The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-11-03
AMousc Catching Baby.

A singular phenomenon is just now
creating a sensation a few miles
south of Erie, in the shape of nous
catching infant, SURPRISING in expert
ness the agility of the best canine or
feline mouser in the country. The
report OF this singular freak of ma
ture reached me SO well althenticat-
ed lha; | concluded to crafty my ia
riosity, and possibly be sold, as | had
often been, but, to my surprise, the
facts turned out more remarkable
than the most astonishing natural
wonder | ever Witnessed. The little
girl IN question is q triae we a year
old, aud can bat just begin to run
about The house and yard. The mo-
ment she wakes and gets out of her
crib she goes to the old kitchen fire
place, which is infested with q spe-
cies of small house mice, aud Sis
down in a hold in the corner very
much Ike a cat, with Der eyes intent
liz fixed on the burrow. She ome
times occupies this position for an
hour without moving, till a mouse
makes its appearance, when, by a
sudden start, apparently without any
effort, she seizes her victim by the
neck. As soon as her prize is secur-
ed she seems TO be electrified with
Joy and lrembies from head to foot,
uttering a kind Of wild murmur or
growl, resembling the bali suppress
ed snarl Of a wild cat. On arriving
at the house, and making known the
object Of nv visit, the mother ex-
pressed the willingness to give me an
exhibition Of the strange popularity
Of the baby providing | would prom
Use not TO make their names public,
as she seemed to dread the notoriety
already given to the affair. /, OF
course, made the required promise,
and had the privilege. Of Witnessing
with my own eyes a performance SO
wonderful and novel that | can new
er forget the impression it made. The
babe was asleep when | arrived, and
on awakening she started at once on
her strange mission. She is a beau
tilul little blonde, Of delicate features
and bright, blue eyes, and her hair
lies all over her her head 10 exqui-
siiely formed golden eurls, about the
circle Of a dime. There is nothing
unusual about the counteuance Of the
child. or different from that of any
pretty featured baby, except while
stalking her game. Then her eyes
become g~listening aud fixed, spark
ling like gems, and her face and
hands urn pale as wax, while she
appears to hear or notice nothing 60
ing on around her, but keeps her eyes
steadily centered on the burrow
whence she expects her game to sal
ly forth. The mother and only Sis
ter Of the child and myself sat in a
semi circle around her. silent as if in
a spiritual seance waiting for the, sig
nal Of departed spirits. Had no
mouse made its appearance, the sight
was one never 10 be forgotten-the
deathly pale face Of that m%otionless
child. and the rivited, sparkling eyes
concentrated for thirty minutes on
that mouse hole in the brick hearth.
During that half hour We neither
moved or spoke above a whisper,
when suddenly, like the springiDg of
a trap, the little things hand went
down on the hearth, followed by the
fine squeak of a mouse, aud that
strange, low growl singular tremor of
the body of the child. As usual, she
held the mouse by the neck in her
right hand, while it squirmed desper-
ately to get away. She then press
ed it up against her bosom, and felt
of it gently and softly with her other
hand; then would dexterously change
hands, carefully keeping her grip upon
the neck to avoid its bite, though her
mother told me she had been frequent
" bitten: aud while sensitive to pain
and crying at the least ordinary hurt,
she never was eel to vince or show
the least pain from the bite of a
mouse L examined her fingers and
found them SCARED in many places
where she had been bitten. | tried
to realize how the feat had been ac-
complisbed, bat it was done so sud-
denly there was no time to analyZe
it. Yet | was assured by the family
who had taken frequent observation,
that the mouse when once out of its
hole seems to become charmed or
m~agnetized and has no power, or at
least shows no disposition to escape
till caught, when it is too late. If
any one approaches the child to take
the mouse away from her, she will
utter a shriIl scream and then try to
conceal her prize by putting it into
her mouth.
/ have heard Of snakes and birds
charming children, but | guess this
is the FIRST mouse catching baby yet
developed. | wonder how Darwin
wolld explain this abnormal instinct
by the laws Of evolution and natural
selection.