St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-14
CURIOUS BABIES.
Some Very Singular Habits OF the Seal
Family.

Some Very Singular Habits of the Sea
Family.
On any one of a great many small
Islands along the uninhabited parts Of
Qur coasts lives little beast whose
babyhood is one of the strangest we
know. The largest tribes of these AMI
mails live far away to the North, and
they are much more numerous in the
Pacific than in the Atlantic Ocean.
1t is SO cold and wet in his native
land that this creature wears two coats
of fur TO keep warm, and it is so UNI
comfortable for men that no one,
except the natives, who are used to the
climate, cares to stay there long
enough to find out about his ways.
But this baby happens to be very
important youngster, because the coat
he wears is so desired by ladies to put
on their own backs that it becomes
very valuable. 1t is seal-skin. and the
baby, of course, is the fur seal. A few
years ago Prof Henry w. Elliott was
sent by the Smithsonian Institution of
Washington to find out all about seals,
and what he tells us Of the first few
months of seal baby life is most curious
and interesting.
When this infant comes into the cold,
wet world, he is about as big as half
grown cat. He is dressed in a suit of
rather long, black hair, with an under
coat of fine, short fur, and he has
small white spot behind each forearm.
His head is pretty, as are the heads of
all seals, and he has beautiful, large,
dark-blue eyes, with long lashes. His
forefippers, broad, finlike looking
things. are extremely useful On them
he walks. taking two short, mincing
steps, then bringing up with jerk his
body. which rests on the heels of his
hindfippers With these also he
swims. His hindilippers, however, are
the strangest members one can imag-
inc. They are long and thin, or flat.
as Prof. Elliott says, like black kid
glove pressed fat and wrinkled. The |
long fingers, turned far out on each
side, flap about in a useless kind of way.
In swimming they arc used to steer
with, but on shore merely to fan and |
scratch himself. He never rests on |
them.
The young seal is a regular baby
The first thing he does is to cry with a
weak "blaat,' like that of lamb. He
has, too, a baby's way of eating till he
is foo full and is obliged to let the food
come up again, which looks droll
enough in an animal.
One of the most peculiar things is his
for babies of his own kind.
As soon as he can get about, lie
leaves his homo and joins his fellow
babies. These little fellows collect in
great numbers by themselves, back of
the ground their elders occupy. When
mofher-seal comes up from the sea to
nurse her little one, she approaches
the nursery of thousands of youngsters
looking all alike, calling as she comes.
Hundreds of little voices answer her
eall, but she knows herown, aud bitches
herself through the crowd pushing
he others right and left, till she
teaches him and feeds him. 4
Then she goes away and leaves him
With his playfellows. She doesn't seem
% care shat he prefers to be with them;
n fact, this is seal fashion. When they (
20 back to the life in the sea. the
athers go By themselves, the mothers
n parties OF their own, the half-groWn
'oung BACHELORS as they are called,
n their own company. and, strangest ]
Il all, the babies also together.
A very interesting sight is a field FIRE
n six miles long filed with little seals,
hundreds of thousands of them, almosrl q
IS thick az grains of sands on the T
hore Many are lying around in every g
possible position. Some of them are q
LAT on their backs, with hindfiippsi.s
lrawn up to. the chin and the foraa:p- !;
'ers crossed ON the breast; others lie / 4
lat on the stomach, with hindfiippersl ]
lnder the body; still others on the ]
ide, with one ripper held up in the J
III; while some are curled up in ring i
ike q dog. !
Nest OF these babies sleep in rest j
ess, jerry, nervous way, as if ley had
'ad dreams Many will be seen play
ng with each other, Looping over the d
yround uneasiiy. day and night alike, il
II rolling over and over in good-na- ii
ured froIic; for these amiable little a
casts are never ill-natured. The o
ounls arising from the multitude will b