Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-04-29
Pride Among the, Lower Animals.

PADA.~~" ~ 0lC uuLitiu his lS
shown most conspicuously in animals
which herd together. There is alwavs
one leadef at the head, who will not suffer
any mcNe to be made without his permits.
sion, and who resenfs the slightest inter.
ference with his authority Especially il
fAis the case with the deer tribe, the
, horses and the oxen. Even when these
| latter animals are domesticated and the
| habits of their wild life are materially
changed, the feeling of pride exists to the
| fullest extent.
/ have often amused myself by WATCHING
the inhabitants of farm yard, and seeing
| how the cows have their laws of prece.
dence and etiquette as clearly defined a.
| those of any European court. Every COW
knows her own place and keeps It; she
will not condescepd to take Q lower, and
| would not be allowed to take higher.
| When newly bought calf is first intro.
| duced to the farm-yard it is treated lust
like new boy at school. The previous
! inhabitants of the yard come and inspect
it contemptuously, they decline its society,
they crowd it away from the hay-racks,
| and newcomer in farm-yard has
about as much chance of approaching the
rack at feeding-time as new boy has of
| getting near the fire on cold winter day.
| However, as time goes on, the young
calf increases in growth, and is allowed to
| mix with her companions on tolerably
equal terms. Then, ifa younger animal
| than herself be admitted, it is amusing to
see with what qualification she DULLES the
newcomer, and how much higher she
seems to rank in her own estimation when
she is no longer the junior. Should the
fates be propitious, she arrives at the dig
nifty Of being senior cow, and never fails
to assert that dignity on every occasion.
When the cattle are taken out of the yard
to their pasture in the morning, and when
they return to it in the evening, she will
not allow any except herself to take the
lead. have heard of one instance where
the man in charge of the cows would not
allow the CANCER" as the head cow is
often called, to 60 out first The result
was that she refused to 60 out at all; and,
in order to get her out of the yard, the
man had to drive all the other cows back
again, so that she might take her proper
place at their head.
In great portions of this country we
make little use of the mule, and its real
disposition is not generally known. Those,
however, who have been forced into long
companionship with this animal have al
ways observed some very curious traits of
character in it. Judging from popular
ideas respecting the mule, we might think
that the animal had no pride in its COM
position; whereas it is in reality very
proud animal, and fond Of good society,
as is shown by the following extract from
Froebel's "Seven Years in Central Amer
ica:"
From drivers and muleteers we may
pass to mules, which are in many re-
spects far more interesting than the for
mer, and whose natural disposition is an
attractive subject to the observer of ma
ture.
''One of the most striking characters
tics of the mule is his aversion to the ass,
and the pride which he takes in his rela-
tionship to the horse, which instincts are
met with obtrusiveness in the ass and by
indifference in the horse. II an ass at any
time, urged by the vanity peculiar to its
race as related to the mule, Happens to
fall in with a drove of mules, he will, in
all probability, be kicked and famed by
his proud relations. A horse, on the con-
trary, takes distinguished position in a
drove of mules. The latter crowd around
him and follow his movements, exhibiting
4 violent jealousy, each striving to stand
nearest to their distinguished relative.
"This instinct is employed. to keep to-
gether drove of mules on q journey or at
pasture, by putting mare TO the drove,
with bell around her neck, and called
the bell mare;' by the Mexicans, 'Laye-
qua Madre,' .. g., the mother-mare. This
animal is led day and night by cord,
and the whole drove is thus kept under
control and will not leave their queen. 1t
is, therefore, very difficult to separate the
drove. The man who leads the mare is in
structed in case of an attack from the In
dams to leap instantly upon the back OF
this animal and take refuge in the wagon
encampment, whittier the drove is sure to
follow him.
Even if the Indians succeed in sep
arating any mules from the drove they
find It difficult to carry them off. The
animals necessarily attempt to turn back
and the travellers are thus enabled to over
take the robbers and recover the stolen
animals. The Indians, in consequence,
use every means to get possession OF the
mare, and If they succeed in this the
whole drove is lost to the owners. II sew
eral horses are in q drove of mules the
danger is that the latter become dispersed;
and this is the reason that, in these jour
neys, saddle-horses are not allowed TO go
loose, but are led by cord"
1t ia rather curious to trace among the
lower animals feeling which bears very
close resemblance to pride of birth among
mankind. Pride shows itself in many
ways, both in men and animals. Here we
have pride of rank and love of precedence
among cows, and pride of ancestry among
mules. Sometimes pride takes the farm
of sensitiveness to ridicule. There is
nothing SO CALLING to proud man as to
feel himself the object of ridicule, and
precisely the same trait of character is to
be found in many animals. AS may be
expected, this form Of pride is mostly de-
veloped in the domesticated animals; or
perhaps 1t is in those that we have most
opportunities of observing it.
My cat, Pref" for example, was pecul-
larly sensitive to anything approaching
ridicule. He was quite conscious If we
spoke Of him in disparaging manner.
and testified his disapprobation after his
own manner. But to laugh at him was
an insult which he could not brook, and,
If we continued to do so, he would arch
his tail, hold himself very stiff indeed,
and march slowly out of the room. How
~ 4 l. A. - s4,xln