Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-08-04
CURIOUS LAWS OF OPTICS.
The Zebra's Stripes Make the Animal
Almost Invisible at Night.


Almost Invisible at Night.
Almost every writer who treats of the
eolors of animals refers to Cations OBJ
servations that in the bright starlight
of an African night zebras are practi-
cally invisible even at short distance;
but there can be no doubt that their
peculiar striped appearance is also of
great protective value in broad day
light On a recent zebra hunt near
Cradock, in which I took part, several
members of our party commented on
the difficulty of seeing zebras even at
moderate distances, although there was
nothing to hide them, the black and
white stripes blending SO completely
that the animals assume a dull brown
appearance in harmony with the gener-
al color of the locality in which they are
found, and in which, for instance,
Roof rehbok (Pelea carpreolata) is also
well protected on account of
it's peculiar brownish coat A
member of our party. who,
on another occasion, gave proof that he
is possessed of excellent eyesight, and
who has frequently hunted in similar
localities, saw a zebra which was
wounded in one of the front legs at a
distance of about four hundred yards,
and. strange to say, he mistook it for a
big baboon. In a letter which I re-
ceived from him a few days ago he said:
cit galloped like ba boon from me,
and could only see that the color was
grayish-brown. At about five hundred
yards from me it ran on to little
l1rantz, and mounting the highest rock.
drew its body together just as baboon
does when its four feet are all together
on the summit of little rock" His
remark as to the grayish brown color of
the animal is the more valuable, as l
believe this gentleman, Mr.. Wrench, A.
r. NJ, of Cradock, is quite I'M
prejudiced. In my own letters to him,
which drew forth these remarks, l had
only asked him for the distance at
which he saw the zebra, and l did not
ask him how it was that he mistook a
black and white zebra for a brown
balloon on perfectly clear South
African day.
My own observations also confirm
that the stripes of the zebra are of pro-
tective value. Riding along a slope 1
suddenly saw four zebras within one
hundred yards above me. They were
galloping down the hill, but stopped
when they caught sight of me. AS soon
as they stopped 1 saw their stripes
pretty distinctly. After 1 had fired
and wounded one Of them they started
again galloping down the hill round me
in semi-circle at a distance of about
seventy yards. All this time they pre-
sented dull brown appearance, no
stripes being visible, although l had
my attention fixed on this point. They
disappeared beyond ridge. went down
little valley, and [ heard afterward
that they assembled the next slope,
which was not more than fifteen hun
dred yards away from where stood with
a native servant. Yet even this lynx
eyed native could not see tf7em going
up the slope. They had vanished from
us
readers that zebras are still fairly
plentiful on the rugged hills west of
Cradocf1. A troop of forty-one ami
mails was seen on She very ground over
which we hunted short time before
we arrived. Our party saw eleven in
two days: but believe three were seen
on two IF not on three different occa-
sions This would reduce their num-
Der to eight if not to five. They are
protected by government and also by
the farmers themselves, but am afraid
that in spite of thGt their days are
Rum bered. They are said to be very
destructive - wire fences. and, as the
facfosing of farms with wire fences is
on he increase in this colony,
many farmer will have, though per-
haps reluctantly and iadefance of the
lazy, to take up his gun and clear
them off his property. There will then
probably be an outcr.rby people who
know the diffio ulties OF SOUTH African
farming only rom books written by
travellers who hurry through south
Africa in a first class railway carriage;
but those who really know south At
RIGA, well will ssy it isza great, great
pity, but it can not be-heiped unless
governments provides speedily ri abode
for Sffese and other animzls threatened
with extinction. The first step IN the
right direction would perhaps be the
of ;Jgovernment ZOOlOg-
leaf garden: but 1 hope others sEho are
moro competent than l an5wilI stir the
people of Cape Colony up1bsfore it is too
late; So that something more than
mere game laws may be dome to pre-
serve. them