Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-10-22
FRIENDLY ANIMALS.
ODD. FRIENDSHIPS THAT DUMB
CREATURES CONTRACT.

/ OnCAi OnEO SOS tTlf>O u
Horses and Dogs Frequently necomo In
innate Queer Taste That Cnnines
Display In Choosing Companions.
Some Remarkable Cnses.
The particular friendships occasion
ely formed by animals among them
relves are characterized by the virtues
and failings incident to human attach
Ments. We are frequently reminded of
! mans selfshness and Inconsistency ii the
%;>vs of the brute creation, nor is it
peculiar to animals that they sometimes
enter into alliances of n curious kind.
Naturally enough; iiayses often make
friends and comrades among ttiiiotis own,
race, as dogs do still oftener, but "a close
friendship and understanding between
horses and dogs is apparently more fire.
4 quent than any similar relationship
between the individuals of the sirne
\ species Perhaps the nost remarkable
attachments are those shown by animals
thrown together by enforced circum-
stances and separated from others OF
their kind.
Horses have positive dread.of soil
tude, and when this happens to be M
avoidablc will make friends of the most
unlikely creatures. The hours which j
carefully tended favorite passes in his
box are oftcn relieved by the companion
slip of the stable cat, which tha no',le-
Iquadrupcd speedily Gdopts.as its own.
and TO which it often becomes genuinely
attached. The absence Of the cat is al
once remarked by tho horse, who nluni-
tests i1npatience and plainly asks for the
restoration of its favorite.
One of the runners in tho Derby, Il
colt named Gileopsis, had for some
time before the race shown symptoms
Of distress and uneasiless. amounting to
positive melancholy, and not attri5uta.
lie to any physical cause. A goat an:
kid were procured and judiciorsly IL
PRODUCED to the stable, the result be!n:
thus described by an eyewitness: Ga
eopsis seemed to take much interest il,
them until the goat died; but the kid re-.
mains, and the horse now vastly divert.
himself by lifting the little creature NJ
by the back of It's neck with its teeth.
putting it down in the nanger, careful
| " placing it on the ground again after
awhile, and then repeating the opera
tion."
There is m interesting record Of the
strange dislike entertained by pony
for Il particular horse witt, which it was
brought into daily contact, and the ex-
traordinary friendship formed by it for
i calf in the same meadow. The pony
and calf became inseparabie, show
ing their mutual regard in many divert
ing ways, greatly to the annoyance OF
the Calls mother, who not unnaturally
eyirced the utmost jealousy and resent f
lncnt. Gilbert White relates how a
horse and hen. spending much of their
time together in a lonely. orchard, also
became the fastest of friends: THE
fowl would approach the horse with
notes ii co1nplacency, rubbing herself
gently against his legs, While the horse
would look down with satisfaction, and
.tnave with the greatest caution and cir
uumspection lest he should tramplc on
ais diminutive companion"
Dogs have so much larger share of
personal liberty than horses or cattle
that their friendships obviously lie more
ut their own disposal. But notwith-
standing this fact they constantly mako
friends of the most unlikely birdss
| SD for the most iue1plicable reasons.
No doubt some temporary alliances are
formed for the attainment of Il particll-
lar object. not always of u creditable
kind. Attachments between members
of tho same race are of course common,
but attract the less notice on account OF
their obvious reasonableness. Dogs,
however. are greatly addicted to queer
company, ard constantly go out of their
way in quest Of it. The numerous
friendships formed between dogs and
geese, and even poultry in general are
1uite remarkable. 1t is not generally
recognized that the goose is bird of ex-
traordinary sagacity-it has even been
described rs of great intellectual capaci-
ty-and this mutual regard of fur and
feather may proceed on all understands
ing thatoverridcs the distinctions of race.
The species of goose known as the
gray la" is especially remarkable for
its strong and frequent attachments to
the dog One that was rescued by
mastif from the insidious c+t..c:k. ofi-a-
fox showed q consciousness of its oblga-
/ lions aud desire to return them that
were touching in their obvious feeling.
The goose entirely abandoned the soci-
iety Of its kind, roasted in the dogs ken
nel and followed it in its daily wander
ings over large farm and through the
neighboring village. The dog happen
ing to fall i'll the goose would not leave
him night or day, and would to all ap-
pearanco have been starved had not
pan of corn been placed for it every day
near tho kennel.
The French naturalist Houzeau also
relates how Chinese goose made friends
with u dog at first sight, uttering threats
of vengeance against any person or an
| inal Offering to interfere with its favor
! lite, in whose occasional absence it was
inconsolable. Dogs and fowls also enter
! into amicablc relations for reasons much
less apparent to onlookers than to them
selFes. A hen and retriever became
| 10 strongly attached that the former
laid her eggs and Matched her chickens
in his kennel, an interesting observer
remarking how, Oh the hen leaving or
entering her nest, the dog would move
from the threshold to make way, while
any attempt to touch the eggs in the alb
sence of the hen was met by his imme-
date dispprobation.
Another remarkable friendship grew
hn-l,etuyeen p enaniel and n Young cock,