The Dickinson press., 1889-02-09
NATURES FRIENDSHIPS.
THE STATE OF WAR NOT So
BAD AS WE IMAGINE.
Animals Dread of Human Bcings-Cur
Slaughter of Birds and Bcasts-Grief OF
Pets ut Losing Ericnd-Natur.l An.

There is 4 deal Of love killed out or pre-
vented from manifesting itself. This is trne
not only among human beings, but between
men and animals and birds. and even insects.
The state of war that is in existence in ma
ture is not by half rs bad as we imagine.
The worst half is caused by our own selfish
interference. On wild islands, when first
visited b. men, it is always reported that
fowls and birds areso tame that they permit
the approach of any one without the idea Of
fear But this they soon lose. The same is
true of seals and animals that have not been
hunted. But there grows up rapidly a dread
of man. so that the scent of human being
to an antelope, elk or buffalo is most ahhor-
rent This becomes all inherited trait. Man,
after all, is tho great destroyer that is
dreaded Ill all the realms of nature. The fc
line tribes rank next to him, together with
wolves, hawks and serpents This is not a
pleasant fact to consider, but it is satltlcst of
all that ii is Il fact.
Nor does this begin to tell the full truth 1t
is not wild animals alone that dread u.s. but
ass lrle there is little love for us among tame
animals, the dog excepted The cat has an
occasional friend, but is compelled for tho
most part to live on the defensive Some
races, like The Bclouins, live on terms of
Familiarity with their horses and cancls
T''esr exceptions show the possible friend
slip Lax Quaker barnyard have seen such
!. !u!c ot love that every animal was Il con-
sc!"tis friend 1t is only because of or
brutality, or indifference, that our animals
are not our lovers. Cows are by no means
''hoardfAced creatures when gently handled
!r;...ied up as pets, they become utfcctionate
ioa degree surpassed only by dogs. have
B L.,
preach without placing her head affection
a;ci, across my shoulder or her nose in liy
!,osu,u.
cannot think without anger of the
slaughter of birds and animals for no posi-
blc reason but sport. The birds would "t;,!:o
To us freely, if they dared; and, as it is, ii
fe" have managed to break down prejudice
The friendship between mankind and rohiuS
can hardly comprehend, for this bird is far
less valuable than some others, and is also
less beautiful. A writer in Nick's Magazine
Relates how she formed IL friendship with n
Eummins bird. 81 have had one brief little
\ friendship with n bird during the present
summer which seems like Il tender dream, {,
hcc,lng glimpse into an unknown land n
peep llto fairyland." She had come upon a
tiny young hummng bird that had been
hal warmed and fed him. He grew so tame
tAaL when he was hungry he would fly
'io"u to me from top of picture, and.
nlishting on u twig in my fingers, would sit
and sip his sugar and water from Il teaspoon
OF tho end of my finger These drops would
satisfy him." and then of he flew. ''Hc dc.
lighted to be held over large spoonful of
soft water, and dip in his benls and splash
water over his little body"
iherc is no reason why this gentle accord
may not be established on all hands. Pris-
"acrs, us we know, have formed curious i,t
tachnents for crickets and SPIDERS and thus
saved themselves from loss of reason during
solitary confinement. Nor, even in such
cases, is the friendship altogether on one side
Foxes, dogs, cats, horses, have been known
TO die for grief over the death Of special
friend. | have seen manifestations of in
tense grief in several cases. The cat is cap,,
bic Of peculiarly strong attachments. | have
known ono to he inconsolable for many
weeks after the departure of u boy to whom
he specially devoted himself.
| Natural antipathics form the other side of
this question and the illustrations are all
about A stray dog came to my place last
| summer. He laid himself flat on his belly as
approached, only moving his eyes with the
| most intent watchfulness. | drew nearer
| rot u motion, but he drew still fatter to the
! soil. He was Offering his services Would
accept hims He was u beautiful cross of
shepherd and hunter. l said, "Ycs, you
| may stay" He knew in II moment the plll
port of my words. l.eaping up, lie cam.
with eyes full Of gadness and took my scent,
| and at once was a member of my household.
But the friendship was over first of all for
myself.
Now came the question Of cat and dog, for
had a splendid cat that had had no dogs
about to annoy him Hero was the natural
antagonisin of the feline and canine races
Bat ''Shep' understood perfectly that le ,s,t,-
an adopted RESIDENT and must not crowd h!4
acquaintance They could not become quit.
friends, but learned TO tolerate cac! other.
What is this natural antipathy! Traced fai
enough back, the ancestry of the felincs ana
CANNES come out Of common stock. Bs.
these terrible clawing creatures have been
outlaws from time immemorial To bite is
allowable in the animal code: but to scratch,
that is an innovation and indecent We have
codes that allow bullics to pound and i:i,'!,
but they must not scratch 1t is cass to i'm
aginc how TIE first that took to using their
nails were driven out of the tribe. believe
the genuine ancestry to be canine; the feline
is a spurious offshoot.
There are intense hatreds, as we well know.
between birds. Not one of them will form
an alliance with the English sparrow. s5ofal
as have observed the blackbird has no
friends and docs not care for any. He works
i'll troops steals in companies, and las lis
bill against all other sorts of birds, and is de
tested in turn. An owl isa lonely creature,
only that it is said occasionally to make pet
Of snake instead of eating it, whic.. doubt.
The friendship is probably like that Of prai-
rie dogs and rattesnalses-an invasion of
snakes that can not be prevented The owl
may not be able To digest some Of lis saurioll
acquaintances. AS a rule there is some one.
or two, members Of a household. that had
better let the domestic cat alone-somcti.mc4
also the dog or dogs. Why these are not
liked by the animals do not know, unlrs, 1t
he something in tho scent. Horses have
strong antipathies to certain grooms, based,
! should judge, at least in part, on smell
'.IL. T. r." III Globe Democrat.
Two Items of Interest,"
Thcre'is an able romancer out west some
where 40 is keeping the east supplied witt
excellent ''itelns of interest" p" Here are coup,,
of them. lightning played a queer capcl
on ranch near Buffalo, w. T., recently. l
struck u barb wire fence and for a distanc,
Of 400 yards melted the barbs withou. in
iuring the strands, and puletLone end of tht
staples holding the wires to the posts. Iii,
extracted ends were neatly turned into cork
screws and nickel plated" 'Jim B!evins, liv
ing near White Creek, Tex, killed very
large chicken snake u few days ago ard no
ticing the snakes body was unusually larg,
and ill shaped made an incision and found i
to contain large COW horn and in the horI
prairie rat 1t is supposed shat the SNAKE