Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-09-15

BEHAVIOR OF THE ANIMALS AT NIGHT
NATURAL AND ACQUIRED HABITS BE-
TRAYED-ALARMED RY THE SLIGHTEST
NoIsE-DANGER OF TERRIFYING TEE
OCCUPANTS OF THE CAGES.
The cages are, as rule, invisible; the
ratings disappear. Yet there, in the gloom
restlessly moving to and fro. can be made
out the outlines of the beasts, savage and
swift, which. if once at liberty, would turn
these moonlit tree-planted gardens into a
terribly realistic imitation of their native
jungles. OF course, they are all safe
enough. Indeed the only danger is of ter
rifying the beasts by the unusual vision of
human beings at night; for it is not con-
sidered judicious to go into the lion house
in the dark. Nothing frightens wild
beast so much as mystery. The mex
plcable sends it mad. If, therefore. a
visitor were to stroll through the building
in which the lions, tigers and Ieopards
were DOING. the result would be a panic
OF excitement among the beasts of prey.
In their attempts to escape they would dash
themselves against the walls and bars, roar
their hearts out, and probably in their mad
alarm fight desperately with each other.
Such is one of the extraordinary effects of
captivity When free, these great brutes
roamed in the twilight in search of their
prev or of their mates, and passed the
night ranging the forest and plain. A man
abroad under the cleaning in tiger jun
gle. or on the lion veldt. would be watch
ed and stalked and bounced upon. But
in the Zoo. kept awake all day by their
visitors, the beasts look upon night as a
time of undisturbed seclusion. and any
sudden vision of human beings would ex-
cite them into nervous frenzy of terocity.
With the deer and antelopes the danger
is even greater, tor. if disturbed
in the dark, they abandon them
selves at once 10 an utter terror. Fear in
creases even their usual velocity of pace,
and, either regardless or iorgetful OF their
railing, they would fling themselves with
such force against the inclosing bars as to
cripple or kill themselves. In the case of
the giraffe it is curious to know that, if
approached without any attempt at stealth
these animals seem unconcernrd at the APP
pearance of human beings by night. But
il the visitor were to creep up noiselessly.
or try to steal by without arousing them,
the long necked things would 90 frantic
with fear, and in the stampede probably
injure themselves fatally This is of
course a relic of their wild life. When
they lay in repose in the brakes in their
native Africa everything that moved
startled their vigilant slumbers But they
knew very well that the ponderous crash
ing of the slow rhinoceros through the
underground threatened them with no dam
ger; that the passage through the reeds
of multitude of antelopes warned them
L., -
less cause for fear. 1t was the sudden
swapping of single twig, rustic in the
bush followed by silence, whisper of
agitation in patch of grass, that caused
them real alarm, set their sentinel stamp
ing warning, and got the whole compa-
ny on their feet. Their friends, the harm
lass folk. came up and went by without
attempt at subterfuge, keeping in the
open as much as possible. Their foes.
the tish-eaters, crept up as silently as they
could, and moved only with stealth. So,
that in captivity, if they hear man walk
ing along with a heavy tread. talking
loudly, and evidently at no pains to hide
the fact of mis- approach, they expect no
danger. But the soft football OF listed
shoes. conversation in low whispers,
strikes them with all the dread of the
crouching lion and the crawling leop-
ard and electriies them on the
instant into terror. Note, too, how the
same wild-ife instincts would come with
some of the other beasts As the lantern
is turned on to them there flsahes out on
the sudden their true character. In a
second there is avgnette from the tropics
before you-and from the lite too. Each
is Enthusiastically authentic. The rhinoc-
eros, unaccustomed to attack when in
freedom. would turn defantly to the
light. His little eyes blink. He cannot
help that. But he grunts angrlv. There
is no fear in the tone of his gruff remon-
STRANGE, that is certain. The hppopota-
mus is not even sure wheter he shall take
the trouble to get up to look at the in
truder. In the old days, DOING among
the trampled rushes, he would not lift up
his head when he heard splash in the
water 1t was only big lizard of some
kinda monitor probably-or a bullfrog.
or perhaps silurus. At worst it would
be crocodile. and the river horse and
the crocodile pretend to be friends. They
occupied the same quarters on the under
standing of a mutual Difference. and
though juvenile hippopotamus may
sometimes be lost and never properly
accounted for. the affair is hushed up
For, after all, you cannot both eat your
hippopotamus and have it too So in the
Zoo. having no youngsters to watch over,
the old river horse remains lazily on its
side. and lets the lantern go by without
remark. The elephants are too intelli-
gently philosophical TO allow anything
human being can do to amaze them. But.
on the chance. they would put their trunks
out over the railing. Perhaps there
might be bun going even at midnight.
The 5ebras mould be too restless to be
approached. They can be heard already
moving about in their stalls, their swift
feet eager to be off across the plain
London Telegraph.