St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-06-05
STRANGE PLAYMATES
The Very Caprieious Affee-
tions of the Animal
Kingdom.
The Manner in Which They
Make Friends With Their
Enemies.
Some Very Queer Foster
Mothers--Other Odd Per-
formanees.
DR.. Oswald Gives Some En-
Pertaining Facts About
Them.

Richard Burton, in that quaintest of
all English books, the Anatomy of
Melancholy" tells strange story about
bear who paid daily visit to hermit,
and plainly hints that superlatlve virtue
has power tie charm the most savage
brutes. But that peculiar magnetism is
by no means limited to saints, and Ivan
PetroWSki, the Russian Dick Turpin, is
SAID to have accomplished his most dar-
ing feats with the AID of wolf that
would fly at the throat of every stranger.
but was tanner than a dog to his master,
and became mad with grief when the
peasants caught him in trap and re-
moved him from the hauntS of the bold
brigand, says the San Francisco Chron-
icle.
Coyotes have been known to attach
themselves to an Indian wiewam to en-
ioy the company of same playful cur or
pet-loying youngster, and even the
story of the Roman she-W0lf may be
founded on fact, for there seems no
doubt that in at least two Well-authen-
ticated cases children grew up in a
VOLTS den, sharing the food OF the
whelpS, and comfOrted by the animal
warmth of their shaggy foster mother.
One of these waits was discovered in
forest near Barapore, in the Western
Ghauts, where hunter saw him
munching an old bone. which he now
and then used as club to repel the adj
vances of two meddelesome young
wolves.
When the bone of contention had lost
its attraction, the competitors had
game of romps in the dry grass, but at
the approach of the hunter took to their
heels, the whelps first and the boy fol-
lowing on all tours, with strange, ape
like leaps. They had a good start, but
the hunter contrived to keep them in
sight till he saw them disappear in
cave, where the boy was ultimately cap
tured by a posse of Hindoo villagers.
Cats now and then adopt puppies.
squirrels, and even young rats to make
up deficit in their litter OF kittens, and
the naturalist Audubon doubts if young
birds exposed in the wilderness are
ever III danger of dying OF hunger. Ii
no parent birds of their own species are
near a committee Of strangers will take
charge of the case and contribute to
the support of the orphans until they
are dUI6 10 SIlllG III lnClHoCIfCos
In captive animals the desire for
playmates of some kind or other will
overcome natural aversions founded OH
ceding generations. The ahole, or wild
dog of Southern India, destroys the
Young of every species of wild cats, as
if precautionary instinct impelled it
to diminish the number of its most for
hah I'm riuqlC AC
uuence the tiger becOmaS excited at the
mere sight of domestic dog, and the
proverbial antagoDism of dogs and cats
manifests itself in every variety of the
two species, yet menagerie keepers have
succeeded in overcoming that antipa-
thy, and two half-grown tigers in the
Berlin Thiergarten have grown so fond
of shepherd dog that their fits of Jeal-
ousy lead 10 daily scrimmageS.
The dog himself shares that affection
only in a moderate degree, prudence
has taught him to reciprocate the ca
resses of the stouter rival and to mod
crate the fury of rough-and-tumble
fight by remaining as neutral as cir
cumstances will permit.
Elephants at a certain age become as
difficult to manage as superannuated
spinsterS, and veteran specimen in the
Cincinnati Zoo abused the privilege Of
liberty till cable chain of less than ten
feet now restricts the scope of his en-
terprise. The heavy wooden bar at the
entrance of his den is literally dead
line barrier for strangers, and his own
keeper has to modify the risk of his
ministratons by the use of long
handled pole.
But that dangerous prisoner submits
to the petulant tricks of pet poodle
dog, who sleeps in his litter in the win
ter, and splashes about his water tank
in summer, and every once ill while
carries his impudence to the length of
grabbing the trunk of the monster that
could break every bene in his body in
fraction of second. When the repetl-
ton of these pranks becomes too trouble
some the elephant generally cOntriveS
to catch the little imp around the waist
and lifts him up with a suggestive
swing, but the first yelp makes him re-
lent, and he actually spreads his fore
feet to lower his massive head and let
the cur down more gently. In the ab-
sence of the keeper mischievous boys
sometimes succeed in starting a free
show by pelting the elephant with peb
bles until his ponderous capers make
the building shake.
In his rage the big brute sometimes
rises Oh his hind legs and brings his
fore feet down like pile drivers or
swings from side to side in the hope of
swapping the rivets of his chain. But
in the midst Of these antics he always
remembers his little friend, and if the
dog is in danger of getting in range of
the pie driver the leviathan will avert
the tragedy in the nick of time by
sidelong plunge at the risk of losing his
balance and breaking the bones of his
fettered hind feet. The dog does not
undervalue these proofs of affection,
and repayS them by routing a gang of
hOodlumS if their tricks get outrageous,
or licking the CALLED feet of the colossus,
whose life probably depends upon the
survival of his woody playmate.
The origin of the strange friendship
dates from the time when the elephant
was first removed to his present quar-
tiers. On the race track he would nave
killed every dog he could lay his trunk
on. but in the solitude of his stable he
became moody, and took such evident
interest in the romps of lively visitors
that his keeper conceived the idea of
making that pastime a permanent
source OF comfort He procured the
trlsklest young dog he could find. and,
IN spite OF the protests of his humane
tartan advisers, chained him within
reach of the elephants trunk. The re-
suit Justified the experiment. The two
prisoners became fast friends.
In countries where persecution has
taught carnivorous animals the wisdom
OF dragging their prey to a safe hiding
place they show similar hospitality to
creatures visiting their dens in the role
OF scayengers. and Col. George Kuxton,
on his trip through theWestern Rockies,
noticed pair OF owls fly in and out of
cave which, on closer inspection, proved
to be the dormitory Of cinnamon bear.
The shaggy brute was resting with
his head between his fore paws, and
only now and then opened his eyes in
drowsy way TO watch the winged Wis
itors, who rummaged the remains of his
latest dinner and made away with every
edible scrap they could detach from the
large bones.
In the South American pampas a
species of the wild dogs (the CAMS