The Lafayette gazette., 1893-04-01
LAFAYETTE, La. sATURDAY, I,

The writer has ,s0Saetimes seen hares,
not lying in their prm, but sitting up
in such places, just as a laborer shell
are no woodla aheles t8ey creep under the
| irregular overhaSgfag cornice made by
the milling 4wH of the IN Id be-
meath the roots In lie hedge ba nl<s nd
there scratch o4hse snug and dry re-
treat 4.
Rabbits usually keep under ground
in their sburrows, only coming out to
feed, unlessS their holes are flooded, as
often happens aftee long course Of
wet They then leaNe the warren alto
gether, and lie out among the turnips.
or even on the open stubbles, huddlcd
up into the smallest possible space. as
if they had lost aaIAfaith in the possi-
bility Of finding farther shelter: Rats
have the strongest, possible dislike to
damp. and on th4ssfrst approach of
..4Alea ~e5~~ar4-1nkao the stacks and
farm buildings. Those which spend
and BROOKS semi-aquatic breed Of
land rats which resemble the
true water rats in all but
their vegetarian dict-have SIM
pie and clever resource for wet
kWeather. They leave their holes in the
the pollard willows which ftinge the
streams and line the hedges; in these
they find warm, dry, and welt-drained
winter lodgings, safe even in hood-time;
for their powers of swimming enable
them to shift from tree to tree, and the
swarms of snails and insects which
shelter in the hollow trunks provide
them with food for ''raiuy day"
Foxes often lie in these large hollow
pollards during very wet weather; and
the writer has seen an otter slip from
the crown of one Of them into the Cher
we'll during an autumn flood But
foxes more often prefer to lie still for
hours curled up in the high grass and
brambles in some thick doubie-fence,
or dry furze-bral>c. Sometimes, in
heavy rain, they are SO reluctant to
leave their dry quarters, that they do
not move until their disturber is close
upon them; and the co1nical, half-"c-
luctant, and wholly suisy look of an
old dog-fox, as he stands hcsitating be-
tween prudence and fort, should ap-
peal to the most unsympathctic sports
man.
Horses and cattle never look mis-
era bic when standing exposed TO
cold and driving rain. Every field in
which cattle are turned loose should
have some rude shelter provided, how
ever rough and hardy the stock. If left
to themselves in Il state of nature. they
would travel miles to some bank s,l
thicl<et which would at least give Q. g.
against the wind Shut up between
four hedges they are denied alike the
aid or n,i;:,~n Inrc thought and of their
own instinct -k's vigncttcs Of old
horses unhappy donxys:: h"dd'en
together in driving showers on So
bleak common. express a vast amount
of iInal misery in an inch of woodcut-
t seems strange that no animal, unless
it be the squirrel, seems to build itself
shelter with the express object of
kecping off the rain, which they all SO
much dislike Monkeys arc misera blc
in wet, and could easily build shelters,
if they had the sense to do 30. As the
creatures hop disconsolatcly along in
the rain," writes Mr.. kiplinT, in his
''I'cast and Man in India" ''or crouch
on branches. with dripping bac!<s set
against the trec-trunll as shelter from
driving storm, they have the air of
being very sorry for themselves" But
even the ourang-outanE. which builds n
small pla tform in the trees on which to
sleep at night never seems to think of
A roof, though the Dyaks say that when
it is very wet it covers itself with the
leaves of the Pandanus, a large fern.
Birds. some of which carefully
roof in the nests in which they
rear their young, and even. as
in the case of the swallow, choose
some existing roof, such tho caves of
a house or a projecting cliff, to cover
the nest, when built of materials which
wet "oult tSStIoy, seem lncd'd Dlc ol
making waterproof house for them
selves Grouse and all the fowls OF the
open moorla nds go to the most open
and exposed spots, in rain avoiding tho
thick heather and even the peat
hags," in whose hollows they might
find shelter Partrilgcs hudd!c under
the fences, lie the dricst and
barcst places on the fallovs, apparent
ly caring less for shelter a bow than for
dry soil beneath them. Rocks often
flock into thick fir trees, in summer
take refuge in the Old and close grow
ing oaks which line the roadSidcS. But
the small and helpless Birds yellow
hammers, buntings, chaffinchcs and
linnets seem quite bcwildered by the
beating storms They creep into cart
ruts or behind tufts OF grass: often they
take refuge under the big Swede tur-
nips round the edges of the fields,
where they are SO numbed and crampcd
by cold and wet that they may be
caught by the hand or picked up
by stoats and rats, humble and uncon-
silered victims of the plague of rain
and waters London Spectator.
\ ModisF Material.
For the best dresses that women of
moderate means keep for special occa-
Sions there various inexpensive
satin fabrics that wear and look much