rapidly to follow an invisible leader over the plains, suddenly forming
themselves into pairs, fours, eights, sixteens, until the entire herd
thus form one line, like an army of soldiers marching. While this game
is progressing, certain of their number stand as sentinels and
spectators, and the slightest approach of an enemy is the signal for all
play to cease, and for them to disappear over the plains.
When we witness these abundant evidences of the need and prevalence of
recreation in the animal world, we are confronted with one more argument
for the existence of real mental and moral faculties among our
four-footed friends.
IV
ARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS
_"The spectacle of Nature is always new, for she is always
renewing the spectators. Life is her most exquisite invention;
and death is her expert contrivance to get plenty of life."_
--GOETHE'S _Aphorisms_ (trans. by HUXLEY).
Civilised nations throughout the world at different times in their
country's history have protected their soldiers and warriors with coats
of armour or mail. This practice prevailed extensively during the Middle
Ages; but it has almost entirely disappeared. The German breastplates of
to-day are an attempted revival. The coats of mail of the ancient
warriors underwent an evolutionary process, until they were indeed
brought to a high pitch of perfection and beauty. It was at this period
that they were abandoned as too burdensome to be of practical value.
This protective form of armour has been used by animals since time
immemorial, and was copied by man from them; and among the various forms
of it are found examples of every kind of armour used in the human
world, from the rough leather shields of hide which the savages use, to
the ornamental suits of mail, like those used by the knights of the
fifteenth century. Indeed, some animals have carried the art of
protection to such an extent that they are veritable movable forts, or
"tanks!"
In the early part of the earth's history, animals needed greater
protection from powerful enemies than they do at present, and they
developed a coat of mail, exquisite in appearance and even more
efficient than that used by man. Yet, like mankind, they have found
newer and more efficient methods of protection, and as a result of
changed conditions and enemies, have discarded, at least most of them,
their coats of mail and armour. Most of those who have held to the
old-fashioned ways of fighting and facing the world, have, like
unprogressive peoples, perished; and to-day only a few armour-bearing
animals exist. These classes, however, have never been very large, and
consist of two small families; the pangolins and the armadillos. The
former live in southern Asia and Africa, while the latter are
inhabitants of South America.
These animals have a great advantage over man, for their armour grows
upon their bodies and is a part of them, while man must put his on and
take it off and continually replace the worn-out parts. Again, while
there are only three distinct kinds of human armour--the chain, scale
and plate armour--there are many kinds of animal armour. What wonderful
opportunities exist to-day in the great museums for studying the
different kinds of animal armour, for those who are interested!
The scaly ant-eater, who is at home in Africa and Asia, is one of the
most unusual and original types of mail-clad animals. He might be
compared to a wolf in outline, covered from head to tail in huge, horny
plates, which look like immense finger-nails overlapping each other. His
head sharpens out into a long, narrow snout, which contains a sticky,
worm-like tongue, and this he can use with great rapidity and effect in
raiding an ant-hill. He drops his tongue over the entrance, and the ants
attempt to crawl over it and are glued to it. He walks in a very unique
way by going upon the backs of his feet. This preserves his wonderful
claws for bursting open ants' nests, as his chief food consists of these
tiny insects and their eggs.
A cousin of the scaly ant-eater, the great ant-eater of South America,
has the same general habits of his near-kinsman. He has an immense bushy
tail with which some naturalists claim he sweeps up ants. This is not
true, however; he uses his tail, when he lies down, to cover himself.
The hairs of the tail part in such a manner as to fall over the body
like a thatched roof, protecting it from rain and storm alike.
A part of the head and under portion of this ant-eater's body are
unprotected, and this is why he rolls himself up like a ball when danger
is near. In this position, his scales stand out in such a way as to make
a complete row of sharp points, as uninviting as the wires on a barbed
wire fence. Yet, it is claimed that certain of his enemies, like the
leopard, know his one great weakness--a terror of being wet--and often
make him uncoil by rolling him into the water. His coat of hard covering
is really compact masses of hardened hair drawn out to sharp dagger
points, and might be likened to pine cones endued with power. Through
ages of experience, the scaly ant-eater has learned that even his
powerful coat of protection is not altogether a success in life's
battles, and from time to time his armour has been made lighter and
lighter, and because he has been so slow in making the necessary
changes, he is to-day very scarce, and able only by the greatest caution
to drag out a dull existence as a nocturnal and burrowing animal. It
would seem that with such powerful protection as he originally had, he
would have outlived the puny armadillos, but his fast disappearance
proves that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong.
Among the animals which have discarded their old-fashioned coats of
mail, and have successfully protected themselves against all enemies,
may be mentioned the frogs, newts, and their kinspeople, the reptiles.
These latter, the learned, with their delight in multiplying terms, have
classed as amphibians. During the period when the coal forests were
growing over what we now know as England, there were innumerable
amphibians, and even to-day their petrified footmarks are found in
sandstone. The underside of their chests were covered with large bony
plates, and in some cases the rest of the body was covered with
scale-like bones. Yet, all the newts and frogs of to-day have wisely
discarded the old coats of armour used by their forefathers.
The armadillo has an armour of quite another kind, notwithstanding the
fact that pangolins and armadillos belong to the same great family, and
each eats ants. Their plates of armour, or shields, have nothing at all
to do with the hair, nor do they have anything to do with the
exo-skeleton; they are formed of bone material, which appears in the
true skin in the form of tiny shields, and each shield is itself
covered with a hard plate which grows in the outer skin. The actual
formation of these shields differs largely in the various species of
armadillo.
[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_
NAOSAURUS AND DIMETRODON, TWO EXTINCT ARMOUR-BEARERS WHO SHOULD HAVE
BEEN WELL ABLE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.]
[Illustration: AN ARMOUR-BEARER OF PREHISTORIC TIMES WHOSE SHIELD WAS AN
EFFECTIVE PROTECTION AGAINST ENEMY HORNS.]
It is well to remember that the pangolins and armadillos are the last
survivors of a great and ancient family of armour-bearers. Many of their
remote ancestors have been found in the rocks and hills of South
America, and all of their representatives of to-day are small
animals--the last of a doomed race--creatures of yesterday. The
glyptodon is known to have been more than eleven feet in length, and his
near-kinsman, the chlamydothere, was even larger. He was nearly the size
of our present-day rhinoceros. These extinct giants carried on their
backs huge domes of bony plates, that must have rivalled our much-feared
tanks, of trench war fame. One would think they were invulnerable, yet
the glyptodon and the chlamydothere, with many other equally well
protected creatures, have long ago disappeared from the earth, but how
and why nobody knows. This total disappearance of these marvellously
protected giants, which seemed capable of defending themselves against
any and all kinds of enemies that might have arisen, is one of the
strangest and most unsolvable problems of science.
Another mail-clad animal of importance is the armadillo of the tropical
and temperate regions of South America. He is nocturnal in habits,
sleeping in his underground home during the day, and coming out at night
to seek for food. This underground home is rather large, and the nursery
is well protected from enemies by its location. In it the mother
armadillo rears her young until they are large enough to care for
themselves.
All species of the armadillos are powerful burrowers, and they are well
equipped for their tunnelling in the earth with strong fore limbs. They
feed upon all kinds of insects and animal substances. It is claimed that
the giant armadillo is a veritable grave-robber and sometimes digs up
dead bodies for the purpose of eating them.
These animals are plentiful upon the savannas of South America, and they
feast upon the bodies of dead cattle. So hard are their coats of armour
that the Gauchos sharpen their Spanish knives, which they always carry,
upon them. Should the armadillo be attacked by a man on horseback, he
will burrow so rapidly that only by the quickest movements of the man
can he be caught; and if he is, watch out for his terrible claws!
No animal is better protected by nature from its enemies than the
pichiciago, whose scientific name is _chlamyphorus truncatus_. This
strange little mantle-bearer wears a coat of mail which is as flexible
as the human-made coats of armour of olden times, and he is as safe
under its cover, which allows him perfect freedom, as if he were under
the ground. He is about the size of the ordinary mole, and his general
habits are not unlike those of the mole. He is an underground-dweller,
with enormous fore-paws, palm-shaped, upon which are five powerful
claws. These he uses to great advantage in digging in the earth for
insects and for building his home. He has a small snout, reminding one
of that of a pig; while his piercing little eyes are deeply hidden in
his fur. He is a native of Chile, and because of his shy nature and
subterranean habits is rarely seen.
The most interesting feature about this little creature is the cuirass
which so perfectly protects his body. Its formation and arrangement is
quite unusual; it appears like a number of squared plates of horn,
tightly united to short strips of tape, which are sewed together. The
cuirass is not connected with the entire body of the animal, but only on
the top of the head and along the spine. It covers the entire back, and
when it reaches the tail, turns downward, forming a perfect flap, which
protects the hindquarters.
The various species of manis are famed for their powerful coats of
armour. They, also, belong to the great group of burrowers, and their
coats of mail assume both offensive and defensive characters. These
mail-bearers are covered with numerous sharp-edged scales, like
miniature horns, which entirely overlap one another, like shingles on a
house. They are of great hardness, and form a belt which no animal of
their regions can penetrate. A revolver shot will produce not the
slightest effect upon the body of this iron-protected animal.
These animals are plentiful in India, and when they are molested, they
deliberately wind themselves up, coil their tails over their bodies, and
remain in conscious security against the fruitless blows of their
enemies, who soon weary of the wounds caused from the prickly scales of
impenetrable armour.
Instead of wearing heavy coats of mail, certain animals, such as the
hedgehog and porcupine, prefer to wear coats covered with needles and
pins. Of course, a coat of spines is used purely for protection. And
against the attacks of such enemies as dogs, it proves all-sufficient,
but it is a well-known fact that pumas and leopards will kill and eat
porcupines at all times, paying small attention to their spines, as is
shown by the number which are sometimes found sticking in the body of a
porcupine-eating animal.
There are several species of this great spine-bearing family; and many
of them, especially the true porcupines and the echidnas, have burrows
in the ground and thus have a double means of protecting themselves. But
others, such as the hedgehog, depend for their protection upon their
ability to roll up into a ball, thus presenting a barbed wire
protection. Still others live largely in the trees and seek by other
means to protect themselves.
One of the most interesting coats of armour is that worn by the
porcupine ant-eater--oft-times erroneously called porcupine or hedgehog.
He is a native of Australia, and is a powerful burrower. He is
marvellously protected by means of a coat of needles or spines which
inflict painful wounds on the dog or other enemy that ventures to attack
him. In case of danger, he curls himself up into a ball, and defies any
one to come near. Not only does he possess the coat of prickles with
which he defends himself, but he also has a large perforated claw or
spur on each hind foot through which pours an ill-smelling liquid, and
these also aid in protecting him. There are several varieties of
porcupines which inhabit Asia, Africa, Southern Europe and America.
When a porcupine wishes to attack an enemy, he rushes at it backwards,
and usually leaves the enemy literally covered, like a living
pin-cushion, with his spines. These animals have convex skulls, short
tails, and live chiefly in the warmer regions of the Old World. Those of
America are different in one particular--the soles of their feet are
covered with hard, bone-like tubercles, instead of being soft and
smooth; there are also a number of hairs that are intermingled with the
spines. The Canada porcupine has more hairs than the American, and a
shorter and stumpier tail.
Another animal whose methods of defence are by means of his spines, is
the hedgehog. His spines do not terminate in sharp points, like those of
the porcupine, but end in tiny knobs. These are placed beneath the skin,
and are like pins stuck through a cushion. The hedgehog, like the
porcupine, rolls himself into a ball when attacked by enemies, and he
has the additional ability of throwing himself down a hillside, like a
rolling ball, and thus escaping his enemies without injury to himself.
It would seem that the hedgehog, rolled into a ball and covered with
prickles, would be protected from all enemies. But this is not true, for
the clever fox knows just how to make him unroll. This one secret of the
hedgehog's weakness very often causes his loss of life. His weakness is
a terror of being wet or dropped into water; and when the fox finds him
all rolled up, he carefully rolls him into a pond of water and, when he
unrolls, quickly drowns him. Notwithstanding the shortness of the
hedgehog's spines, he is the most highly specialised of all
spine-bearing animals. In the lower order of animals there are spiny
mice and spiny rats, and even the horned toad uses his horns as a means
of protection against his enemies.
One of the most peculiarly armoured animals is the horned lizard,
commonly known as the "horned toad" of America. His body is covered with
small spiny scales, while the chisel-shaped head has a circlet of
miniature horns. These he uses when attacked by enemies to shield
himself against bites and knocks. The Indians claim that if a snake
swallows the horned lizard whole, the lizard will immediately work his
way through the snake. This would not be without a parallel, however,
for it is generally known that box-fishes, when swallowed by sharks,
bite their way out!
Nature has been especially kind to horned lizards, and that is the
reason there are so many of them. They well know the secret of the Gyges
ring, and can put on the garment of invisibility in a very short time.
They especially frequent the desert regions of the South and West; and
those that dwell in black sandy regions are black; those of red clay
regions are red; those of grey regions, grey; those from the variously
coloured regions of blue and red are precisely the colour of the earth.
But not satisfied with all their protections of armour and camouflage,
they actually, when hard-pressed by an enemy, feign death, like an
opossum! And if the enemy persists in his attack, and Mr. Lizard cannot
escape, as a final effort he spurts tears of blood from his eyes. The
Mexicans call him the "sacred toad." The phenomenon of blood-shooting
has been explained in various ways, all of which seem equally
unsatisfactory. So far it is one of Nature's secrets. Perhaps some day
we may understand it.
The tortoises are among the best examples of creatures which to-day
protect themselves with armour. They are, of course, reptiles, yet in
the general formation of their armour, they are strikingly like
armadillos. The tortoise has his armour so arranged over his body that
it forms one big box. He draws his head and limbs into this whenever
danger is near. In Texas recently I found a small land terrapin, and as
soon as I came near, he closed his house. I picked him up, and then
carefully laid him upside down on the ground, and stepped behind some
nearby bushes to see what he would do. Immediately he poked his head
out, and then his feet, and then he began to wave his feet wildly in
air, and finally threw himself in the right position and hastened away
through the grass.
The turtle protects himself in the same way, and draws his head, feet,
and tail under his own house-roof where nothing can get him.
Lobsters and crabs are excellent types of armour-bearing animals.
Lobsters wear marvellous coats of mail, very similar to those worn by
human warriors during the age of chivalry. Their jointed structure
assures them perfect ease and security. Crabs, however, believe, as the
tortoise, in the strong-box protection. When resting, crabs tuck their
legs beneath them, so as to shelter themselves under the hard covering.
Upon crabs Nature has bestowed twin protective characteristics: namely,
they are armoured, and also mimic their surroundings. The latter
protection is especially needful, because certain big fishes, like the
cod, are in the habit of swallowing crabs whole. In this case the armour
is of no use, while the protective resemblance saves the crab.
To discuss in detail all the various kinds of armour and mail that the
different groups of animals have used and developed for offensive and
defensive purposes since the days of the prehistoric gigantic
armadillos to the present, would require a book of itself. It is
sufficient to know that armour and mail and spines are among Nature's
most common forms of protection, and that each age develops new and ever
more efficient methods of defence. This simply means that the age-long
drama of evolution is always changing. Everything that is came out of
that which was, and throughout the ages the ever-evolving organisms have
been developing out of the past, that they might ever be new.
V
MINERS AND EXCAVATORS
_"When the cold winter comes and the water plants die,
And the little brooks yield no further supply,
Down in his burrow he cosily creeps,
And quietly through the long winter sleeps."_
--(_The Water Rat._)
There are many ground-dwellers in the animal world, and foremost among
them is the mole. This remarkable little creature is not only gifted as
a digger of canals and tunnels, but plans and makes the most
extraordinary subterranean homes. Sometimes he unites with his fellow
creatures and establishes whole cities with winding passages, chambers,
exits and entrances. In fact, he has not only an exquisitely arranged
home, but highways and roads that lead to his kingly hunting-grounds
which are as elaborate as that of a modern man of wealth and culture.
Indeed his subterranean network of tunnels excels in complexity our
modern city subways. His engineering calculations never fail, and a
cave-in of his hallways is unknown. This little gentleman with the
velvet coat is a genius of varied accomplishments!
But this is only true when the mole is in his proper sphere or home.
There he can fight like a tiger, catch his prey both below and above
ground, build wells to collect and retain water, swim like a fish, and
do many things which would seem impossible, judging from his awkward and
clumsy manner above ground.
His apparent awkwardness while out of his natural habitat is largely due
to the peculiar formation of his limbs, and the stupid appearance of his
small half-hidden eyes. These features seem to mark him to the casual
observer as a dull animal, yet in reality he is very active and bright,
and when at home displays his marvellous genius in many ways! His
upturned hands become powerful shovels, and by the aid of an extra bone,
the sickle, which belongs to the inside of the thumb, he is enabled to
work like an athlete. His velvet-like hair stands straight up, like the
pile on velvet, and his tiny eyes are so hidden by hair that they do not
get injured. The eyes are not well finished from an optician's point of
view--but they serve admirably all the needs of the mole's life. As dull
and stupid as he appears, he is, considering his size, the fiercest and
most active animal in existence. Imagine him the size of a wild cat! He
would be a beast of exceeding ferocity. Even a lion would find him a
formidable antagonist. With such an animal tunnelling in his fields and
cellars, man would have a terror hard to exterminate.
The mole is an engineer and miner who seems to have a strange sense of
direction practically unknown to many other animals. How he manages to
form tunnels and burrows in lines of such unusual straightness is
unknown; he always works in darkness, unless it is that he can see in
the dark. His little hills are not deliberate structures; they are only
shaft ends through which this miner throws out the earth that he has
scooped from subterranean depths, and in most cases smoothed out so that
if an observer examines the burrow he will find only solid earth, and a
road into his tunnel which leads to his real habitation.
The home of the mole is usually beneath a tree or hillock, and reminds
one of a miniature city of tunnels and engineering feats. The main, or
central, room is shaped like a great dome, the upper part of which is
level with the earth around the hill, and therefore nowhere near its
apex. Mr. Wood has verified the observation that around the keep are two
circular passages, one of which is level with the ceiling, while the
other is above. The upper circle is decidedly smaller than the lower;
and there are five ascending passages which connect the galleries with
each other. There is only one entrance, however, and from it three roads
lead into the upper part of the keep. When a mole enters the house from
one of the tunnels, he must go through the basement in order to get to
the upper part of the house and so descend into the keep. There is still
another entrance into the keep from below. One passage leads downward
directly from the middle of the chamber, then curving upward, leads into
a larger tunnel or subway.
Throughout the vast network of tunnels every inch of wall space seems
quite smooth and polished. This is due to the continuous pressure of the
mole's fur against the walls. Thus there is little danger of the walls
collapsing even after a rain-storm. No human being knows just why the
mole has such a complex system of underground streets and tunnels;
perhaps it is because he finds that a greater feeling of safety
surrounds his home when he knows that in case of danger he can escape in
a dozen directions. Surely he is the original builder of labyrinths!