, 1892-02-24
A CATTLE FUNERAL.
HOW THE WILD HERDS OF THE
PRAlRIss MOURN A DEATH.

IA Leader snins n Decsying Carcass from
Afar and Bolts for the Grave, Followed
by the Believing Herd-creatures Come
from All Directions.
A cattle funeral may seem an odd
thing to write about, but it is ten times
more sac to witness. If the observer
happens to be on foot in the vicinity of
the scene of the ceremony, however, he
is apt to find it anything but odd, unless
there be a tree or some other place of
refuge convenient, or the curious onlook-
er be unusually fleet of foot.
But doubtless the average reader does
not know what a cattle funeral is like,
and perhaps is not inclined to give credit
to the possible existence of such a thing.
IL he has never lived in a locality where
cattle of a more or less untamed DISPOSE
tion are Won to range, he will certainly
never have had an opportunity to learn
by observation any Of the peculiar and
notable facts connected with this re-
markable phenomenon of the range.
A cattle funeral, then, is nothing more
or less than exactly what the words seem
to indicate-a ceremony of morning over
the untimely fate of a departed herd
mate, in which every individual member
of the band that is within long range ear
or nose shot is bound to participate. In
detail this ceremony consists of a sort of
walk around, accompanied with the
most doleful, ear piercing and heart
rending means, shrieks and bellowings
and varied by ponderous pawings in the
ground and the most singularly dexter
GUS ~fingings of the resultant dust upon
the backs of the -four footed morners
To observe or participate in a cattle
funeral let the curious minded go out
upon the range, select some spot which
is open and affords no obstruction to the
view, and from which no 'critter" is In
sight.
Having selected such a spot, let one of
the CRITTERS" be brought quietly and Sc
cretly from a distance, and without I'M
due ostentation, as becomes poachers
upon another mans range, let him be
done to death. Let the offal be secreted
where even the coyotes cannot find it,
and let the hide and flesh be carried
carefully away. Then let earth be
thrown on the blood stains to hide all
traces of disturbance, and let this all be
lone so well that eyen the human eye
can detect nothing that would reveal
what had been done.
THR EADER sNIFFs THE wIND.
Then let the t~wenty-four hours, or
even less, pass, unless indeed there be
cattle within a mile or less at the time
of the slaughter, But for the purpose
Of illustration suppose that twenty-four
hours have elapsed.
Then suppose a lot of n or two hun
dred head of cattle come drifting down
over the range to the leeward of the
spot where the slaughter of the day
previous occurred. The leader of the
herd may be two or three miles, perhaps
farther, from the scene of blood. Sud
denly he commences to show signs of
u~neasiness. Though the grass be deep
and luxuriant he only feeds a few mo-
ments continuously, lifting his head and
tossing his horns as If an enemy was
near.
Suddenly there is a strong puff of
wind, and as the n~ostrils of the leader
inhale the air "a transformation occurs
like a flash of lightning. He halts,
throws his muzzle into the air and then
emits q most unearthly, prolonged,
weird, moaning shrek or below, 1t is
like none of the various noises made
upon other occasions, but has a toni
that is all its own and which is evidently
we'll understood by the entire herd.
With another shrek, which can be
heard for n mile and even further, the
leader breaks into a run, with his tail in
the air and with his head shaking an
grily from side to side, followed by all
the members of the herd, each adding to
the volume of sound that now fills the
air. As other animals feeding quietly
at a distance hear the peculiar sounds
they, too, prick up their ears, then with
answering shrieks they gallop wildly
toward the excited band and join it in
pursuit of the leader.
A R SCENE.
That animal quickly arrives at the
~telltale spot. He snuffs at the ground,
meanwhile flashing his sides with his tail
and believing continually in a manner
that suggests the height of rage. His
eyes flash wildly, the froth drops from
his jaws and fecks his neck and body.
He paws the ground angrily with his
hoofs, and by dexterous twisting man
ages to cast great masses of the earth
into the air and upon his back,
The others come racing up and crowd
closely about the spot where their mate
was slain. An inner circle is formed by
the excited animals, with their heads all
pointing to a common center, and these
below and paw the ground and race
around and around until exhausted
Meanwhile the others are c~ircling rapid
ly about the central cluster inc finally
displace the earlier arrivals, whereupon
they too go through the same perform
ance.
The scene is a terrific one. Horns are
FLASHED against horns, the believing Of
the angry animals is deafening, the air
is filed with dust, the beasts seem actu-
ated each by some particular malevo-
lent spirit, and their actions appear
prompted almost by human understand