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Show NATURE'S FRIENDSHIPS. ; The Grief of Pets at Losing a '. Friend. Hums' DREiO OF HUMID BEIHES. Our Slaughter of Birda and BctiBts. Natural Antipathies. Thf re Is a deal of love killed out or pro-vented pro-vented from manifesting itself. This is time not only among human beings, but between men and amtimU and birds, and even insects. The state of war that is in existenco in nature na-ture Is not by half as bad as we imagine. The woi-st half b caused by our own selfish Interference, On wild islands, when first visited by men, it Is al way m reported that fowls and birds are so tame tbat they permit the approach of any one without tho idea of fear. But this they soon lose. The same is true of seals and animals that have not been hunted. But there f;rown up rapidly a dread of man, so that tho ticout of a human being to an aiitelojie, elk or bulfalo is most abhorrent. abhor-rent. This Incomes au inherited trait. Man, after all, is tbo great destroyer that is dreaded in all the realms of nature. The feline fe-line tribes rank uext to him, together with wolves, hawks and serpents. This is uot s pleasant fact to consider, but it is saddest of all that it la a fact. Nor does tuis begin to tell tho full truth. It Is not wild animals alone that dread us, but as a rule there is little love for us among tame animals, tho dog excepted. The cat has on occasional friend, but is compelled for the moBt part to livo on the defensive. Some races, like tho Bedouius, live on terms of familiarity with their horses and camels. These exceptions show tho possible friendship. friend-ship. In a Quakur barnyard I have seen such a rule of lovo that ovory animal was a conscious con-scious friend. It is only because of our brutality, or Indifference, tbat our animals are not our lovers. Cows aro by no means "board faced creatures" when gontly handled. Trained up as pets, thoy become affectionate to a degveo surpassed only by dogs. I have owned a horse that nover allowed mo to approach ap-proach without placing her bead affectionately affection-ately across my shoulder or hot noso in my bosom. I cannot think without anger of the slaughter of birds and animals for no pos.-i-ble reason but sport. The birds would ' take to us" freely, if they dared; and, as it is, a few have managed to break down prejudice. The friendship between mankind and robins I can hardly comprehend, for this bird is far less valuable tbnu some others, mid i9 also lets beautiful. A writer in Vick'a Magazine relates how she formed a friendship with u humming bird. "I have had one brief little friendship with a bird during tho present summer which seems like a tender dream, a fleeting glimpse into an unknown land, peep into fairyland." S ho had come upon n tiny young humming bird that had been chilled by a cool night, and, picking him up. had wormed and fed him. Ho grew so tame that "when he was hungry he would fly down to mo from top of a picture, and, alighting on a twig in my fingers, would sit anA ein liiu cnirnv niirl wnto-r from ft teaSnOOU or the end of my finger. These drops would satisfy him." nnd then off be flow. "He delighted de-lighted to bo held over a largo spoonful of oft water, and dip in his boak aud splash water over his littlo body." There Is no reason why this gentle accord may not be established on all hands. Prisoners, Pris-oners, as wo know, have formed curious attachments at-tachments for crickets and spiders, and thus savod themselves from loss of reason during solitary confinement. Nor, even In such cases, is tho friendship altogether on one side. Foxes, dogs, cats, horses, have been known to die for grief over tho death of a special friend. I have seen manifestations of intense in-tense grief in several cases. The cat is capable capa-ble of peculiarly strong attachments. I have known one to bo inconsolable for many weeks after tho departure of a boy to whom be specially devoted himself. Natural antiputhies form the other side of this question and tho illustrations are all about A stray dog came to my place last summer. Ho laid himself flat on his belly as I approached, only moving his eyes with the most intent watchfulness, I drew nearer, not a motion, but ho drew still flatter to the soil He was offering his services. Would I accept him? Ho was a beautiful cross of shepherd and hunter. I said, "Yes, you may stay." Ho knew in a moment the purport pur-port of my words. Leaping up, he came with eyes full of gladness and took my scent, and at onco was a momber of my household. But tho friendship was over first of all for myself. Now came tho question of cat and dog, for I had a splendid cat that bad bad no dogs about to annoy him. Here was the natural j antagonism of the feline and canine races, j But "Shop" understood perfectly that he was ; an adopted resident, and must not crowd his acquaintance. They could not become quite friends, but learned to tolerate each other. What is this natural antipathy? Traced far enough back, tho ancestry of the folines and canines cigie out of a common stock. But these tcrffble clawing creatures have been outlaws from time immemorial. To bite is allowabloin the animal codo; but to scratch, that i3 an innovation and Indecent We have codes that allow bullies to pound and kick, but they must not scratch. It is easy to imagine im-agine bow the first that took to using tueir nails wero driven out of the tribe. I believe the genuiuo ancestry to ba canino; tho feline Is a spurious olfshoot There are intense hatreds, as we well know, between birds. Not one of them will form an alliance with the English sparrow. So far as I have observed tho blackbird has no friends and does not care for any. Ho works in troops, steals in compauies, and has his bill against all other sorts of birds, and is do-tested do-tested in turn. An owl is a lonely creature, only that it Is said occasionally to make a pet j of a snake instead of eating it, which I doubt 1 The friendship is probably liko that of prai- j rlo dogs and rattlesnakes an invasion of : snakes that can not be prevented. Tbo owl j may not bo able to digest some of his saurian 1 acquaintances. As u rule there is some one, j or two, members of a household, that bod , "better let tho domestic cat alone sometimes : also tbo dog or dogs. Why thfa aro not ; liked by tho nuimals I do uot kuow, unless it le something iu tho scent Horses haiO' ctrong antipathies to certain grooms, based, I should judge, at least iu part, on smell. 'R P. P." UiOlobo Democrat |
