Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-03-13
TEMPER OF ANIMALS.
CREATURES ARE, AS A RULE, MUCH
! MORE AMIABLE THAN MEN.


Strange to Say, and Tame Stag Has
Been Known to kin "A Boy--Zebras and
Wild Asses Are Rather Dangerous.
The old theory that animal good temper
might be accounted for on the ground that
animals are sensible Of pleasure and pain,
but not of advantage and disadvantage,
was only half truth, for animals are sub
ject to jealousy and jealousy is the direct
result of feeling Of personal disadvan-
tage. But it draws attention to the fact
that occasions for disagreement in the case
of most animals are rare and unusual
Questions Of domicile are almost the sole
ground Of discord in the animal world,
with the exception Of the fierce dissensions
raised at pairing time, and even in the last
case combat is only general in the case Of
polygamOus animals.
Deer fight more fercely than wolves, and
wild sheep than lions; and though there is
or was an eagle in the 100 which was
caught locked in the talons Of another
eagle when fighting in the spring, the
hercest birds are usually friendly with
their own species, and while rufus and
black game fight like gladiators for their
wives, the eagles and the peregrines as a
AAANy AltAut III ptdiC. 4 lDAlllllbgg bile StNtI-
est trial to human temper, seldom ruf1les
the animal mind, and different species live
in harmony together, each seeming, as in
the case of owls and the prairie dogs or
rocks and starlings, rather to prefer than
shun the society Of the other.
The choicest spots for homes are natu-
rally the source of warfare among birds,
and other animals frequently fight for the
possession of some favorite breeding place.
Badgers and foxes which have shared the
same earth during winter often fight for
sole possession in the spring, when the fox
invariably wins, a result which would
hardly be expected from the relative ply.
sique of the two animals But such quar-
rels are only for the sake Of rearing their
young, not for selfish reasons; and even
apprehended pressure on the food supply
rarely excites i'll will, except in the case Of
the largest carnivorous birds and animals,
which require a wider range for hunting
and drive their young to other districts
ANIMAL TEMPER PACIFIC.
The rodents and ruminants are less jeal-
Gus, and that strong social and gregarious
instinct which the existence Of i'll temper
as a permanent characteristic would in.
evitably destroy keeps them together in
peace and harmony They love society,
and not the least marked difference be
tween the temperament of animals and
men is that animals do not by mere con
tact irritate each other-a positive and not
unimpOrtant compensation for the absence
of the gift of speech.
Since occasions Of difference are 50 few,
nothing but the assumption of an ancient
and inbred malignity in animal minds
such as the author Of Three Men in a
Boat" supposes in the case Of fox terriers
to have been due to a double dose Of origi
nal sin, could justify the view eo generally
held that animals are as a rule fcrocious
and i'll tempered, a notion summed mp in
Mr.. Bumand's conclusions in "Happy
Thoughts" that most of the creatures
with which he came in contact in the
country were, when not dangerous, al
ways very uncertain" The exact contrary
would be nearer the truth.
Animal temper is naturally pacific
squable and mild Bad temper is the
privilege Of more highly organized ma
lures; and the mild resentment of the pla
cable tiger finds its development in the
apoplectic fury Of the mandril and the
measured malice Of mankind. Horace's
suggestion that Prometheus added to the
i'll temper Of man the strength of a mad
hon must be taken literally.
SOME SAVAGE CREATURES.
The general law Of good nature in the
animal world makes the exceptions all the
more remarkable QuarrelsOme species
appear among friendly tribe, just as an
i'll tempered individual does in kindly
species The ruminants are a most peace
full race, yet deer are savage, and so is that
handsome Indian antelope, the nylghau
A tame stag is a very dangerous pet, and
even the beautiful rOebuck has been
known TO kill "A boy in wild fit of rage
But the fercesJ and most vindctive of all,
with the exception Of the Cape buffalo, is
the South African gnu, which never loses
its i'll temper when tanned, and always re-
mains among the few dangerous animals
which the keepers at the Zoo have to deal
with. Hardly less i'll tempered are the
zebras and the wild asses, which suggest
that human mismanagement is not entire
ly to blame for the occasional i'll temper
and obstinacy Of mules and donkeys.
To the i'll tempered species we may add
the camel and the two horned black
rhinOceros. The last is really ferocious,
charging down on any creature, man or
beast, without provocation, and capable Of
infiicting mortal wounds even on the lion,
the elephant or its own kind. But among
all the larger creatures Of the animal king
dom it is difficult to find more than a
dozen species which are as a class, i'll tenn
pered, unless we include all those car
nivorous animals which exhibit a certain
ferocity in the capture Of their prey.-Lon-
don Spectator