A MILLENNIAL SCENE: A RABBIT-HOUND AND A YOUNG RABBIT ENJOYING EACH
OTHER’S SOCIETY
Here the camera records a friendship almost as remarkable as that which
is to mark the association of the lion and the lamb in the final days
of the world’s history.]
The destruction of the eggs and young of birds, both on the ground
and in the trees, by these animals must have a far-reaching effect in
reducing the number of insectivorous and other small birds. Some small
rodents, as the grasshopper-mice, subsist mainly upon insects and flesh.
The naturalist who sets traps for small rodents in field or forest is
constantly annoyed by finding trapped animals partly devoured by their
fellows. When mice or rats are confined together in cages and provided
with an abundance of vegetable food, it is a common experience to find
that the stronger kill and eat the weaker ones, until in a short time
only a single survivor remains. These cannibalistic traits are strongly
developed in the common house rat, which is notorious for its savagery
toward others of its kind.