folk, by Gambier Bolton (Windsor Magazine, 1903A)

Moose

The Vanishing Moose, by Madison Grant (Century Magazine, 1894A)

Subtitled "Their extermination in the Adirondacks."

Mouse

A Little Friend, by George Manville Fenn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Adorable drawings and mixed feelings about the mouse (the author, like myself, finds them awfully cute...).

Harvest Mouse - Another Little Friend, by A.H. Malan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

On the charm of the harvest mouse, and tips on keeping one as a pet.

Who Stole the Bank-Notes? (Little Folks, 1883)

Some thieves hide money in their mattress; others make a mattress out of money...

Muskrat

The Musk Rat (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Opossum

Possums and 'Simmons (Strand, 1901A)

The possum's love of the wild persimmon.

Otter

About Otters, by John Lewees (St. Nicholas, 1882A)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Panther

See "Cat Family"

Pig Family

The Patagonian Cavy (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 24: Zig-Zag Rodoporcine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1894)**

Pigs, guinea pigs, etc.

Rabbits & Hares

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Moorland Idylls 2: A Rabbit of the World, by Grant Allen (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

See Grant Allen's Nature Series for the complete series.

Raccoon

The Raccoon (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Raccoons in general, and the author's two captive specimens.

Rat

Rats - A Little Enemy, by George Manville Fenn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

From the adorable Harrison Weir drawings that accompany this piece, it's clear that the author has rather mixed feelings about his "enemy," the rat...

Bits About Rats (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

Rats can be clever creatures, as this article shows.

He Wrote to the Rats, by Julian Ralph (St. Nicholas, 1889)

How does one get rid of the rats overrunning the cellar? Write them a letter -- but do it correctly!

Rat Stories (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

The Planters and the Rats, by Phil Robinson (Strand, 1901B)

Jamaican sugar planters' efforts to wipe out the rat population - including cats (didn't work), bull-frogs (ditto), and mongooses (which had unexpected consequences).

Seal & Walrus

The Walrus (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 8: Zig-Zag Phocine (The Strand, 1893)**

Sloth et al.

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 20: Zig-Zag Dasypidian, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1894)**

Squirrel

The Douglass Squirrel of California (Scribners, 1879A)

Our Wild Creatures, by A Naturalist (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Our Gray Squirrels: A Study, by Ernest Ingersoll (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

The Fierceness of Gloucester (1898)

A story about a rather bullying squirrel.

Tiger

See "Cat Family"

Weasels et al.

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 17: Zig-Zag Musteline, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Weasels, badger, skunks, etc.

Whale

Whales and Their Neighbors (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Wolves

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 13: Zig-Zag Canine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Zebra

The Zebra (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

**See the complete ZigZags at the Zoo series.