St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-11-09
NATURAL HIST oRY NOTES.

r NATURAL HISTORY NOTES.
Ns~lS.AeeairsA Facts csacsr,ing TArs
Queerlv-1ade An.mlls. ...
" :" fHE GIRAFFE.
Nature made a curious mistake Il
regard to the giraffe. She gave hin
such an extra leugth OF neck that he i
obliged to feed on the foliage Of tree
and let the rich grass under his fee
strictly alone. She made him pretty
but awkward She gave him beauti
full limbs, but he runs with . wObble
He is practically defenseless. and ye
he is boosted up in the air where ever,
thing can see him. There is some on
set, however. in the fact that thI
giraffe is of affectionate disposition
His confidence is easily secured. ant
when once he puts his trust in you you
can feed him cayenne pepper in piece
Of apple and he will lay it on to some
one else. The giraffe lives. to the age
OF thirty-five. if not sooner disposed ol
by accident and he is then resigned t.
have his skin made into a rug TO,
somebody's pug dog TO sleep
on. There is . legend among
the natives of Africa that the
giraffe never sleeps. but that he spends
his hours Of darkness in weeping over
the sins Of the world. This is prob.
ably the reason why the world :sn't
far more wicked than it is. and every
body should be willing to pay an extra
ten cents to see the giraffe with the
circus.
THE RHINOCEROS.
The idea in bringing out the rhinoc,
eros was to get something that nc
other country could beat for uglines s.
While there are several brands of tn G
beast. all put up in different packages
with different labels. all amount to the
same thing when you cut the string
and unite the bundle. While the
giraffe is two stories high with hip
roof the rhinoceros stopped short at
the basement and has never been fin.
ished up. To reward him for not being
quite as homely as the hippopotamus.
he was given . hide so thick that a
grape-shot would only tickle him.
and as IN Offset for not hav-
ing a mouth as large as ar
alligator he was given a temper as
hot as wild cats and hornets boiled
down together. The rhinoceros was
not expected to cut any thing Of .
dash in this world. He was given &c
understand that if he took care OF his
appetite and made it unpleasant 70,
every living thing which came within
q mileof him. nothing further would be
expected of him. So far as man has beer
able to discover. the beast never cracks
q smile nor makes a joke. and nothing
ever stops on his cOat-tails and getc
away alive The legend in regard te
him is that he puts in the hours be.
tween daylight and sunrise grievina
because he wasn't made a tnrtle-dove
but legends are mot sO be depended on
THE SEA, HORSE. 80 +isi-
The sea horse is SO called becats,
he hasn't the least resemblance, to .
horse. and because he is never seen in
the sea. The name given him by some
smart Alec vho felt awfully funny tha.
day. Some years later another smart
Alec changed the name to sea cow,
but that doesn't hit any closer.
They are found in rivers and
lagoons instead OF. the sea.
and they resemble cows as much
as q stuffed woodchuck does live
lion The principal occupation of a
as we are obliged to
call hin. is promenading around on
the muddy bottoms Of muddy rivers.
satisfying his hunger on the best the
land affords,sDd making the neighbor-
hood highly uncomfortable for African
gentlemen out fishing in their canoes.
He has no ambition beyond that. and
II undisturbed would let the world
wag along and mind his own business.
claim that he'is very docile
and affectionate when in captivity. and
The day may come when he will re.
place the poodle dog as a pct His
span Of life is supposed to be sixty
years. but that doubtless depends
great deal on the care he takes of him
;elf. IL the newly-discovered elixir OF
ife works as is hoped for. the sea-
days may be extended
,ver u hundred yeara-Dctrois Free
Presa' a ..J t,..H y s1trs7-' 'a-