Idaho semi-weekly world., 1893-12-15
TEMPER OF ANIMALS.
CREATURES ARE, AS A RULE, MUCH
MORE AMlABLE THAN MEN.

Deer Fight More Fierceiy Than wolv...
strange to Say and Tame Stag Has
Been Known to XIII 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,
out not OF advantage and disadvantage,
was only half truth, for animals are sub
ject to jealousy and jealousy is the direct
result OF a feeling of personal disadysr,.
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 Zoo which was
caught locked in the talons of another
eagle when fighting in the spring, the
nercest birds are usually friendly with
their own species, and while ruffs and
black game fight like gladiators for their
wives, the eagles and the peregrines, as a
rule, mate in peace. Proximity, the sever.
est trial to human temper, seldom ruffles
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 n 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 so 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 so generally
held that animals are as rule ferocious
and i'll tempered, notion summed up in
Mr.. Burnand'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 it's development in the
apoplectic fury of the mandril and the
measured malice of mankind Horaces
suggestion that Prometheus added to the
ill temper of man the strength of mad
lion 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
ill tempered individual does in kindly
species. The ruminants are most peace
full race, yet deer are savage, and SO is that
handsome Indian antelope, the nylghau
A tame stag is very dangerous pet, and
even the beautiful roebuck has been
known to kill boy in wild fit of rage
But the fiercest and most vindictive of all,
with the exception of the Cape buffalo, is
the South African gnu, which never loses
its ill temper when tanned, and always re-
mains among the few dangerous animals
which the keepers at the Zoo have to deal
with. Hardly less ill tempered are the
zebras and the wild asses, which suggest
that human mismanagement is not entire
ly to blame for the occasional ill 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
inflicting mortal wounds even on the lion,
the elephant or it's 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.