the white oak, a funny little fellow, about six inches long
and nearly as broad. It faced me and actually compelled me to
retreat before it for five minutes. Perhaps I was between it
and its hole. Its broad black tail, tipped with white, was
erect like a kitten’s. It had what looked like a broad white
band drawn tight across its forehand or top-head, from which
two lines of white ran down, one on each side of its back, and
there was a narrow white line down its snout. It raised its
back, sometimes ran a few feet forward, sometimes backward,
and repeatedly turned its tail to me, prepared to discharge
its fluid, like the old ones. Such was its instinct, and all
the while it kept up a fine grunting like a little pig or a
red squirrel._
--HENRY THOREAU.
* * * * *
_Few animals are so silent as the skunk. Zoological works
contain no information as to its voice, and the essayists
rarely mention it except by implication. Mr. Burroughs says:
“The most silent creature known to me, he makes no sound, so
far as I have observed, save a diffuse, impatient noise, like
that produced by beating your hand with a whisk-broom, when
the farm-dog has discovered his retreat in the stone fence.”
Rowland Robinson tells us that: “The voiceless creature
sometimes frightens the belated farm-boy, whom he curiously
follows with a mysterious hollow beating of his feet upon the
ground.” Thoreau, as has been mentioned, heard one keep up
a “fine grunting, like a little pig or a squirrel;” but he
seems to have misunderstood altogether a singular loud patting
sound heard repeatedly on the frozen ground under the wall,
which he also listened to, for he thought it “had to do with
getting its food, patting the earth to get the insects or
worms.” Probably he would have omitted this guess if he could
have edited his diary instead of leaving that to be done after
his death. The patting is evidently merely a nervous sign of
impatience or apprehension, similar to the well-known stamping
with the hind feet indulged in by rabbits, in this case
probably a menace like a doubling of the fists, as the hind
legs, with which they kick, are their only weapons. The skunk,
then, is not voiceless, but its voice is weak and querulous,
and it is rarely if ever heard except in the expression of
anger._
--ERNEST INGERSOL IN “WILD NEIGHBORS.”
[Illustration: _The raccoon._
Photo by George Fiske, Jr.]
THE RACCOON
_Teacher’s Story_
[Illustration: N]
None other of our little brothers of the forest, has such a
mischievous countenance as the coon. The black patch across the face
and surrounding the eyes, like large goggles, and the black line
extending from the long, inquisitive nose directly up the forehead
give the coon’s face an anxious expression; and the keenness of
the big, beady, black eyes and the alert, “sassy” looking, broadly
triangular ears, convince one that the anxiety depicted in the face
is anxiety lest something that should _not_ be done be left undone;
and I am sure that anyone who has had experience with pet coons will
aver that their acts do not belie their looks.
[Illustration: _Coon tracks._
1 Walking 2 Jumping ]
What country child, wandering by the brook and watching its
turbulence in early spring, has not viewed with awe, a footprint on
the muddy banks looking as if it were made by the foot of a very
little baby. The first one I ever saw, I promptly concluded was
made by the foot of a brook fairy. However, the coon is no fairy;
it is a rather heavy, logy animal and, like the bear and skunk, is
plantigrade, walking on the entire foot instead of on the toes, like
a cat or dog. The hind foot is long, with a well-marked heel, and
five comparatively short toes, giving it a remarkable resemblance to
a human foot. The front foot is smaller and looks like a wide, little
hand, with four long fingers and a rather short thumb. The claws are
strong and sharp. The soles of the feet and the palms of the hands
look as if they were covered with black kid, while the feet above and
the backs of the hands are covered with short fur. Coon tracks are
likely to be found during the first thawing days of winter, along
some stream or the borders of swamps, often following the path made
by cattle. The full-length track is about 2 inches long; as the coon
puts the hind foot in the track made by the front foot on the same
side, only the print of the hind feet is left, showing plainly five
toe prints and the heel. The tracks may vary from one-half inch to
one foot or more apart, depending on how fast the animal is going;
when it runs it goes on its toes, but when walking sets the heel
down; the tracks are not in so straight a line as those made by the
cat. Sometimes it goes at a slow jump, when the prints of the hind
feet are paired, and between and behind them are the prints of the
two front feet.
The coon is covered with long, rather coarse hair, so long as to
almost drag when the animal is walking; it really has two different
kinds of hair, the long, coarse, gray hair, blackened at the tips,
covering the fine, short, grayish or brownish under coat. The very
handsome bushy tail is ringed with black and gray.
The raccoon feeds on almost anything eatable, except herbage. It has
a special predilection for corn in the milk stage and, in attaining
this sweet and toothsome luxury, it strips down the husks and often
breaks the plant, doing much damage. It is also fond of poultry and
often raids hen houses; it also destroys birds’ nests and the young,
thus damaging the farmer by killing both domestic and wild birds. It
is especially fond of fish and is an adept at sitting on the shore
and catching them with its hands; it likes turtle eggs, crayfish and
snakes; it haunts the bayous of the Gulf Coast for the oysters which
grow there; it is also a skillful frog catcher. Although fond of
animal diet, it is also fond of fruit, especially of berries and wild
grapes.
It usually chooses for a nest a hollow tree or a cavern in a ledge
near a stream, because of its liking for water creatures; and also
because of its strange habit of washing its meat before eating it. I
have watched a pet coon performing this act; he would take a piece of
meat in his hands, dump it into the pan of drinking water and souse
it up and down a few times; then he would get into the pan with his
splay feet and roll the meat beneath and between them, meanwhile
looking quite unconcernedly at his surroundings, as if washing the
meat were an act too mechanical to occupy his mind. After the meat
had become soaked until white and flabby, he would take it in his
hands and hang on to it with a tight grip while he pulled off pieces
with his teeth; or sometimes he would hold it with his feet, and use
hands as well as teeth in tearing it apart. The coon’s teeth are very
much like those of the cat, having long, sharp tushes or canines, and
sharp, wedge-shaped grinding teeth, which cut as well as grind. After
eating, the pet coon always washed his feet by splashing them in the
pan.
It is a funny sight to watch a coon arrange itself for a nap, on
a branch or in the fork of a tree, it adapts its fat body to the
unevenness of the bed with apparent comfort; it then tucks its nose
down between its paws and curls its tail about itself, making a huge,
furry ball. In all probability, the rings of gray and black on the
tail, serve as protective color to the animal sleeping in a tree
during the daytime, when sunshine and shadow glance down between the
leaves with ever-changing light. The coon spends much of its days
asleep in some such situation, and comes forth at night to seek its
food.
In the fall, the coon lays on fat enough to last it during its winter
sleep. Usually several inhabit the same nest in winter, lying curled
up together in a hollow tree, and remaining dormant all winter except
when awakened by the warmth of a thaw. They then may come forth to
see what is happening, but return shortly to wait until March or
April; then they issue to hunt for the scant food, and are so lean
and weak that they fall easy prey to their enemies.
The young are born in April and May; there are from three to six in
a litter; they are blind and helpless at first, and are cared for
carefully by their parents, the family remaining together for a year,
until the young are fully grown. If removed from their parents the
young ones cry pitifully, almost like babies. The cry or whistle of
the fully grown coon is anything but a happy sound, and is quite
impossible to describe. I have been awakened by it many a night
in camp, and it always sounded strange, taking on each time new
quavers and whimperings. As a cry, it is first cousin to that of the
screech-owl.
The stories of pet coons are many. I knew one which, chained in a
yard, would lie curled up near its post looking like an innocent
stone except for one eye kept watchfully open. Soon a hen, filled
with curiosity would come warily near, looking longingly at remains
of food in the pan; the coon made no move until the disarmed biddy
came close to the pan. Then, there was a scramble and a squawk and
with astonishing celerity he would wring her neck and strip off her
feathers. Another pet coon was allowed to range over the house at
will, and finally had to be sent away because he had learned to open
every door in the house, including cupboard doors, and could also
open boxes and drawers left unlocked; and I have always believed
he could have learned to unlock drawers if he had been given the
key. All coons are very curious, and one way of trapping them is
to suspend above the trap a bit of bright tin; in solving this
glittering mystery, traps are forgotten.
LESSON LXI
THE RACCOON
_Leading thought_--The raccoon lives in hollow trees or caves along
the banks of streams. It sleeps during the day and seeks its food at
night. It sleeps during the winter.
_Method_--If there are raccoons in the vicinity, ask the older boys
to look for their tracks near the streams and to describe them very
carefully to the class. The ideal method of studying the animal,
is to have a pet coon where the children may watch at leisure its
entertaining and funny performances. If this is impossible, then
follow the less desirable method of having the pupils read about
the habits of the coon and thus arouse their interest and open
their eyes, so that they may make observations of their own when
opportunity offers. I would suggest the following topics for oral or
written work in English:
“How and Where Coons Live and What They Do;” “The Autobiography of a
Coon One Year Old;” “The Queer Antics of Pet Coons;” “Stories of the
Coon’s Relative, the Bear.”
[Illustration: _Treed._]
_Observations_--1. Where have you found raccoon tracks? How do they
differ from those of fox or dog? How far are the footprints apart?
Can you see the heel and toe prints? Do you see the tracks of all
four feet? Are the tracks in a straight line like those of the cat?
What is the size of the track, the length, the breadth?
2. What do coons eat and how do they get their food? Which of our
crops are they likely to damage? What other damage do they do? Have
you ever heard coons cry or whistle during August nights in the
cornfields?
3. Why do raccoons like to live near the water? What do they find of
interest there? How do they prepare their meat before eating it? How
does a coon handle its meat while eating it?
4. What kind of fur has the coon? Why does it need such a heavy
covering? Describe the color of the fur. Describe the tail. Of what
use is such a large and bushy tail to this animal?
5. Describe the coon’s face. How is it marked? What is its
expression? Describe the eyes and ears. The nose. Has it teeth
resembling those of the cat and dog?
6. Describe the coon’s feet. How many toes on the front feet? How
many on the hind feet? How does this differ from the cat and dog? How
do the front and hind feet differ in appearance? Can both be used as
hands?
7. How do coons arrange themselves for a nap in a tree? How do they
cover the head? How is the tail used? Do you think this bushy tail
used in this way would help to keep the animal warm in winter? Do
coons sleep most daytimes or nights?
8. At what time of year are coons fattest? Leanest? Why? Do they ever
come out of their nests in winter? Do they live together or singly in
winter?
9. At what time of year are the young coons born? Do you know how
they look when they are young? How are they cared for by their
parents?
10. Are the coon’s movements slow or fast? What large animal is a
near relative of the coon?
_Supplementary reading_--American Animals, Stone and Cram; Wild
Neighbors, Ingersoll; Familiar Life of Field and Forest, Mathews;
Little People of the Sycamore, Roberts; Life of Animals, Ingersoll;
“Mux” in Roof and Meadow, Sharp; Little Brother of the Bear, Long.
[Illustration: _Professor Fred S. Charles and his pet coon, “Dick”._]
THE WOLF
[Illustration: T]
The study of the wolf should precede the lessons on the fox and the
dog. After becoming familiar with the habits of wolves, the pupils
will be much better able to understand the nature of the dog and its
life as a wild animal. In most localities, the study of the wolf
must, of course, be a matter of reading, unless the pupils have
an opportunity to study the animal in traveling manageries or in
zoological gardens. However, in all the government preserves, the
timber wolf has multiplied to such an extent, that it may become a
factor in the lives of many people in the United States. This wolf
ranged in packs over New York State a hundred years ago, but was
finally practically exterminated in most of the eastern forests,
except in remote and mountainous localities. A glance at Bulletin 72
by Vernon Bailey, published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, is a revelation of the success of the timber wolf,
in coming back to his own, as soon as the forest preserves furnished
plenty of game, and forbade hunters. Timber wolves are returning of
late years to Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire; Northern
Michigan and Wisconsin have them in greater numbers; some have also
been killed in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia and
West Virginia, but their stronghold is in the great Rocky Mountain
Region and the Northwestern Sierras, from which they have never been
driven.
[Illustration: _Gray Wolf_]
It might be well to begin this lesson on the wolf with a talk about
the gray wolves which our ancestors had to contend with, and also
with stories of the coyote or prairie wolf which has learned to adapt
itself to civilization and flourishes in the regions west of the
Rocky Mountains, despite men and dogs. Literature is rich in wolf
stories. Although Kipling’s famous Mowgli Stories belong to the realm
of fiction, yet they contain interesting accounts of the habits of
the wolves of India, and are based upon the hunter’s and tracker’s
knowledge of these animals. We have many thrillingly interesting
stories in our own literature which deal with our native wolves. The
following are among the best:
“Lobo” in Wild Animals I Have Known; “Tito” in Lives of the Hunted;
“Bad Lands Billy and the Winnipeg Wolf” in Animal Heroes all by
Thompson Seton; “The Passing of Black Whelps” in Watchers of the
Trail by Roberts; Northern Trails by Long; “Pico, Coyote” by Coolidge
in True Tales of Birds and Beasts.
For more serious accounts of the wolves see American Animals, p. 277;
The “Hound of the Plains,” in Wild Neighbors, and page 188 in the
Life of Animals, both by Ingersoll. “The Coyote” by Bret Harte and
“The Law of the Pack” in the Second Jungle Book bring the wolf into
poetry.
From some or all of these stories, the pupils should get information
about the habits of the wolves. This information should be
incorporated in an essay or an oral exercise and should cover the
following points: Where do the wolves live? On what do they feed?
How do they get their prey? Do they hunt alone or in packs? How do
they call to each other? Description of the den where the young are
reared. The wolf’s cleverness in eluding hunters and traps.
[Illustration: _“Katrina Wolfchen”, the pet coyote of Professor Fred
S. Charles._]
[Illustration: _Fox cubs._]
THE FOX
_Teacher’s Story_
[Illustration: D]
Do we not always, on a clear morning of winter, feel a thrill that
must have something primitive in its quality, at seeing certain
tracks in the snow that somehow suggest wildness and freedom! Such is
the track of the fox. Although it is somewhat like that of a small
dog yet it is very different. The fox has longer legs than most
dogs of his weight, and there is more of freedom in his track and
more of strength and agility expressed in it. His gait is usually
an easy lope; this places the imprint of three feet in a line, one
ahead of another, but the fourth is off a little at one side, as if
to keep the balance. The fox lives in a den or burrow. The only fox
home which I ever saw, was a rather deep cave beneath the roots of a
stump, and there was no burrow or retreat beyond it. However, foxes
often select woodchuck burrows, or make burrows of their own, and if
they are caught within, they can dig rapidly, as many a hunter can
attest. The mother usually selects an open place for a den for the
young foxes; often an open field or side-hill is chosen for this. The
den is carpeted with grass and is a very comfortable place for the
fox puppies. The den of the father fox is usually not far away.
The face of the red fox shows plainly why he has been able to cope
with man, and thrive despite and because of him. If ever a face
showed cunning, it is his. Its pointed, slender nose gives it an
expression of extreme cleverness, while the width of the head between
the upstanding, triangular ears gives room for a brain of power. In
color the fox is russet-red, the hind quarters being grayish. The
legs are black outside and white inside; the throat is white, and
the broad, triangular ears are tipped with black. The glory of the
fox is his “brush,” as the beautiful, bushy tail is called. This is
red, with black toward the end and white-tipped. This tail is not
merely for beauty, for it affords the fox warmth during the winter,
as any one may see who has observed the way it is wrapped around the
sleeping animal. But this bushy tail is a disadvantage, if it becomes
bedraggled and heavy with snow and sleet, when the hounds are giving
close chase to its owner. The silver fox and the black fox are the
same species as the red fox.
The fox is an inveterate hunter of the animals of the field; meadow
mice, rabbits, woodchucks, frogs, snakes and grasshoppers, are all
acceptable food; he is also destructive of birds. His fondness for
the latter has given him a bad reputation with the farmer because of
his attacks on poultry. Not only will he raid hen-roosts if he can
force entrance, but he catches many fowls in the summer when they are
wandering through the fields. The way he carries the heavy burden of
his larger prey shows his cleverness: He slings a hen or a goose over
his shoulders, keeping the head in his mouth to steady the burden.
Mr. Cram says, in American Animals:
“Yet, although the farmer and the fox are such inveterate enemies,
they manage to benefit each other in a great many ways quite
unintentionally. The fox destroys numberless field mice and
woodchucks for the farmer and in return the farmer supplies him with
poultry, and builds convenient bridges over streams and wet places,
which the fox crosses oftener than the farmer, for he is as sensitive
as a cat about getting his feet wet. On the whole, I am inclined to
believe that the fox gets the best part of the exchange, for, while
the farmer shoots at him on every occasion, and hunts him with dogs
in the winter, he has cleared the land of wolves and panthers, so
that foxes are probably safer than before any land was ploughed.”
The bark of the fox is a high, sharp yelp, more like the bark of the
coyote than of the dog. There is no doubt a considerable range of
meaning in the fox’s language, of which we are ignorant. He growls
when angry, and when pleased he smiles like a dog and wags his
beautiful tail.
[Illustration: _Red Fox._]
Many are the wiles of the fox to head off dogs following his track:
he often retraces his own steps for a few yards and then makes a long
sidewise jump; the dogs go on, up to the end of the trail pocket,
and try in vain to get the scent from that point. Sometimes he walks
along the top rails of fences or takes the high and dry ridges where
the scent will not remain; he often follows roads and beaten paths
and also goes around and around in the midst of a herd of cattle, so
that his scent is hidden; he crosses streams on logs and invents
various other devices too numerous and intricate to describe. When
chased by dogs, he naturally runs in a circle, probably so as not to
be too far from home. If there are young ones in the den, the father
fox leads the hounds far away, in the next county, if possible.
Perhaps one of the most clever tricks of the fox, is to make friends
with the dogs. I have known of two instances where a dog and fox were
daily companions and playfellows.
The young foxes are born in the spring. They are black at first and
are fascinating little creatures, being exceedingly playful and
active. Their parents are very devoted to them, and during all their
puppyhood, the mother fox is a menace to the poultry of the region,
because the necessity is upon her of feeding her rapidly growing
litter.
In my opinion, the best story of animal fiction is “Red Fox” by
Roberts. Like all good fiction, it is based upon facts and it
presents a wholesome picture of the life of the successful fox. “The
Silver Fox” by Thompson Seton is another interesting and delightful
story. Although the Nights with Uncle Remus could scarcely be called
nature stories, yet they are interesting in showing how the fox has
become a part of folk-lore.
[Illustration: _Fox tracks._]
LESSON LXII
THE FOX
_Leading thought_--The red fox is so clever that it has been able, in
many parts of our country, to maintain itself despite dogs and men.
[Illustration]
_Method_--This lesson is likely to be given largely from hearsay or
reading. However, if the school is in a rural district, there will be
plenty of hunters’ stories afloat, from which may be elicited facts
concerning the cunning and cleverness of the red fox. In such places
there is also the opportunity in winter to study fox tracks upon the
snow. The lesson may well be given when there are fox tracks for
observation. The close relationship between foxes and dogs should be
emphasized.
_Observations and reading_--1. Describe the fox’s track. How does it
differ from the track of a small dog?
2. Where does the fox make its home? Describe the den. Describe the
den in which the young foxes live.
3. Describe the red fox, its color and form as completely as you can.
What is the expression of its face? What is there peculiar about its
tail? What is the use of this great bushy tail in the winter?
4. What is the food of the fox? How does it get its food? Is it a
day or a night hunter? How does the fox benefit the farmer? How does
it injure him? How does the fox carry home its heavy game, such as a
goose or a hen?
5. Have you ever heard the fox bark? Did it sound like the bark of a
dog? How does the fox express anger? Pleasure?
[Illustration: “_Got a bite_.”]
6. When chased by dogs, in what direction does the fox run? Describe
all of the tricks which you know by which the fox throws the dog off
the scent.
7. When are the young foxes born? How many in a litter? What color
are they? How do they play with each other? How do they learn to hunt?
_Supplementary reading_--Red Fox by Roberts; Silver Fox by Thompson
Seton; Little Beasts of Field and Wood, page 25; Squirrels and
Other Fur Bearers, chapter 7; Fox Ways in Ways of Wood Folk; The
Springfield Fox in Wild Animals I Have Known; Familiar Wild Animals;
Familiar Life in Field and Forest, page 213; American Animals, page
264; Nights with Uncle Remus.
[Illustration: _A pet red fox._
Photo by Fred S. Charles.]
[Illustration]
DOGS
_Teacher’s Story_
[Illustration: N]
Not only to-day but in ancient days, before the dawn of history,
the dog was the companion of man. Whether the wild species from
whence he sprang, was wolf or jackal or some other similar animal,
we do not know, but we do know that many types of dogs have been
tamed independently by savages, in the region where their untamed
relatives run wild. As the whelps of wolves, jackals and foxes are
all easily tamed, and are most interesting little creatures, we can
understand how they became companions to the children of the savage
and barbarous peoples who hunted them.
In the earliest records of cave dwellers, in the picture writing of
the ancient Egyptians and of other ancient peoples, we find record of
the presence and value of the dog. But man, in historical times, has
been able to evolve breeds that vary more in form than do the wild
species of the present. There are 200 distinct breeds of dogs known
to-day, and many of these have been bred for special purposes. The
paleontologists, moreover, assure us that there has been a decided
advance in the size and quality of the dog’s brain since the days of
his savagery; thus, he has been the companion of man’s civilization
also. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that the dog is now the
most companionable, and has the most human qualities and intelligence
of all our domesticated animals.
Dogs run down their prey; it is a necessity, therefore, that they be
equipped with legs that are long, strong and muscular. The cat, which
jumps for her prey, has much more delicate legs but has powerful
hips to enable her to leap. The dog’s feet are much more heavily
padded than those of the cat, because in running, he must not stop to
save his feet. Hounds often return from a chase with bleeding feet,
despite the heavy pads, but the wounds are usually cuts between the
toes. The claws are heavy and are not retractile; thus, they afford
a protection to the feet when running, and they are also used for
digging out game which burrows into the ground. They are not used for
grasping prey like those of the cat and are used only incidentally in
fighting, while the cat’s claws are the most important weapons in her
armory. It is an interesting fact that Newfoundland dogs, which are
such famous swimmers, have their toes somewhat webbed.
[Illustration: _Greyhound._]
The dog’s body is long, lean, and very muscular, a fat dog being
usually pampered and old. The coat is of hair and is not of fine fur
like that of the cat. It is of interest to note that the Newfoundland
dog has an inner coat of fine hair comparable to that of the mink
or muskrat. When a dog is running, his body is extended to its
fullest length; in fact, it seems to “lie flat,” the outstretched
legs heightening the effect of extreme muscular effort of forward
movement. A dog is master of several gaits; he can run, walk, trot,
bound and crawl.
The iris of the dog’s eye is usually of a beautiful brown, although
this varies with breeds; in puppies, the iris is usually blue. The
pupil is round like our own; and dogs cannot see well in the dark
like the cat, but in daylight they have keen sight. The nose is so
much more efficient than the eyes, that it is on the sense of smell
the dog depends for following his prey and for recognizing friend and
foe. The damp, soft skin that covers the nose, has in its dampness
the conditions for carrying the scent to the wide nostrils; these are
situated at the most forward part of the face, and thus may be lifted
in any direction to receive the marvelous impressions, so completely
beyond our comprehension. Think of being able to scent the track of
a fox made several hours previously. Not only to scent it, but to
follow by scent for many miles without ever having a glimpse of the
fleeing foe! In fact, while running, the dog’s attention seems to
be focused entirely upon the sense of smell, for I have seen hounds
pass within a few rods to the windward of the fox they were chasing,
without observing him at all. When the nose of any of the moist-nosed
beasts, such as cattle and dogs, becomes dry it is a sign of illness.
[Illustration: _Bird dog._]
A light fall of damp snow gives the dog the best conditions for
following a track by scent and a hound, when on the trail, will run
until exhausted. There are many authentic observations which show
that hounds have followed a fox for twenty-four hours without food,
and probably with little rest.
The dog’s weapons for battle, like those of the wolf, are his tushes:
with these, he holds and tears his prey; with them, he seizes the
woodchuck or other small animal through the back and shakes its life
out. In fighting a larger animal, the dog leaps against it and often
incidentally tears its flesh with his strong claws; but he does not
strike a blow with his foot like the cat, nor can he hold his quarry
with it.
[Illustration: _Bulldog._]
Dog’s teeth are especially fitted for their work. The incisors are
small and sharp; the canine teeth or tushes are very long, but there
are bare spaces on the jaws so that they are able to cross past each
other; the molar teeth are not fitted for grinding, like the teeth of
a cow, but are especially fitted for cutting, as may be noted if we
watch the way a dog gnaws bones, first gnawing with the back teeth on
one side and then on the other. In fact, a dog does not seem to need
to chew anything, but simply needs to cut his meat in small enough
pieces so that he can gulp them down without chewing. His powers of
digesting unchewed food are something that the hustling American may
well envy.
[Illustration: _“Mateo”, a St. Bernard of long pedigree._]
Of all domestic animals, the dog is most humanly understandable in
expressing emotions. If delighted, he leaps about giving ecstatic
little barks and squeals, his tail in the air and his eyes full of
happy anticipation. If he wishes to be friendly, he looks at us
interestedly, comes over to smell of us in order to assure himself
whether he has ever met us before, and then wags his tail as a sign
of good faith. If he wishes to show affection, he leaps upon us and
licks our face or hands with his soft, deft tongue and follows us
jealously. When he stands at attention, he holds his tail stiff in
the air, and looks up with one ear lifted as if to say, “Well, what’s
doing?” When angry, he growls and shows his teeth and the tail is
held rigidly out behind, as if to convince us that it is really a
continuation of his backbone. When afraid, he whines and lies flat
upon his belly, often looking beseechingly up toward his master as
if begging not to be punished; or he crawls away out of sight. When
ashamed, he drops his tail between his legs and with drooping head
and sidewise glance slinks away. When excited, he barks and every
bark expresses high nervous tension.
[Illustration: _Bloodhound._]
Almost all dogs that chase their prey, bark when so doing, which
would seem at first sight to be a foolish thing to do, in that it
reveals their whereabouts to their victims and also adds an incentive
to flight. But it must be borne in mind that dogs are descended
from wolves, which naturally hunt in packs and do not stalk their
prey. The baying of the hound is a most common example of the habit,
and as we listen we can understand how, by following this sound,
the pack is kept together. Almost all breeds of dogs have an acute
sense of hearing. When a dog bays at the moon or howls when he hears
music, it is simply a reversion to the wild habit of howling to call
together the pack or in answer “to the music of the pack.” It is
interesting that our music, which is the flower of our civilization,
should awaken the sleeping ancestral traits in the canine breast. But
perhaps that, too, is why we respond to music, because it awakens in
us the strong, primitive emotions, and for the time, enables us to
free ourselves from all conventional shackles and trammels.
[Illustration: _Fox terrier and pups._]
LESSON LXIII
DOGS
_Leading thought_--The dog is a domesticated descendant of wolf-like
animals and has retained certain of the habits and characteristics of
his ancestors.
_Method_--For the observation lesson it would be well to have at
hand, a well-disposed dog which would not object to being handled; a
collie or a hound would be preferable. Many of the questions should
be given to the pupils to answer from observations at home, and the
lesson should be built upon the experience of the pupils with dogs.
_Observations_--1. Why are the legs of the dog long and strong in
proportion to the body compared with those of the cat?
2. Compare the feet of the cat with those of the dog and note which
has the heavier pads. Why is this of use to each?
3. Which has the stronger and heavier claws, the dog or the cat? Can
the dog retract his claws so that they are not visible, as does the
cat? Of what use is this arrangement to the dog? Are the front feet
just like the hind feet? How many toe impressions show in the track
of the dog?
4. What is the general characteristic of the body of the dog? Is
it soft like that of the cat, or lean and muscular? What is the
difference between the hair covering of the dog and cat? What is the
attitude of the dog when running fast? How many kinds of gaits has he?
5. In general, how do the eyes of the dog differ from those of the
cat? Does he rely as much upon his eyes for finding his prey as does
the cat? Can a dog see in the dark? What is the color of the dog’s
eyes?
6. Study the ear of the dog; is it covered? Is this outer ear
movable, is it a flap, or is it cornucopia shaped? How is this flap
used when the dog is listening? Roll a sheet of paper into a flaring
tube and place the small end upon your own ear, and note if it helps
you to hear better the sounds in the direction toward which the tube
opens? Note how the hound lifts his long earlaps, so as to make a
tube for conveying sounds to his inner ear. Do you think that dogs
can hear well?
[Illustration: “_Klondike Jack_”.
The dog that pulled four hundred fifty pounds five hundred miles
through the White Horse Pass in the winter of the first gold
excitement.]
7. What is the position of the nose in the dog’s face? Of what use is
this? Describe the nostrils; are they placed on the foremost point
of the face? What is the condition of the skin that surrounds them?
How does this condition of the nose aid the dog? What other animals
have it? Does the dog recognize his friends or become acquainted with
strangers by means of his sight or of his powers of smelling?
8. How long after a fox or rabbit has passed can a hound follow
the track? Does he follow it by sight or by smell? What are the
conditions most favorable for retaining the scent? The most
unfavorable? How long will a hound follow a fox trail without
stopping for rest or food? Do you think the dog is your superior in
ability to smell?
9. How does a dog seize and kill his prey? How does he use his feet
and claws when fighting? What are his especially strong weapons?
Describe a dog’s teeth and explain the reason for the bare spaces on
the jaw next to the tushes. Does the dog use his tushes when chewing?
What teeth does he use when gnawing a bone? Make a diagram of the
arrangement of the dog’s teeth.
10. How by action, voice, and especially by the movement of the tail
does the dog express the following emotions: Delight, friendliness,
affection, attention, anger, fear, shame, excitement? How does he act
when chasing his prey? Why do wolves and dogs bark when following the
trail? Do you think of a reason why dogs often howl at night or when
listening to music? What should we feed to our pet dogs? What should
we do to make them comfortable in other ways?
[Illustration: _In pleasant mood._
A collie.]
11. Tell or write a story of some dog of which you know by experience
or hearsay. Of what use was the dog to the pioneer? How are dogs
used in the Arctic regions? In Holland?
12. How many breeds of dogs do you know? Describe characters of such
as follows: The length of the legs as compared with the body; the
general shape of the body, head, ears, nose; color and character of
hair on head, body and tail.
13. Find if you can the reasons which have led to the developing of
the following breeds: Newfoundland, St. Bernard, mastiffs, hounds,
collies, spaniels, setters, pointers, bulldogs, terriers, and pugs.
_Supplementary reading_--“Stories of Brave Dogs” from _St. Nicholas_,
the Century Co.; the following three stories from Thompson-Seton:
“Chink” in Lives of the Hunted, “Snap” in Animal Heroes, “Wully” in
Wild Animals I Have Known; Bob, Son of Battle; Mack, His Book, by
Florence Leigh; Rab and his Friends; The Dog of Flanders; “Red Dog”
in Kipling’s Jungle Stories; Animals of the World, Knight and Jenks,
p. 80; Life of Animals, Ingersoll, p. 187.
[Illustration: _Fox hunting, in the Genesee Valley, N. Y._]
[Illustration: _An aristocrat._]
THE CAT
_Teacher’s Story_
[Illustration: O]
Of all people, the writer should regard the cat sympathetically,
for when she was a baby of five months she was adopted by a cat. My
self-elected foster-mother was Jenny, a handsome black and white cat,
which at that time lost her first litter of kittens, through the
attack of a savage cat from the woods. She was as Rachel crying for
her children, when she seemed suddenly to comprehend that I, although
larger than she, was an infant. She haunted my cradle, trying to give
me milk from her own breasts; and later she brought half-killed mice
and placed them enticingly in my cradle, coaxing me to play with
them, a performance which pleased me much more than it did my real
mother. Jenny always came to comfort me when I cried, rubbing against
me, purring loudly, and licking me with her tongue in a way to drive
mad the modern mother, wise as to the sources of children’s internal
parasites. This maternal attitude toward me lasted as long as Jenny
lived, which was until I was nine years old. Never during those years
did I lift my voice in wailing, that she did not come to comfort me;
and even to-day I can remember how great that comfort was, especially
when my naughtiness was the cause of my weeping, and when, therefore,
I felt that the whole world, except Jenny, was against me.
Jenny was a cat of remarkable intelligence and was very obedient and
useful. Coming down the kitchen stairs one day, she played with the
latch and someone hearing her, opened the door. She did this several
times, when one day she chanced to push down the latch, and thus
opened the door herself. After that, she always opened it herself. A
little later, she tried the trick on other doors, and soon succeeded
in opening all the latched doors in the house, by thrusting one front
leg through the handle, and thus supporting her weight and pressing
down with the foot of the other on the thumb-piece of the latch.
I remember, guests were greatly astonished to see her coming thus
swinging into the sitting-room. Later she tried the latches from the
other side, jumping up and trying to lift the hook; but now, her
weight was thrown against the wrong side of the door for opening, and
she soon ceased this futile waste of energy; but for several years,
she let herself into all the rooms in this clever manner, and taught
a few of her bright kittens to do the same.
A pet cat enjoys long conversations with favored members of the
household. She will sit in front of her mistress and mew, with every
appearance of answering the questions addressed her; and since the
cat and the mistress each knows her own part of the conversation,
it is perhaps more typical of society chatter than we might like to
confess. Of our language, the cat learns to understand the call to
food, its own name, “scat,” and “No, No,” probably inferring the
meaning of the latter from the tone of voice. On the other hand, we
understand when it asks to go out, and its polite recognition to
the one who opens the door. I knew one cat which invariably thanked
us when we let him in as well as out. When the cat is hungry, it
mews pleadingly; when happy in front of the fire, it looks at us
sleepily out of half-closed eyes and gives a short mew expressive of
affection and content; or it purrs, a noise which we do not know how
to imitate and which expresses perfectly the happiness of intimate
companionship. When frightened the cat yowls, and when hurt squalls
shrilly; when fighting, it is like a savage warrior in that it howls
a war-song in blood-curdling strains, punctuated with a spitting
expressive of fear and contempt; and unfortunately, its love song
is scarcely less agonizing to the listener. The cat’s whole body
enters into the expression of its emotions. When feeling affectionate
toward its mistress, it rubs against her gown, with tail erect,
and vibrating with a purr which seems fundamental. When angry, it
lays its ears back and lashes its tail back and forth, the latter
being a sign of excitement; when frightened, its hair stands on end,
especially the hair of the tail, making that expressive appendage
twice its natural size; when caught in disobedience, the cat lets its
tail droop, and when running lifts it in a curve.
[Illustration: _Bones and ligaments of cat’s claw._
A Claw up. B Claw thrust out.]
While we feed cats milk and scraps from our own table, they have
never become entirely civilized in their tastes. They always catch
mice and other small animals and prove pestiferous in destroying
birds. Jenny was wont to bring her quarry, as an offering, to the
front steps of our home every night; one morning we found seven mice,
a cotton-tail rabbit and two snakes, which represented her night’s
catch. The cat never chases its prey like the dog. It discovers the
haunts of its victims, and then lies in ambush, flattened out as
still as a statue and all its feet beneath it, ready to make the
spring. The weight of the body is a factor which enters in the blow
with which the cat strikes down its victim, and thus stuns and which
it later kills by gripping the throat with the strong tushes. She
carries her victims as she does her kittens, by the back.
The cat’s legs are not long compared with the body, and it runs with
a leaping gallop; the upper legs are armed with powerful muscles.
It walks on the padded toes, five on the front feet and four of the
hind feet. The cat needs its claws to be sharp and hooked, in order
to seize and hold its prey, so they are kept safely sheathed when
not thus used. If the claws struck the earth during walking, as do
the dog’s, they would soon become dulled. When sharpening its claws
it reaches high up against a tree or post, and strikes them into
the wood with a downward scratch; this act is probably more for
exercising the muscles which control the claws than for sharpening
them.
The cat’s track is in a single line as if it had only two feet, one
set directly ahead of the other. It accomplishes this by setting
its hind feet exactly in the tracks made by the front feet. The cat
can easily leap upward, landing on a window-sill five feet from the
ground. The jump is made with the hind legs and the alighting is done
silently on the front feet.
Cats’ eyes are fitted for seeing in the dark; in the daytime the
pupil is simply a narrow, up and down slit; under excitement, and at
night, the pupil covers almost the entire eye. At the back of the
eye is a reflecting surface, which catches such dim light as there
is, and by reflecting it enables the cat to use it twice. It is this
reflected light, which gives the peculiar green glare to the eyes of
all the cats when seen in the dark. Some night-flying moths have a
like arrangement for utilizing the light, and their eyes glow like
living coals. Of course, since the cat is a night hunter, this power
of multiplying the rays of light is of great use. The iris of the eye
is usually yellow, but in kittens it may be blue or green.
[Illustration: “_Folks are so tiresome._”]
The cat’s teeth are peculiarly fitted for its needs. The six
doll-like incisors of the upper and lower jaw are merely for scraping
meat from bones. The two great tushes, or canines, on each jaw, with
a bare place behind so that they pass each other freely, are sharp
and hooked, and are for seizing and carrying prey. The cat is able
to open its mouth as wide as a right angle, in order to better hold
and carry prey. The back teeth, or molars, are four on each side in
the upper jaw and three, below. They are sharp-edged wedges made for
cutting meat fine enough, so that it may be swallowed.
The tongue is covered with sharp papillæ directed backwards, also
used for rasping juices from meat. The cat’s nose is moist, and her
sense of smell very keen, as is also her sense of hearing. The ears
rise like two hollow half-cones on either side of the head and are
filled with sensitive hairs; they ordinarily open forward, but are
capable of movement. The cat’s whiskers consist of from twenty-five
to thirty long hairs set in four lines, above and at the sides of the
mouth; they are connected with sensitive nerves and are therefore
true feelers. The cat’s fur is very fine and thick, and is also
sensitive; as can readily be proved, by trying to stroke it the wrong
way. While the wild cats have gray or tawny fur, variously mottled or
shaded, the more striking colors we see in the domestic cats are the
result of man’s breeding.
Cats are very cleanly in their habits. Puss always washes her face
directly after eating, using one paw for a wash-cloth and licking
it clean after she rubs her face. She cleans her fur with her rough
tongue and also by biting; and she promptly buries objectionable
matter. The mother cat is very attentive to the cleanliness of her
kittens, licking them clean from nose tip to tail tip. The ways of
the mother cat with her kittens do much to sustain the assertions of
Mr. Seton and Mr. Long that young animals are trained and educated by
their parents. The cat brings half-dazed mice to her kittens, that
they may learn to follow and catch them with their own little claws.
When she punishes them, she cuffs the ears by holding one side of
the kitten’s head firm with the claws of one foot, while she lays on
the blows with the other. She carries her kittens by the nape of the
neck, never hurting them. She takes them into the field when they
are old enough, and shows them the haunts of mice, and does many
things for their education and welfare. The kittens meantime train
themselves to agility and dexterity, by playing rough and tumble with
each other, and by chasing every small moving object, even to their
own tails.
[Illustration: “_Interested!_”]
The cat loves warmth and finds her place beneath the stove or at the
hearthside. She likes some people, and dislikes others, for no reason
we can detect. She can be educated to be friendly with dogs and with
birds. In feeding her, we should give her plenty of sweet milk, some
cooked meat and fish of which she is very fond; and we should keep a
bundle of catnip to make her happy, for even the larger cats of the
wilderness seem to have a passionate liking for this herb. The cat
laps milk with her rough tongue, and when eating meat, she turns the
head this way and that, to cut the tough muscle with her back teeth.
CATS SHOULD BE TRAINED TO LEAVE BIRDS ALONE
[Illustration: _This cat has been trained to be friendly with birds._]
Every owner of a cat owes it to the world to train puss to leave
birds alone. If this training is begun during kittenhood, by
switching the culprit every time it even looks at a bird, it will
soon learn to leave them severely alone. I have tried this many
times, and I know it is efficacious, if the cat is intelligent. We
have never had a cat whose early training we controlled, that could
ever be induced to even watch birds. If a cat is not thus trained as
a kitten, it is likely to be always treacherous in this respect. But
in case any one has a valuable cat which is given to catching birds,
I strongly advise the following treatment which has been proved
practicable by a friend of mine. When a cat has made the catch, take
the bird away and sprinkle it with red pepper, and then give it
back. One such treatment as this resulted in making one cat, which
was an inveterate bird hunter, run and hide every time he saw a bird
thereafter. Any persons taking cats with them to their summer homes,
and abandoning them there to prey upon the birds of the vicinity, and
to become poor, half-starved, wild creatures, ought to be arrested
and fined. It is not only cruelty to the cats, but it is positive
injury and damage to the community, because of the slaughter of
beneficial birds which it entails.
LESSON LXIV
THE CAT
_Leading thought_--The cat was made a domestic animal before man
wrote histories. It gets prey by springing from ambush and is fitted
by form of body and teeth to do this. It naturally hunts at night and
has eyes fitted to see in the dark.
_Method_--This lesson may be used in primary grades by asking a
few questions at a time and allowing the children to make their
observations on their own kittens at home, or a kitten may be brought
to school for this purpose. The upper grade work consists of reading
and retelling or writing exciting stories of the great, wild, savage
cats, like the tiger, lion, leopard, lynx and panther.
_Observations_--1. How much of Pussy’s language do you understand?
What does she say when she wishes you to open the door for her?
How does she ask for something to eat? What does she say when she
feels like conversing with you? How does she cry when hurt? When
frightened? What noise does she make when fighting? When calling
other cats? What are her feelings when she purrs? When she spits? How
many things which you say does she understand?
2. How else than by voice does she express affection, pleasure and
anger? When she carries her tail straight up in the air is she in a
pleasant mood? When her tail “bristles up” how does she feel? What is
it a sign of, when she lashes her tail back and forth?
3. What do you feed to cats? What do they catch for themselves? What
do the cats that are wild live upon? How does the cat help us? How
does she injure us?
4. How does a cat catch her prey? Does she track mice by the scent?
Does she catch them by running after them as a dog does? Describe how
she lies in ambush. How does she hold the mouse as she pounces upon
it? How does she carry it home to her kittens?
[Illustration: _Amicable advances._]
5. Study the cat’s paws to see how she holds her prey. Where are the
sharp claws? Are they always in sight like a dog’s? Does she touch
them to the ground when she walks? Which walks the more silently, a
dog or a cat? Why? Describe the cat’s foot, including the toe-pads.
Are there as many toes on the hind feet as on the front feet? What
kind of a track does the cat make in the snow? How does she set her
feet to make such a track? How does she sharpen her claws? How does
she use her claws for climbing? How far have you ever seen a cat
jump? Does she use her front or her hind feet in making the jump? On
which feet does she alight? Does she make much noise when she alights?
6. What is there peculiar about a cat’s eyes? What is their color?
What is the color of kittens’ eyes? What is the shape of the pupil in
daylight? In the dark? Describe the inner lid which comes from the
corner of the eye.
7. How many teeth has Puss? What is the use of the long tushes? Why
is there a bare space behind these? What does she use her little
front teeth for? Does she use her back teeth for chewing or for
cutting meat?
8. How many whiskers has she? How long are they? What is their use?
Do you think that puss has a keen sense of smell? Why do you think
so? Do you think she has a keen sense of hearing? How do the shape
and position of the ears help in listening? In what position are the
ears when puss is angry?
9. How many colors do you find in our domestic cats. What is the
color of wild cats? Why would it not be beneficial to the wild-cat
to have as striking colors as our tame cats? Compare the fur of the
cat with the hair of the dog. How do they differ? If a cat chased her
prey like the dog do you think her fur would be a too warm covering?
10. Describe how the cat washes her face. How does she clean her fur?
How does her rough tongue help in this? How does the mother cat wash
her kittens?
11. How does a little kitten look when a day or two old? How long
before its eyes open? How does the cat carry her kittens? How does a
kitten act when it is being carried? How does the mother cat punish
her kittens? How does she teach them to catch mice? How do kittens
play? How does the exercise they get in playing fit them to become
hunters?
12. How should cats be trained not to touch birds? When must this
training begin? Why should a person be punished for injury to the
public who takes cats to summer cottages and leaves them there to run
wild?
13. Where in the room does puss best like to lie? How does she sun
herself? What herb does she like best? Does she like some people and
not others? What strange companions have you known a cat to have?
What is the cat’s chief enemy? How should we care for and make her
comfortable?
14. Write or tell stories on the following subjects: (1) The things
which my pet cat does; (2) The Wild Cat; (3) The Lion; (4) The Tiger;
(5) The Leopard; (6) The Panther and the Mountain Lion; (7) The Lynx;
(8) The History of Domestic Cats; (9) The Different Races of Cats,
describing the Manx, the Persian and the Angora Cats.
_Supplementary reading_--The Life of Animals, Ingersoll; American
Animals, Stone and Cram; Our Domestic Animals, Burkett; The Fireside
Sphinx, Repplier; Concerning Cats, Winslow; The following animal
stories from _St. Nicholas_ Magazine: Cat Stories, Lion and Tiger
Stories, Panther Stories.
[Illustration:
Photo by Verne Morton.
]
[Illustration: _Saanen goats in Switzerland._
Peer, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S.
Department of Agriculture.]
THE GOAT
_Teacher’s Story_
Little do we in America realize the close companionship that has
existed in older countries, from time immemorial, between goats and
people. This association began when man was a nomad, and took with
him in his wanderings, his flocks, of which goats formed the larger
part. He then drank their milk, ate their flesh, wove their hair
into raiment, or made cloth of their pelts, and used their skins for
water bags. Among peoples of the East all these uses continue to the
present day. In the streets of Cairo, old Arabs may be seen with goat
skins filled with water upon their backs; and in any city of Western
Asia or Southern Europe, flocks of goats are driven along the streets
to be milked in sight of the consumer.
In order to understand the goat’s peculiarities of form and habit,
we should consider it as a wild animal, living upon the mountain
heights amid rocks and snow and scant vegetation. It is marvelously
sure-footed and when on its native mountains, it can climb the
sharpest crags and leap chasms. This peculiarity has been seized upon
by showmen who often exhibit goats which walk on the tight rope with
ease, and even turn themselves upon it without falling. The instinct
for climbing still lingers in the domestic breeds, and in the country
the goat may be seen on top of stone piles or other objects, while in
city suburbs, its form may be discerned on the roofs of shanties and
stables.
It is a common saying that a goat will eat anything, and much sport
is made of this peculiarity. This fact has more meaning for us when
we realize that wild goats live in high altitudes, where there is
little plant life, and are therefore, obliged to find sustenance on
lichens, moss and such scant vegetation as they can find.
The goat is closely allied to the sheep, differing from it in only
a few particulars; its horns rise from the forehead curving over
backward and do not form a spiral like those of the ram; its covering
is usually of hair, and the male has a beard from which we get the
name goatee; the goat has no gland between the toes, and it does
have a rank and disagreeable odor. In a wild state, it usually lives
a little higher up the mountains than do the sheep, and it is a far
more intelligent animal. Mary Austin says: “Goats lead naturally by
reason of a quicker instinct, forage more freely and can find water
on their own account, and give voice in case of alarm. Goat leaders
exhibit jealousy of their rights to be first over the stepping-stones
or to walk the teetering log bridges at the roaring creeks.” On the
great plains, it is a common usage to place a few goats in a flock of
sheep, because of the greater sagacity of these animals as leaders,
and also as defenders in case of attack.
[Illustration: _Zaraibi milch goats of Egypt._
Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S.
Department of Agriculture.]
Goats’ teeth are arranged for cropping herbage and especially for
browsing. There are six molar teeth on each side of each jaw; there
are eight lower incisors and none above. The goat’s sense of smell
is very acute; the ears are movable and the sense of hearing is
keen; the eyes are full and very intelligent; the horns are somewhat
flattened and angular and often knobbed somewhat in front, and curve
backward above the neck; they are, however, very efficient as weapons
of defence. The legs are strong, though not large, and are well
fitted for leaping and running. The feet have two hoofs, that is, the
animal walks upon two toe-nails. There are two smaller toes behind
and above the hoofs. The goat can run with great rapidity. The tail
of the goat is short like that of the deer, and does not need to be
amputated like that of the sheep. Although the normal covering of
the goat is hair, there are some species which have a more or less
woolly coat. When angry the goat shakes its head, and defends itself
by butting with the head, also by striking with the horns, which are
very sharp. Goats are very tractable and make affectionate pets when
treated with kindness; they display far more affection for their
owner than do sheep.
[Illustration: _Milch goats in Malta._
Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry,
Department of Agriculture.]
Our famous Rocky Mountain goat, although it belongs rather to the
antelope family, is a large animal, and is the special prize of the
hunter; however, it still holds its own in the high mountains of
the Rocky and Cascade Ranges. Both sexes have slender black horns,
white hair, and black feet, eyes and nose. Owen Wister says of this
animal: “He is white, all white, and shaggy, and twice as large as
any goat you ever saw. His white hair hangs long all over him like a
Spitz dog’s or an Angora cat’s; and against its shaggy white mass the
blackness of his hoofs and horns, and nose looks particularly black.
His legs are thick, his neck is thick, everything about him is thick,
save only his thin black horns. They’re generally about six (often
more than nine) inches long, they spread very slightly, and they
curve slightly backward. At their base they are a little rough, but
as they rise they become cylindrically smooth and taper to an ugly
point. His hoofs are heavy, broad and blunt. The female is lighter
than the male, and with horns more slender, a trifle. And (to return
to the question of diet) we visited the pasture where the herd (of
thirty-five) had been, and found no signs of grass growing or grass
eaten; there was no grass on that mountain. The only edible substance
was a moss, tufted, stiff and dry to the touch. I also learned that
the goat is safe from predatory animals. With his impenetrable hide
and his disemboweling horns he is left by the wolves and mountain
lions respectfully alone.” (See American Animals, p. 57; Camp Fires
of a Naturalist, chapters VIII and XIII).
[Illustration: _Poona_ (_India_) _goat._
Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S.
Department of Agriculture.]
_Milch Goats_--Many breeds of these have been developed, and the
highest type is, perhaps, found in Switzerland. The Swiss farmers
have found the goat particularly adapted to their high mountains and
have used it extensively; thus, goats developed in the Saane and
Toggenburg valleys have a world-wide reputation. Above these valleys
the high mountains are covered with perpetual snow, and winter sets
in about November 1st, lasting until the last of May. The goats are
kept with the cows in barns and fed upon hay; but as soon as the snow
is gone from the valleys and the lower foot-hills, the cattle and
goats are sent with the herders and boy assistants, to the grazing
grounds. A bell is put upon the cow that leads the herd so as to keep
it together and the boys, in their gay peasant dresses, are as happy
as the playful calves and goats to get out in the spring sunshine.
The herds follow the receding snows up the mountains until about
midsummer, when they reach the high places of scanty vegetation;
then they start on the downward journey, returning to the home and
stables about November 1st. The milk from goats is mixed with that
from cows to make cheese, and this cheese has a wide reputation; some
of the varieties are: Roquefort, Schweitzer and Altenburger. Although
the cheese is excellent, the butter made from goat’s milk is quite
inferior to that made from the cow’s. The milk, when the animals are
well taken care of, is exceedingly nourishing; it is thought to be
the best milk in the world for children. Usually, the trouble with
goat’s milk is, that the animals are not kept clean nor is care taken
in milking. Germany has produced many distinct and excellent breeds
of milch goats; the Island of Malta, Spain, England, Ireland, Egypt
and Nubia have each developed noted breeds. Of all these, the Nubias
give the most milk, sometimes yielding from four to six quarts pet
day, while an ordinary goat is considered fairly good if it yields
two quarts per day.
_The Mohair Goats_--There are two noted breeds of goats whose hair
is used extensively for weaving into fabrics; one of these is the
Cashmere and the other the Angora. The Cashmere goat has long,
straight, silky hair for an outside coat and has a winter under-coat
of very delicate wool. There are not more than two or three ounces of
this wool upon one goat, and this is made into the famous Cashmere
shawls; ten goats furnish barely enough of this wool for one shawl.
The Cashmere goats are grown most largely in Thibet, and the wool is
shipped from the high tableland to the Valley of Cashmere, and is
made into shawls. It requires the work of several people for a year
to produce one of these famous shawls.
The Angora goat has a long, silky and very curly fleece. These
goats were first discovered in Angora, a city of Asia Minor south
of the Black Sea, and some 200 miles southeast from Constantinople.
The Angora goat is a beautiful and delicate animal, and furnishes
most of the mohair, which is made into the cloths known as mohair,
alpaca, camel’s hair and many other fabrics. The Angora goat has
been introduced into America, in California, Texas, Arizona, and to
some extent in the Middle West. It promises to be a very profitable
industry. (See Farmers’ Bulletin No. 137, “The Angora Goat,” United
States Department of Agriculture.)
The skins of goats are used extensively; morocco, gloves and many
other articles are made from them. In the Orient, the skin of the
goat is used as a bag in which to carry water and wine.
_References_--American Animals, p. 55; Neighbors with Claws and
Hoofs, p. 190; Familiar Animals, pp. 169 and 183; Camp Fires of a
Naturalist, chapters VIII and XIII; Lives of Animals.
[Illustration: _Angora goat._
Thompson, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry U. S.
Department of Agriculture.]
LESSON LXV
THE GOAT
_Leading thought_--Goats are among our most interesting domesticated
animals, and their history is closely interwoven with the history of
the development of civilization. In Europe, their milk is made into
cheese that has a world-wide fame; and from the hair of some of the
species, beautiful fabrics are woven. The goat is naturally an animal
of the high mountains.
_Method_--A span of goats harnessed to a cart is second only to
ponies, in a child’s estimation; therefore, the beginning of this
lesson may well be a span of goats thus employed. The lesson should
not be given unless the pupils have an opportunity for making direct
observations on the animal’s appearance and habits. There should
be some oral and written work in English done with this lesson.
Following are topics for such work: “The Milch Goat of Switzerland,”
“How Cashmere Shawls are Made,” “The Angora Goat,” “The Chamois.”
_Observations_--1. Do you think that goats like to climb to high
points? Are they fitted to climb steep, inaccessible places? Can
they jump off steep places in safety? How does it happen the goat is
sure-footed? How do its legs and feet compare with those of the sheep?
2. What does the goat eat? Where does it find its natural food on
mountains? How are the teeth arranged for cutting its food? Does a
goat chew its cud like a cow?
3. What is the covering of the goat? Describe a billy-goat’s beard.
Do you suppose this is for ornament? For what is goat’s hair used?
4. Do you think the goat has a keen sense of sight, of hearing and
of smell? Why? Why did it need to be alert and keen when it lived
wild upon the mountains? Do you think the goat is intelligent? Give
instances of this.
5. Describe the horns. Do they differ from the horns of the sheep?
How does a goat fight? Does he strike head on, like the sheep, or
sidewise? How does he show anger?
6. What noises does a goat make? Do you understand what they mean?
7. Describe the goat, its looks and actions. Is the goat’s tail short
at first or does it have to be cut off like the lamb’s tail? Where
and how is goat’s milk used? What kinds of cheese are made from it?
For what is its skin used? Is its flesh ever eaten?
* * * * *
_Everyone knows the gayety of young kids, which prompts
them to cut the most amusing and burlesque capers. The goat
is naturally capricious and inquisitive, and one might say
crazy for every species of adventure. It positively delights
in perilous ascensions. At times it will rear and threaten
you with its head and horns, apparently, with the worst
intentions, whereas it is usually an invitation to play. The
bucks, however, fight violently with each other; they seem to
have no consciousness of the most terrible blows. The ewes
themselves are not exempt from this vice._
_They know very well whether or not they have deserved
punishment. Drive them out of the garden, where they are
forbidden to go, with a whip and they will flee without
uttering a sound; but strike them without just cause and they
will send forth lamentable cries._
CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT IN “OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.”
[Illustration: _A Sicilian shepherd._
Photo by J. H. Comstock.]
THE SHEEP
_Teacher’s Story_
“_The earliest important achievement of ovine intelligence
is to know whether its own notion or another’s is most worth
while, and if the other’s, which one? Individual sheep
have certain qualities, instincts, competences, but in the
man-herded flocks these are superseded by something which
I shall call the flock mind, though I cannot say very well
what it is, except that it is less than the sum of all their
intelligences. This is why there have never been any notable
changes in the management of flocks since the first herder
girt himself with a wallet of sheep-skin and went out of his
cave-dwelling to the pastures._”
--“The Flock,” by MARY AUSTIN.
Both sheep and goats are at home on mountains, and sheep especially,
thrive best in cool, dry locations. As wild animals, they were
creatures of the mountain crag and chasm, although they frequented
more open places than the mountain goats, and their wool was
developed to protect them from the bitter cold of high altitudes.
They naturally gathered in flocks, and sentinels were set to give
warning of the approach of danger; as soon as the signal came, they
made their escape, not in the straight away race like the deer, but
in following the leader over rock, ledge and precipice to mountain
fastnesses where wolf nor bear could follow. Thus, the instinct
of following the leader blindly, came to be the salvation of the
individual sheep.
The teeth of the sheep are like those of the goat, eight incisors
below and none on the upper row, and six grinding teeth at the back
of each side of each jaw. This arrangement of teeth on the small,
delicate, pointed jaws enables the sheep to crop herbage where cattle
would starve; it can cut the small grass off at its roots, and for
this reason, where vast herds of sheep range, they leave a desert
behind them. This fact brought about a bitter feud between the cattle
and sheep men in the far West. In forests, flocks of sheep completely
kill all underbrush, and now they are not permitted to run in
government reserves.
[Illustration: _A sheep of pedigree, Shropshire ram._]
The sheep’s legs are short and delicate below the ankle. The upper
portion is greatly developed to help the animal in leaping, a
peculiarity to which we owe the “leg of lamb” as a table delicacy.
The hoof is cloven, that is, the sheep walks upon two toes; it has
two smaller toes above and behind these. There is a little gland
between the front toes which secretes an oily substance, which
perhaps serves in preventing the hoof from becoming too dry. The
ears are large and are moved to catch better the direction of sound.
The eyes are peculiar; in the sunlight the pupil is a mere slit,
while the iris is yellow or brownish, but in the dark, even of the
stable, the pupils enlarge, almost covering the eye. The ewes either
lack horns or have small ones, but the horns of wild rams are large,
placed at the side of the head and curled outward in a spiral. These
horns are perhaps not so much for fighting the enemy as for rival
rams. The ram can strike a hard blow with head and horns, coming at
the foe head on, while the goat always strikes sidewise. So fierce is
the blow of the angry sheep, that an ancient instrument of war was
fashioned like a ram’s head and used to knock down walls, and was
called a battering ram. A sheep shows anger by stamping the ground
with the front feet. The habit of rumination enables the sheep to
feed in a flock and then retire to some place to rest and chew the
cud, a performance peculiarly funny in the sheep.
Sheep under attack and danger are silent; ordinarily they keep up
a constant, gentle bleating to keep each other informed of their
whereabouts; they also give a peculiar call when water is discovered,
and another to inform the flock that there is a stranger in the
midst; they also give a peculiar bleat, when a snake or other enemy
which they conquer, is observed. Their sense of smell is very acute.
Mary Austin says, “Young lambs are principally legs, the connecting
body being simply a contrivance for converting milk into more leg, so
you understand how it is that they will follow the flock in two days
and are able to take the trail in a fortnight, traveling four and
five miles a day, falling asleep on their feet and tottering forward
in the way.”
[Illustration: _Mutual contentment._]
The older lambs have games which they play untiringly, and which fit
them to become active members of the flock; one, is the regular game
of “Follow My Leader,” each lamb striving to push ahead and attain
the place of leader. In playing this the head lamb leads the chase
over most difficult places, such as logs, stones and across brooks;
thus is a training begun which later in life may save the flock. The
other game is peculiar to stony pastures; a lamb climbs to the top
of a boulder and its comrades gather around and try to butt it off;
the one which succeeds in doing this, climbs the rock and is “it.”
This game leads to agility and sure-footedness. A lamb’s tail is long
and is most expressive of lambkin bliss, when feeding time comes;
but, alas! it has to be cut off so that later it will not become
matted with burrs and filth. In southern Russia there is a breed of
sheep with large, flat, fat tails which are esteemed as a great table
delicacy. This tail becomes so cumbersome that wheels are placed
beneath it, so that it trundles along behind its owner.
We have a noble species of wild sheep in the Rocky Mountains which is
likely to become extinct soon. The different breeds of domesticated
sheep are supposed to have been derived from different wild species.
Of the domesticated varieties, we have the Merinos which originated
in Spain and which give beautiful, long, fine wool for our fabrics;
but their flesh is not very attractive. The Merinos have wool on
their faces and legs and have wrinkled skins. The English breeds
of sheep have been especially developed for mutton, although their
wool is valuable. Some of these like the Southdown, Shropshire, and
Dorset, give a medium length of wool, while the Cotswold has very
long wool, the ewes having long strings of wool over their eyes in
the fashion of “bangs.”
The dog, as descended from the wolf, is the ancient enemy of sheep;
and even now after hundreds of years of domestication, some of our
dogs will revert to savagery and chase and kill sheep. This, in fact,
has been one of the great drawbacks to sheep raising in the Eastern
United States. The collie, or sheep-dog, has been bred so many years
as the special care-taker of sheep, that a beautiful relationship has
been established between these dogs and their flocks. For instances
of this, read the chapter on sheep-dogs in A Country Reader; “Wully”
in Wild Animals I Have Known, and “Bob, Son of Battle.”
LESSON LXVI
THE SHEEP
_Leading thought_--Sheep live naturally in high altitudes. When
attacked by enemies, they follow their leader over difficult and
dangerous mountain places.
_Method_--The questions of this lesson should be given to the pupils
and the observations should be made upon the sheep in pasture or
stable. Much written work may be done in connection with this
lesson. The following topics are suggested for themes: “The Methods
by which Wool is Made into Cloth,” “The Rocky Mountain Sheep,” “The
Sheep-herders of California and their Flocks,” “The True Story of a
Cosset Lamb.”
[Illustration: _Horned Dorset ram._]
_Observations_--1. What is the chief character that separates sheep
from other animals? What is the difference between wool and hair? Why
is wool of special use to sheep in their native haunts? Is there any
hair on sheep?
2. Where do the wild sheep live? What is the climate in these places?
Does wool serve them well on this account? What sort of pasturage do
sheep find on mountains? Could cows live where sheep thrive? Describe
the sheep’s teeth and how they are arranged to enable it to crop
vegetation closely. What happens to the vegetation on the range, when
a great flock of sheep passes over it? Why are sheep not allowed in
our forest preserves?
3. What are the chief enemies of sheep in the wilderness? How do the
sheep escape them? Describe the foot and leg of the sheep and explain
how they help the animal to escape its enemies. We say of certain
men that they “follow like a flock of sheep.” Why do we make this
comparison? What has this habit of following the leader to do with
the escape of sheep from wolves and bears?
4. How do sheep fight? Do both rams and ewes have horns? Do they both
fight? How does the sheep show anger? Give your experience with a
cross cosset lamb.
5. Do you think that sheep can see and hear well? What is the
position of the sheep’s ears when it is peaceful? When there is
danger? How do the sheep’s eyes differ from those of the cow?
6. Does the sheep chew its cud like the cow? Describe the action as
performed by the sheep. How is this habit of cud chewing of use to
the wild sheep?
7. Describe a young lamb. Why has it such long legs? How does it use
its tail to express joy? What happens to this tail later? What games
have you seen lambs play? Tell all the stories of lambs that you know.
8. How much of sheep language do you understand? What is the use to
the wild flock of the constant bleating?
9. For what purposes do we keep sheep? How many breeds of sheep do
you know? What are the chief differences between the English breeds
and the Merinos? Where and for what purposes is the milk of sheep
used?
10. Have you ever seen a collie looking after a herd of sheep? If so,
describe his actions. Did you ever know of dogs killing sheep? At
what time of day or night was this done? Did you ever know of one dog
attacking a flock of sheep alone? What is there in the dog’s ancestry
which makes two or three dogs, when hunting, give chase and attack
sheep?
[Illustration:
Photo by Gerrit Miller.
]
[Illustration: _A herd of ponies in the Isle of Shetland guarded by a
sheep-dog._]
THE HORSE
_Teacher’s Story_
“_There was once a little animal no bigger than a fox,
And on five toes he scrambled over Tertiary rocks.
They called him Eohippus, and they called him very small,
And they thought him of no value when they thought of him
at all._
_Said the little Eohippus, I am going to be a horse!
And on my middle finger nails to run my earthly course!
I am going to have a flowing tail! I am going to have a
mane!
And I am going to stand fourteen hands high on the Psychozooic
plain!_”
--MRS. STETSON.
It was some millions of years ago, that Eohippus lived out in the
Rocky Mountain Range; its fore feet had four toes and the splint of
the fifth; the hind feet had three toes and the splint of the fourth.
Eohippus was followed down the geologic ages by the Orohippus and
the Mesohippus and various other hippuses, which showed in each age
a successive enlargement and specialization of the middle toe and
the minimizing and final loss of the others. This first little horse
with many toes, lived when the earth was a damp, warm place and when
animals needed toes to spread out to prevent them from miring in the
mud. But as the ages went on, the earth grew colder and drier, and
a long leg ending in a single hoof, was very serviceable in running
swiftly over the dry plains; and according to the story read in the
fossils of the rocks, our little American horses migrated to South
America; and also trotted dry-shod over to Asia in the Mid-pleocine
age, arriving there sufficiently early to become the companion of
prehistoric man. In the meantime, horses were first hunted by savage
man for their flesh, but were later ridden. At present, there are
wild horses in herds on the plains of Tartary; and there are still
sporadic herds of mustangs on the great plains of our own country,
although for the most part, they are branded and belong to someone,
even though they live like wild horses; these American wild horses
are supposed to be descendants of those brought over centuries ago
by the Spaniards. The Shetland ponies are also wild in the islands
north of Scotland, and the zebras roam the plains of Africa the most
truly wild of all. In a state of wildness, there is always a stallion
at the head of a herd of mares, and he has to win his position and
keep it by superior strength and prowess. Fights between stallions
are terrible to witness, and often result in the death of one of the
participants. The horse is well armed for battle; his powerful teeth
can inflict deep wounds and he can kick and strike hard with the
front feet; still more efficient is the kick made with both hind feet
while the weight of the body is borne on the front feet, and the head
of the horse is turned so as to aim well the terrible blow. There are
no wild beasts of prey which will not slink away to avoid a herd of
horses. After attaining their growth in the herd with their mothers,
the young males are forced by the leader to leave and go off by
themselves; in turn, they must by their own strength and attractions,
win their following of mares. However, there are times and places
where many of these herds join, making large bands wandering together.
[Illustration: _Four-toed horse of the Eocene period._
After Charles R. Knight.]
The length of the horse’s leg was evidently evolved to meet the need
for flight before fierce and swift enemies, on the great ancient
plains. The one toe, with its strong, sharp hoof, makes a fit foot
for such a long leg, since it strikes the ground with little waste
of energy and is sharp enough not to slip, but it is not a good foot
for marshy places; a horse will mire where a cow can pass in safety.
The development of the middle toe into a hoof results in lifting the
heel and wrist far up the leg, making them appear to be the knee and
elbow, when compared with the human body.
The length of neck and head are necessary in order that an animal,
with such length of leg as the horse, may be able to graze. The head
of the horse tells much of its disposition; a perfect head should
be not too large, broad between the eyes and high between the ears,
while below the eyes, it should be narrow. The ears, if lopped or
turned back, denote a treacherous disposition. They should point
upward or forward; the ears laid back is always a sign that the horse
is angry; sensitive, quick-moving ears indicate a high-strung,
sensitive animal. The eyes are placed so that the horse can see in
front, at the side and behind, the last being necessary in order to
aim a kick. Hazel eyes are usually preferred to dark ones, and they
should be bright and prominent. The nostrils should be thin-skinned,
wide-flaring and sensitive; as a wild animal, scent was one of the
horse’s chief aids in detecting the enemy. The lips should not be too
thick and the lower jaw should be narrow where it joins the head.
[Illustration]
The horse’s teeth are peculiar; there are six incisors on both jaws;
behind them is a bare space called the bar, of which we have made
use for placing the bit. Back of the bar, there are six molars or
grinders on each side of each jaw. At the age of about three years,
canine teeth or tushes appear behind the incisors; these are more
noticeable in males, and never seem to be of much use. Thus, the
horse has on each jaw, when full-grown, six incisors, two canines,
and twelve molars, making forty teeth in all. The incisors are
prominent and enable the horse to bite the grass more closely than
can the cow. The horse when chewing, does not have the sidewise
motion of the jaws peculiar to the cow and sheep.
[Illustration: _Hoofs of horses from earliest ages to the present
time, arranged in pairs, hind and front._]
The horse’s coat is, when rightly cared for, glossy and beautiful;
but if the horse is allowed to run out in the pasture all winter, the
coat becomes very shaggy, thus reverting to the condition of wild
horses which stand in need of a warmer coat for winter; the hair is
shed every year. The mane and the forelock are useful in protecting
the head and neck from flies; the tail is also an efficient
fly-brush. Although the mane and tail have thus a practical value,
they add greatly to the animal’s beauty. To dock a horse’s tail as
an ornament is as absurd as the sliced ears and welted cheeks of
savages; and horses thus mutilated suffer greatly from the attacks of
flies.
Owing to the fact that wild horses made swift flight from enemies,
the colts could not be left behind at the mercy of wolves. Thus
it is, the colt like the lamb, is equipped with long legs from
the first, and can run very rapidly; as a runner, it could not be
loaded with a big compound stomach full of food, like the calf, and
therefore, must needs take its nourishment from the mother often. The
colt’s legs are so long that, in order to graze, it spreads the front
legs wide apart in order that it may reach the grass with its mouth.
When the colt or the horse lies down out of doors and in perfect
freedom, it lies flat upon the side. In lying down, the hind quarters
go first, and in rising, the front legs are thrust out first.
[Illustration: _English draft-horse._]
The horse has several natural gaits and some that are artificial. Its
natural methods of progression are the walk, the trot, the amble,
the gallop. When walking there are always two or more feet on the
ground and the movement of the feet consists in placing successively
the right hind foot, the right fore foot, left hind foot, left fore
foot, right hind foot, etc. In trotting, each diagonal pair of legs
is alternately lifted and thrust forward, the horse being unsupported
twice during each stride. In ambling, the feet are moved as in the
walk, only differing in that a hind foot or a fore foot is lifted
from the ground, before its fellow fore foot or hind foot is set
down. In a canter, the feet are landed on the ground in the same
sequence as a walk but much more rapidly; and in the gallop, the
spring is made from the fore foot and the landing is on the diagonal
hind foot and just before landing, the body is in the air and the
legs are all bent beneath it.
An excellent horseman once said to me, “The whip may teach a horse
to obey the voice, but the voice and hand control the well-broken
horse,” and this epitomizes the best horse training. He also said,
“The horse knows a great deal, but he is too nervous to make use of
his knowledge when he needs it most. It is the horse’s feelings that
I rely on. He always has the use of his feelings and the quick use of
them.” It is a well-known fact that those men who whip and scold and
swear at their horses, are meantime showing to the world that they
are fools in this particular business. Many of the qualities which
we do not like in our domesticated horses, were most excellent and
useful when the horses were wild, for instance, the habit of shying
was the wild horse’s method of escaping the crouching foe in the
grass. This habit as well as many others is best controlled by the
voice of the driver instead of a blow from the whip.
[Illustration: _Saddle-horse._]
Timothy hay, or hay mixed with clover, form good, bulky food for the
horse, and oats and corn are the best concentrated food. Oats are
best for driving-horses and corn for the working team. Dusty hay
should not be fed to a horse; but if unavoidable, it should always be
dampened before feeding. A horse should be fed with regularity, and
should not be used for a short time after having eaten. If the horse
is not warm, it should be watered before feeding, and in the winter
the water should have the chill taken off. The frozen bit should be
warmed before being placed in the horse’s mouth; if anyone doubts
the wisdom of this, let him put a frozen piece of steel in his own
mouth. The tight-drawn, cruel use of the over check-rein should not
be permitted, although a moderate check is often needed and is not
cruel. When the horse is sweating, it should be blanketed immediately
if hitched outside in cold weather; but in the barn, the blanket
should not be put on until the perspiration has stopped steaming.
The grooming of a horse is a part of its rights, and its legs should
receive more attention during this process than its body, a fact not
always well understood.
The breeds of horses may always be classified more or less distinctly
as follows: Racers or thoroughbreds, the saddle-horse, or hunter;
the coach-horse; the draft-horse and the pony. For a description
of breeds see dictionaries or cyclopedias. Of the draft-horses, the
Percherons, Shires and Clydesdales are most common; of the carriage
and coach-horses, the English hackney and the French and German
coach-horses are famed examples. Of the roadster breeds, the American
trotter, the American saddle-horse and the English thoroughbred are
most famous.
[Illustration: _A good coacher._]
LESSON LXVII
THE HORSE
_Leading thought_--The horse as a wild animal depended largely upon
its strength and fleetness to escape its enemies, and these two
qualities have made it of greatest use to man.
_Method_--Begin this study of the horse with the stories of wild
horses. “The Pacing Mustang” in Wild Animals I Have Known, is an
excellent story to show the habits of the herds of wild horses;
Chapter first in A Country Reader and the story of horses in Life
of Animals are excellent as a basis for study. Before beginning
actual study of the domestic horses, ask for oral or written
English exercises descriptive of the lives of the wild horses. Get
Remington’s pictures illustrating the wild horses of America. After
the interest has been thus aroused the following observations may be
suggested, a few at a time, to be made incidentally in the street or
in the stable.
_Observations_--1. Compare the length of the legs of the horse with
its height. Has any other domestic animal legs as long in proportion?
What habits of the ancestral wild horses led to the development of
such long legs? Do you think the length of the horse’s neck and head
correspond to the length of its legs? Why?
2. Study the horse’s leg and foot. The horse walks on one toe. Which
toe do you think it is? What do we call the toe-nail of the horse?
What advantage is this sort of a foot to the horse? Is it best fitted
for running on dry plains or for marshy land? Does the hoof grow as
our nails do? Do you know whether there were ever any horses with
three toes or four toes on each foot? Make a sketch of the horse’s
front and hind leg and label those places which correspond to our
wrist, elbow, shoulder, hand, heel, knee and hip.
3. Where are the horse’s ears placed on the head? How do they move?
Do they flap back and forth like the cow’s ears when they are moved,
or do they turn as if on a pivot? What do the following different
positions of the horse’s ears indicate: When lifted and pointing
forward? When thrown back? Can you tell by the action of the ears
whether a horse is nervous and high-strung or not?
4. What is the color of the horse’s eyes? The shape of the pupil?
What advantage does the position of the eyes on the head give to the
wild horse? Why do we put blinders on a horse? Can you tell by the
expression of the eye the temper of the horse?
5. Look at the mouth and nose. Are the nostrils large and flaring?
Has the horse a keen sense of smell? Are the lips thick or thin? When
taking sugar from the hand, does the horse use teeth or lips?
[Illustration: _“Palo Alto”, a famous running horse._]
6. Describe the horse’s teeth. How many front teeth? How many back
teeth? Describe the bar where the bit is placed. Are there any
canine teeth? If so, where? Do you know how to tell a horse’s age
by its teeth? (See Elements of Agriculture, Warren, page 304, and
The Horse, Roberts, page 246.) Can a horse graze the grass more
closely than a cow? Why? When it chews does it move the jaws sidewise
like the cow? Why? Why did the wild horses not need to develop a
cud-chewing habit?
7. What is the nature of the horse’s coat in summer? If the horse
runs in the pasture all winter, how does its coat change? When
does the horse shed its coat? What is the use of the horse’s mane,
forelock and tail? Do you think it is treating the horse well to dock
its tail?
8. Why do colts need to be so long-legged? How does a colt have to
place its front legs in order to reach down and eat the grass? Does
the colt need to take its food from the mother often? How does it
differ from the calf in this respect? How has this difference of
habit resulted in a difference of form in the calf and colt?
9. When the horse lies down which part goes down first? When getting
up which rises first? How does this differ from the method of
the cow? When the horse lies down to sleep does it have its legs
partially under it like the cow?
10. In walking which leg moves first? Second? Third? Fourth? How
many gaits has the horse? Describe as well as you can all of these
gaits. (See pictures illustrating the word “movement” in the Standard
Dictionary.)
11. Make a sketch of a horse showing the parts. (See Webster’s
Unabridged). When we say a horse is fourteen hands high what do we
mean?
12. In fighting, what weapons does the horse use and how?
13. In training a horse, should the voice or the whip be used the
most? What qualities should a man have to be a good horse trainer?
Why is shying a good quality in wild horses? How should it be dealt
with in the domestic horse?
14. What sort of feed is best for the horse? How and when should the
horse be watered? Should the water be warmed in cold weather? Why?
Should the bit be warmed in winter before putting it in a horse’s
mouth? Why? Should a tight over check-rein be used when driving? Why?
When the horse has been driven until it is sweating what are the
rules for blanketing it when hitched out of doors and when hitched
in the barn? What is your opinion of a man who lets his horse stand
waiting in the cold, unblanketed in the village street? If horses
were kept out of doors all the time would this treatment be so cruel
and dangerous? Why? Why should dusty hay be dampened before it is fed
to a horse? Why should a horse be groomed? Which should receive the
most attention, the legs or the body?
15. How many breeds of horses do you know? What is the use of each?
Describe as well as you can the characteristics of the following
breeds: The thoroughbred, the hackney, and other coach-horses; the
American trotter, the Percheron, the Clydesdale.
16. Write English themes on the following subjects: “The Prehistoric
Horses of America,” “The Arabian Horse and Its Life With Its
Master,” “The Bronchos and Mustangs of the West,” “The Wild Horses
of Tartary,” “The Zebras of Africa,” “The Shetland Ponies and the
Islands on Which They Run Wild.”
_Supplementary reading_--The Horse, Roberts; Elements of Agriculture,
Warren; Life of Animals, Cram; Neighbors with Claws and Hoofs; A
Country Reader; Agriculture for Beginners; Black Beauty; John Brent,
by Theodore Withrop; Half Hours with Mammals, Holder; Chapters on
Animals, Hammerton; “Kaweah’s Run” in Claws and Hoofs.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
_Many horses shy a good deal at objects they meet on the road.
This mostly arises from nervousness, because the objects
are not familiar to them. Therefore, to cure the habit, you
must get your horse accustomed to what he sees, and so give
him confidence.... Be careful never to stop a horse that is
drawing a vehicle or load in the middle of a hill, except
for a rest; and if for a rest, draw him across the hill and
place a big stone behind the wheel, so that the strain on the
shoulder may be eased. Unless absolutely necessary never stop
a horse on a hill or in a rut, so that when he starts again it
means a heavy tug. Many a horse has been made a jibber and his
temper spoilt by not observing this rule._
--H. B. M. BUCHANAN IN “A COUNTRY READER.”
[Illustration: _The original wild cattle of America._
Photo by John L. Rich.]
CATTLE
_Teacher’s Story_
That in numbers there is safety, is a basic principle in the lives
of wild cattle, probably because their chief enemies, the wolves,
hunted in packs. It has often been related that, when the herd is
attacked by wolves, the calves are placed at the center of the
circle made by the cattle, standing with heads out and horns ready
for attack from every quarter. But when a single animal, like a bear
or tiger, attacks any of the herd, they all gather around it in a
narrowing circle of clashing horns, and many of these great beasts
of prey have thus met their death. The cow is as formidable as the
bull to the enemy, since her horns are strong and sharp and she
tosses her victim, unless it is too large. The heavy head, neck and
short massive horns of the bull, are not so much for defence against
enemies as against rival bulls. The bull not only tosses and gores
his victim, but kneels or tramples upon it. Both have effective
weapons of defence in the hind feet, which kick powerfully. The
buffalo bull of India will attack a tiger single handed, and usually
successfully. It is a strange thing that all cattle are driven mad by
the smell of blood, and weird stories are told of the stampeding of
herds from this cause, on the plains of our great West.
Cattle are essentially grass and herbage eaters, and their teeth are
peculiarly arranged for this. There are eight front teeth on the
lower jaw, and a horny pad opposite them on the upper jaw. Back of
these on each jaw there is a bare place and six grinding teeth on
each side. As a cow crops the herbage, her head is moved up and down
to aid in severing the leaves, and the peculiar sound of the tearing
of the leaves thus made is not soon forgotten by those who have heard
it. In the wild or domesticated state the habit of cud-chewing is
this: The cattle graze in mornings and evenings, swallowing the food
as fast as cropped, and storing it in their ruminating stomachs.
During the heat of the day, they move to the shade, preferably to the
shady banks of streams, and there in quiet the food is brought up, a
small portion at a time, and chewed with a peculiar sidewise movement
of the jaws and then swallowed, passing to the true stomach. There is
probably no more perfect picture of utter contentment, than a herd of
cows chewing their cuds in the shade, or standing knee-deep in the
cool stream on a summer’s day. The cattle in a herd when grazing,
keep abreast and move along, heads in the same direction.
[Illustration: _Course of food in a cow’s stomach._
I, ruminant stomach; II, where the cud-balls are formed; III, IV,
true stomachs.]
Connected with the grazing habit, is that of the hiding of the
new-born calf by its mother; the young calf is a wabbly creature and
ill-fitted for a long journey; so the mother hides it, and there it
stays “frozen” and will never stir unless actually touched. As the
mother is obliged to be absent for some time grazing with the herd,
the calf is obliged to go without nourishment for a number of hours,
and so it is provided with a large compound stomach which, if filled
twice per day, suffices to insure health and growth. The cow, on the
other hand, giving her milk out only twice per day, needs a large
udder in which to store it. The size of the udder is what has made
the cow useful to us as a milch animal.
[Illustration: _A pet Holstein._]
A fine cow is a beautiful creature, her soft yellow skin beneath
the sleek coat of short hair, the well proportioned body, the mild
face, crowned with spreading, polished horns and illuminated with
large gentle eyes, are all elements of beauty which artists have
recognized, especially those of the Dutch school. The ancients also
admired bovine eyes, and called their most beautiful goddess the
ox-eyed Juno.
The cow’s ears can be turned in any direction, and her sense of
hearing is keen; so is her sense of smell, aided by the moist,
sensitive skin of the nose; she always sniffs danger and also thus
tests her food. Although a cow if well kept has a sleek coat, when
she is allowed to run out of doors during the winter, her hair grows
long and shaggy as a protection. The cow walks on two toes, or as we
say has a split hoof. She has two lesser toes above and behind the
hoofs which we call dew-claws. The part of her leg which seems at
first glance to be her knee, is really her wrist or ankle. Although
short-legged, the cow is a good runner, as those who have chased her
can bear witness. She can walk, gallop and has a pacing trot; she is
a remarkable jumper, often taking a fence like a deer; she also has
marvelous powers as a swimmer, a case being on record where a cow
swam five miles. But a cow would be illy equipped for comfort if it
were not for her peculiar tail, which is made after the most approved
pattern of fly-brushes, and is thus used. Woe betide the fly she hits
with it, if the blow is as efficient as that which she incidentally
bestows on the head of the milker. It is to get rid of flies, that
the cattle, and especially the buffaloes, wallow in the mud, and thus
coat themselves with a fly-proof armor.
There is a fairly extensive range of emotions expressed in cattle
language, from the sullen bellow of the angry animal to the lowing
which is the call of the herd, and the mooing which is meant for the
calf; and there are many other bellowings and mutterings which we can
partially understand.
Every herd of cows has its leader, which has won the position by fair
fight. Add a new cow to the herd, and there is at once a trial of
strength, to adjust her to her proper place; and in a herd of cows,
the leader leads; she goes first and no one may say her nay. In fact,
each member of the herd has her place in it; and that is why it is so
easy to teach cows each to take her own stanchion in the stable. In
a herd of forty cows which I knew, each cow took her stanchion, no
matter in what order she happened to enter the stable.
A cow at play is a funny sight; her tail is lifted aloft like a
pennant and she kicks as lightly as if she were made of rubber. She
is also a sure-footed beast, as anyone can attest who has seen her
running down the rocky mountain sides of the Alps, at a headlong pace
and never making a mistake. In lying down, the cow first kneels with
the front legs, or rather drops on her wrists, and then the hind
quarters go down, and then the front follow. She does not lie flat on
her side when resting, like the horse when at ease, but with her legs
partially under her. In getting up, she rests upon her wrists and
then lifts the hind quarters.
_The Usefulness of Cattle_
When man emerged from the savage state, his first step toward
civilization was domesticating wild animals and training them for
his own use. During the nomad stage, when tribes wandered over the
face of the earth, they took their cattle along. From the first,
these animals have been used in three capacities: First, for carrying
burdens and as draught animals; second, as meat; third, as givers of
milk. They were also used in the earlier ages as sacrifices to the
various deities, and in Egypt, some were held as sacred.
As beasts of burden and draft animals, oxen are still used in many
parts of the United States. For logging, especially in pioneer days,
oxen were far more valuable than horses. They are patient and will
pull a few inches at a time, if necessary, a tedious work which the
nervous horse refuses to endure. Cows too, have been used as draft
animals, and are so used in China today, where they do most of the
plowing; in these oriental countries milk is not consumed to any
extent, so the cow is kept for the work she can do. In ancient times
in the East, white oxen formed a part of royal processions.
[Illustration: _Beef cattle._]
Because of two main uses of cattle by civilized man, he has bred
them in two directions; one for producing beef, and one for milk.
The beef cattle are chiefly Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Short-horn or
Durham, and Hereford; the dairy breeds are the Jersey, Guernsey,
Ayrshire, Holstein-Frisian and Brown Swiss. The beef animal is, in
cross-section, approximately like a brick set sidewise. It should
be big and full across the loins and back, the shoulders and hips
covered heavily with flesh, the legs stout, the neck thick and short,
and the face short; the line of the back is straight, and the stomach
line parallel with it. Very different is the appearance of the milch
cow. Her body is oval, instead of being approximately square in
cross-section. The outline of her back is not straight, but sags
in front of the hips, which are prominent and bony. The shoulders
have little flesh on them; and if looked at from above, her body is
wedge-shaped, widening from shoulders backward. The stomach line
is not parallel with the back bone, but slants downward from the
shoulder to the udder. The following are the points that indicate
a good milch cow: Head high between the eyes, showing large air
passages and indicating strong lungs. Eyes clear, large and placid,
indicating good disposition. Mouth large, with a muscular lower jaw,
showing ability to chew efficiently and rapidly. Neck, thin and fine,
showing veins through the skin. Chest deep and wide, showing plenty
of room for heart and lungs. Abdomen, large but well supported, and
increasing in size toward the rear. Ribs, well spread, not meeting
the spine like the peak of a roof, but the spine must be prominent,
revealing to the touch the separate vertebræ. Hips, much broader than
the shoulders. Udder, large, the four quarters of equal size, and not
fat; the “milk veins” which carry the blood from the udder should be
large and crooked, passing into the abdomen through large openings.
Skin, soft, pliable and covered with fine, oily hair. She should
have good digestion and great powers of assimilation. The milch cow
is a milk-making machine, and the more fuel (food) she can use, the
greater her production.
The physiological habits of the beef and milch cattle have been
changed as much as their structure. The food given to the beef cow
goes to make flesh; while that given to the milch cow goes to make
milk, however abundant her food. Of course, there are all grades
between the beef and the milch types, for many farmers use dual herds
for both. However, if a farmer is producing milk it pays him well to
get the best possible machine to make it, and that is always a cow of
the right type.
_A Geography Lesson_
All the best breeds of cattle have been evolved in the British Isles
and in Europe north of Italy and west of Russia. All our domesticated
cattle were developed from wild cattle of Europe and Asia. The cattle
which roam in our rapidly narrowing grazing lands of the far West
are European cattle. America had no wild cattle except the bison.
In geography supplementary readers, read about Scotland, England,
the Channel Islands, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland and the
different kinds of cattle developed in these countries; for example,
“A Holland Dairy,” in Northern Europe, Ginn & Co.
_How to Produce Good Milk_
There are three main ingredients of milk--fat, curd and ash. The
fat is for the purpose of supplying the animal with fat and we make
it into butter; the curd supplies muscle, or the lean meat of the
animal, and is the main ingredient of cheese, although cheese to be
good should contain a full amount of butter fat; the ash which may be
seen as residue when milk is evaporated, builds up the bone of the
animal. The best butter cows are those which give a larger per cent.
of fat and a small per cent. of curd, like the Jerseys; the best
cheese cows are those which give a fair per cent. of fat and a larger
yield of curd, like the Ayrshire and Holstein.
A cow for producing cheese, is not profitable, unless she gives
seven thousand pounds of milk per year; a butter cow, a Jersey for
instance, should produce five thousand pounds of milk per year to be
really profitable.
The stable where milch cows are kept should be thoroughly cleaned
before each milking, and should be swept each day; the cows’ udders
should be brushed, and the milkers should wear clean aprons and
should wash their hands before milking. Milk should never be strained
in the barn, but in some place where the air is fresh. If milk is
perfectly clean, it will keep sweet much longer; sterilized milk put
in bottles will keep sweet for weeks and even months. Loud talking
should not be permitted in the stables while the cows are being
milked, and each cow should be milked by the same person for the
entire season.
[Illustration: _The perfect milch type._]
Milk to be legally sold in New York State must possess three per
cent. of butter fat. For upper grades or first year work in the high
school, there could not be a more profitable exercise than teaching
the pupils the use of the Babcock milk tester.
_The Care of the Milch Cow_
The importance cannot be over-estimated of teaching the pupils in
rural districts, the proper care of milch cattle for the production
of milk. The milch cow is a perfect machine, and should be regarded
as such in producing milk. First, she should have plenty of food of
the right kind, that is, a well-balanced ration. Second, she should
have a warm, clean stable and be supplied with plenty of good, fresh
air. A cold stable makes it necessary to provide much more food for
the cow; a case on record shows that when a barn was opened up in
cold weather for necessary repairing, the amount of milk from the
cows stabled in it, decreased ten per cent. in twenty-four hours.
There should be a protected place for drinking, if the cattle must
be turned out of the barn for water in winter; it is far better to
have the water piped into the barn, although the herd should be given
a few hours each day in the open air. A dog should never be used for
driving cows. To be profitable, a cow should give milk ten months of
the year at least. Calves should be dehorned when they are a few days
old by putting caustic potash on the budding horns, thus obviating
the danger of damaging the cow by dehorning.
In a properly run dairy, a pair of scales stands near the can for
receiving the milk; and as the milk from each cow is brought in, it
is weighed and the amount set down opposite the cow’s name on a “milk
sheet,” that is tacked on the wall, near by. At the end of each week,
the figures on the milk sheet are added, and the farmer knows just
how much milk each cow is giving him, and whether there are any in
the herd which are not paying their board.
_References_--Elements of Agriculture, Warren; Agriculture for
Beginners, Burkett, Stevens and Hill, p. 216; First Principles of
Agriculture, Vorhees, p. 117; Elements of Agriculture, Sever, p.
57; Elements of Agriculture, Shepperd, chapters 15 and 22; First
Principles of Agriculture, Goff and Maine, p. 154; Agriculture
Through the Laboratory, School and Garden, Jackson and Dougherty,
chapter 8; The Dairy Herd, Farmers’ Bulletin No. 55, U. S. Dept. of
Agr.; Care of Milk on the Farm, Farmers’ Bulletin No. 63, U. S. Dept.
of Agr.
LESSON LXVIII
THE COW
_Leading thought_--Certain characteristics which enable the cow to
live successfully as a wild animal, have rendered her of great use to
us as a domestic animal.
_Method_--Begin the lesson with leading the pupils to understand
the peculiar adaptation of cattle for success, as wild animals.
This will have to be done largely by reading and asking for oral or
written work on the following topics: “The Aurochs,” “Wild Cattle
of the Scottish Highlands,” “The Buffaloes of the Orient,” “The
American Bison,” “The Cow-boys of the West and their Work with their
Herds,” “The Breeds of Beef Cattle, Where they Came From, and Where
Developed,” “The Breeds of Milch Cattle, their Origin and Names.” The
following questions may be given out a few at a time and answered as
the pupils have opportunity for observation.
_Observations_--1. What are the characteristics of a fine cow?
Describe her horns, ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Do you think she can
hear well? What is the attitude of her ears when she is listening? Do
you think she has a keen sense of smell? Is her nose moist? Is her
hair long or short? Smooth or rough?
2. The cow walks on two toes. Can you see any other toes which she
does not walk on? Why is the cow’s foot better adapted than that of
the horse, to walk in mud and marshes? What do we call the two hind
toes which she does not walk on? Can you point out on the cow’s leg
those parts which correspond with our elbow, wrist, knee and ankle?
Is the cow a good runner? Is she a good jumper? Can she swim?
3. For what use was the cow’s tail evidently intended? How do the
wild buffalos and bisons get rid of attacks of flies?
4. How much of cattle language do you understand? How does the cow
express pleasure? Lonesomeness? Anger? How does the bull express
anger? What does the calf express with the voice?
5. Is there always a leader in a herd of cows? Do certain cows of the
herd always go first and others last? Do the cows readily learn to
take each her own place in the stable? How is leadership of the herd
attained? Describe cattle at play.
6. At what time of day do cattle feed in the pasture? When and where
do they chew the cud? Do they stand or lie to do this? Describe how a
cow lies down and gets up.
7. How do wild cattle defend themselves from wolves? From bears or
other solitary animals?
8. For what purposes were cattle first domesticated? For how many
purposes do we rear cattle today?
9. Name and give brief descriptions of the different breeds of cattle
with which you are familiar. Which of these are beef and which milch
types?
10. What are the distinguishing points of a good milch cow? Of a good
beef animal? What does the food do for each of these? Which part of
the United States produces most beef cattle? Which the most milch
cattle?
11. What do we mean by a balanced ration? Do you know how to compute
one? What is the advantage of feeding cattle a balanced ration?
12. How many pounds of milk should a dairy cow produce in a year to
be profitable if the product is cheese? If the product is butter? Why
this discrepancy? What must be the per cent. of butter fat in milk to
make it legally salable in your state? How many months of the year
should a good cow give milk?
13. Why should a cow be milked always by the same person? Does the
milker always sit on the same side? Why should loud talking and other
noise at milking time be avoided? Should a dog be used in driving
dairy cows? Why?
14. Why is a cool draughty barn an expensive place in which to keep
cattle? Why is a barn not well-ventilated, a danger?
15. Why and where is the dehorning of cattle practiced? When and how
should a calf be dehorned?
16. Why should milk not be strained in the barn? Why is it profitable
for the dairy farmer to keep his stable clean and to be cleanly in
the care of milk? How does the food of cows affect the flavor of the
milk? Why should a farmer keep a record of the number of pounds of
milk which each cow in his dairy gives each day?
17. For what are oxen used? Wherein are they superior to horses as
draft animals? Do you know of any place where oxen are used as riding
animals?
18. How many industries are dependent upon cattle?
19. Give oral or written exercises on the following themes: “How the
Best Butter is Made;” “The Use of Bacteria in Butter;” “How Dairy
Cheese is Made;” “How Fancy Cheeses are Made.”
THE PIG
_Teacher’s Story_
“_I wander through the underbresh,
Where pig tracks pintin’ to’rds the crick,
Is picked and printed in the fresh
Black bottom-lands, like wimmen prick
Their pie-crust with a fork._”
--RILEY.
[Illustration: B]
By a forest law of William the First of England in the eleventh
century, it was ordained that any that were found guilty of killing
the stag or the roebuck or the wild boar, should have their eyes put
out. This shows that the hunting of the wild boar in England was
considered a sport of gentlemen in an age when nothing was considered
sport unless it was dangerous. The wild hog of Europe is the ancestor
of our common domesticated breeds; although independent of these, the
Chinese domesticated their own wild species, even before the dawn of
history.
[Illustration: _Anxious for dinner._]
The wild hog likes damp situations where it may wallow in the water
and mud; but it also likes to have, close by, woods, thicket or
underbrush, to which it can retire for rest and also when in danger.
The stiff, bristling hairs which cover its thick skin, are a great
protection when it is pushing through thorny thickets. When excited
or angry, these bristles rise and add to the fury of its appearance.
Even in our own country, the wild hogs of the South whose ancestors
escaped from domestication, have reverted to their original savagery,
and are dangerous when infuriated. The only recorded instance
when our great national hunter, Theodore Roosevelt, was forced
ignominiously to climb a tree, was after he had emptied his rifle
into a herd of “javelins,” as the wild pigs of Texas are called; the
javelins are the peccaries, which are the American representatives of
the wild hog.
That the hog has become synonymous with filth is the result of the
influence of man upon this animal, for of all animals, the pig is
naturally the neatest, keeping its bed clean, often in the most
discouraging and ill-kept pens. The pig is sparsely clothed with
bristles and hairs, which yield it no protection from the attacks of
flies and other insects. Thus it is the pig, in order to rid itself
of these pests, has learned to wallow in the mud. However, this is in
the nature of a mud bath, and is for the purpose of keeping the body
free from vermin. The wild hogs of India make for themselves grass
huts, thatched above and with doors at the sides, which shows that
the pig, if allowed to care for itself, understands well the art of
nest-building.
One of the most interesting things about a pig, is its nose; this is
a fleshy disc with nostrils in it and is a most sensitive organ of
feeling; it can select grain from chaff, and yet is so strong that
it can root up the ground in search for food. “Root” is a pig word,
and was evidently coined to describe the act of the pig when digging
for roots; the pig’s nose is almost as remarkable as the elephant’s
trunk, and the pig’s sense of smell is very keen; it will follow a
track almost as well as a dog. There are more instances than one of
a pig being trained as a pointer for hunting birds, and showing a
keener sense of smell, and keener intelligence in this capacity, than
do dogs. French pigs are taught to hunt for truffles, which are fungi
growing on tree roots, a long way below the surface of the ground;
the pig detects their presence through the sense of smell.
The pig has a full set of teeth, having six incisors, two canines and
seven grinding teeth on each jaw; although in some cases there are
only four incisors on the upper jaw. A strange thing about a pig’s
teeth, is the action of the upper canines, or tushes, which curve
upward instead of downward; the lower canines grind up against them,
and are thus sharpened. The females have no such development of upper
tushes as do the males; these tushes, especially the upper ones, are
used as weapons; with them, the wild boar slashes out and upward,
inflicting terrible wounds, often disabling horses and killing men.
Professor H. F. Button describes the fighting of hogs thus: “To
oppose the terrible weapons of his rival, the boar has a shield of
skin over his neck and shoulders, which may become two inches thick,
and so hard as to defy a knife. When two of these animals fight, each
tries to keep the tushes of his opponent against the shield, and to
get his own tushes under the belly or flank of the other. Thus, each
goes sidewise or in circles, which has given rise to the expression,
‘to go sidewise like a hog to war.’”