The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-11-05
FRIENDLY ANIMALS.
ODD FRIENDSHIPS THAT DUMB
CREATURES CONTRACT.

ChEfN BNL0 COIN f1NN j.
Horses aud Dogs Frequently Becoms -
innate - Queer Taste THAT CANNES
Display IN Choosing Companions.
Some Remarkable Cases.
The particular friendships occasion.
ally formed by animals among them
selves are characterized by the virtues
and failings incident to human attach
ments We are frequently reminded Of
mans selishuess and Inconsistency in the
ways Of the brute creation, nor is it
peculiar to animals that they sometimes
enter into alliances of a curious kind.
Naturally enough, horses often make
friends and comrades among their own
race. as dogs do still oftener, but close
friendship and understanding between
horses and dogs is apparently more fire.
quent than any similar relationship
between the individuals OF tho same
species Perhaps the most remarkable
attachments are those shown by animals
thrown together by enforced circum-
stances and separated from others OF
their kind
Horses have a positive dread Of soil
tude, and when this happens to be I'M
avoidable will make friends Of the most
unlikely creatures. The hours which
carefully tended favorite passes in his
box are often relieved by the companion
ship of the stable cat, which the nobler
quadruped speedily adopts as its own.
and to which it often becomes genuinely
attached. The absence of the cat is at
once remarked by the horse, who mani
tests impatience and plainly asks for the
restoration of its favorite.
One of the runners in the Derby,
colt named Galeopsis, had for some
/ time before the race shown symptoms
/ of distress and uneasiness, amounting to
| positive melancholy, and not attributa-
ble to any physical cause. A goat and
kid were procured and iudiciously in
1 troduced to the stable, the result being
( thus described by an eyewitness: Ca
/ leopsis seemed to take much interest in
them until the goat died; but the kid re
/ mains, and the horse now vastly diverts
| himself by lifting the little creature up
/ by the back Of its neck with its teeth
/ putting it down in the manger. careful
/ ly placing it on the ground again after
| awhile, and then repeating the opera
| ton"
/ There is an interesting record Of the
! strange dislike entertained by a pony
/ for particular horse with which it was
| brought into daily contact. and the OK
traordinary friendship formed by it for
a calf in the same meadow. The pony
/ and calf became iuseparable, show
] Il 1.
/ ing ways, greatly to the annoyance OF
4 the calfs mother, who not unnaturslly
/ evinced the utmost jealousy and resent
ment. Gilbert White relates how r
horse and hen, spending much Of their
time together in lonely orchard, also
became the fastest of friends: The
fowl would approach the horse with
notes of complacency, rubbing herself
gently against his legs, while the horse
would look down with satisfaction, and
move with the greatest caution and cir
cumspection lest he should trample on
his diminutive companion
Dogs have so much larger a share Of
personal liberty than horses or cattle
that their friendships obviously lie more
at their own disposal. But notwith-
standing this fact they constantly make
friends Of the most unlikely birds
and for the most inezplicable reasons.
No doubt some temporary alliances are
formed for the attainment of "A particu-
lar object not always Of a crcditable
kind. Attachments between member,
Of the 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, and constantly go ont Of their
way in quest Of il, The numerou
friendships formed between dogs and
geese, and even poultry in general are
quite remarkable. It is not generally
recognized that the goose is bird Of eN-
traordinarv sagacity-it has even been
described MS Of great intellectual capsci-
ty-and this mutual regard Of fur and
feather may proceed on an understand
ing that ovcrridCs the distinctions Of race.
The species Of goose known as the
gray lag is especially remarkable for
its strong and frequent attachments TO
the dog. One that was rescued by a
mastiff from the insidious attack Of n
! fox showed n consciousness OF its obliga-
tions and 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
= mel and followed it in its daily wander
ings over a 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 APP
| pearance have been starved had not a
I pan Of corn been placed for it every day
: near the kennel.
, The French naturalist Houzeau also
relates how a Chinese goose made friends
4 with a dog at first sight, uttering threats
p Of vengeance against any person or an
{ imal offering to interfere with its favor
e ite, in whose occasional absence it was
10 inconsolable. Dogs and fowls also enter
into amicable relations for reasons much
e less apparent TO onlookers than TO them
{ selves. 4 hen aud a retriever became
= 50 strongly attached that the former
, laid her eggs and hatched her chickens
t in his kennel, an interesting observer
r remarl1ing how, ON \the hen leaving OF
= entering her nest, the dog would move
= from the threshold to make way, while
b any attempt 70 touch the eggs in the ab
s sence Of the hen was met by his imme
y diate dispprobatiou.
+ Another remarkable friendship grew
up between a spaniel and young cock
which was for some reason perfectly os
trscized by bis fellows and not allowed
Z to feed with the other poultry in thl
u farmyard. The spaniel was constantly
'- observed keeping the fowls away, in or
p der that its prosecuted friend might oh
y tain food, the cockerel obviously recog
ID nizing and reciprocaiing the good vii
Is shown BY its four footed protector
n London Standard
,. snnnr.tilinn of IN. cnctoo.