St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-13

Impulse Is 10 HluG IL III ltiG iCeIl OoS
jungle, whence he issues with an air of
easy Indifference to observe if anything
more powerful than himself may be at
hand from which he might encounter
the risk of being despoiled of his capt
ure. If the coast is clear, he returns
to the concealed carcass and carries it
away, followed by his companions.
But if a man be in sight, or any other
animal to be avoided, my informant
has seen the jackal seize a cocoanut
husk in his mouth, or any similar sub
stance, and fly at full speed, as IL
eager to carry of his pretented prize,
returning for the real booty at some
more convenient season"
One has but to analyZe these actions
of the jackal in exactly the same way
as we should deal with the similar ac-
tons Of human being, and then we
cannot fail to accord TO the animal
power of discerning connection be-
tween cause and effect.
When we begin to study the fox we
come in contact with an animal which,
from the days of Esop, has been re-
garded as the incarnation of cunning
Those familiar with the Fables of
Esop" will remember the reputation
which Reynard bears among the rest
of the animals. 1t is questionable
whether any wild creature can COM
pete with the fox in craftiness. To look
at him generally-even in his ordinary
habits, he exhibits an amount of clever
ness which aStoniSheS one. Should
fox catch a hedgehog, whose Spines
effectuaily protect him from most of
his enemies, he does not waste time as
a foX-terrier will do in endeavoring to
worry his prey. He merely rolls him
to the nearest water, knowing that
drop or two will cause the animal to
relax his hold.
1t is a rare thing to catch one in a
trap laid at the door of his ''earth"
even. If he is inside when the trap IS
set, he waits until some other animal
springs it and then energies to eat the
victim and the bait. Only when driven
by the terrible pangs OF hunger will he
tempt fate in his own person. Most
animals gorge themselves when they
are fortunate enough to come across a
superabundance of food. Not so with
Reynard. Should he find a poultry yard
well-stocked and Unprotected, he fills
his larders first nor does he, as the
proverb says, put all his eggs in one
basket" He puts one fowl in a hedge,
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in a hole in a tree, rapidly digs a cav
ity for fourth and covers it up again;
remembering in each case where his
stores are concealed. And when his sup
plies are sufficient in his own estima-
ton, he takes fine fat chicken or duck
to his earth for present enjoyment.
The fox is not over-fond of hard
work and has no objection to having a
don tod for him thuS SAVING
himself the labor. A badgers hole is a
favorite domicile of his, because it con-
sists. of large central chamber, COM
municating with the outside world by
means of seven or eight passages,
frequently as much as thirty PAGES
apart. The badger is a scrupulously
clean animal, and allows no filth of any
kind in or near his dwelling. The fox,
therefore, when he finds badgers den
and seeks to gain possession of it, sets
to work deliberately to foul the pas
sages, and takes advantage of the
badgers absence to commit indecencies
in the very central chamber until the
legitimate owner quits the whole place
in disgust.
1t is of course natural that we should
have an abundance of observations on
the cleverneSS of an animal which is
favorite object of the hunters search in
every country in which it is met with.
1t appears to make no difference
whether we are dealing with the Euro
pean fox, the Red fox of America, the
Arctic fox of northern regions or the
Argentine fox of South America-all
exhibit the same characteristic ingen-
uity.
c. st. John in his "Wild Sports of the
Highlands writes: when living in
Ross-shire l went out one morning in
July, before daybreak, to endeavour to
shoot a stag, which had been COM
planned of very much by an adjoining
farmer as having done great damage
to his crops. Just after it was daylight
1 saw a large fox coming quietly along
the edge of the plantation in which 1
was concealed; he looked with great
care over the turf wall into the field,
and seemed to long to get hold of some
hares that were feeding in it, but APP
parently knew that he had no chance
of catching one by dint of running;
after considering a short time he
seemed to have formed his plans, and
having examined the different gaps
in the wall by which the hares might
be supposed to go in and out, he fixed
upon the one that seemed the most fire.
quented, and laid himself down close to
it in an attitude like a cat watching a
mouse.
Cunning as he was, he was too in
tent on his own hunting to be aware
that l was within twenty yards of him
with loaded rifle, and able to watch
every movement that he made. 1 was
much amazed to see the fellow so COM
pletely outwitted, and kept my rifle
ready to shoot him if he found me out
and attempted to escape. In the mean
time | watched all his plans. He first
with great silence and care scraped
small hollow in the ground, throwing
up the sand as a kind of screen be-
tween his hiding place and the hares'
news; every now and then, however,
he stopped to listen, and sometimes to
take a most cautious look into the
field; when he had done this he laid
himself down in a convenient position
for springing on his prey and remained
perfectly motionless with the eXcep-
ton of an occasional reconnoiter of the
feeding hares.
when the sun began to rise, they
came one by one from the field with
out passing his ambush; one of them
CollIS WlltlIu wv city SdluS VI I'LL, DuI
he made no movement beyond crouch
ing still more closely to the ground.
Presently two came directly toward
him. Though he did not venture to look
up, l saw by an Involuntary motion
of his ears that those quick organs had
already warned him of their approach.
The two hares came through the gap
together, and the fox, springing with
the quiclness of lightning, caught one
| and killed him Immediately; then he
lifted up his booty and was carrying
it off like a retriever, when my rifle
ball stopped his course by passing
| through his backbone, and 1 went up
and dispatched him.
The whole story is indicative of rea-
soning power, but the one particular
| in which the intelligence of the ami
! NAL seems to me to be most conspicu-