New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-20
THE ANIMAL FEAR OF MAN.
EVIDENCE THAT IT IS NOT THE NATU-
RAJ ATTITUDE OF BEASTS.
THE PUMA's LIKING TOR HUMAN COMPANION
sHIP-BEHAvloR OF ANIMALS IN DIS
TRIcTs REMOTE FROM cIvILIZA-
TIoN-1HE TERROR OF FIRE
From The Spectator.

From The Spectator.
In a previous number Of The Spectator some
account given of the evidence collected by
ancient and modern naturalists. from Don Felix
dAzara TO Mr. Hudson, that the puma. the
second largest Of the big cats of South America
neither feared man nor regarded human beings
its prey but. the contrary. sought their
society. and even protected man from the at
tacks of the jaguar Trustworthy facts which
lend additional confirmation 10 this interesting
question must necessarily be slowly acquired.
The following anecdotc. which comes at first
hand from one long resident in British Guiana
supports the belief that the puma seeks the
society Of man instead of attacking or fearing
him When making expedition up one OF
the large rivers in a steam launch our friend
gave passage to an elderly Cornish miner VINO
was anxious to reach the gold fields Not wish
ing to intrude upon his hosts, he did not sleep
on board the launch. but always slung his ham
mock between tw trees on shore As climbing
into a hSh-Slung hammock is not easy he usu-
ally fastened 4! rather low. and his weight
probably brought il 20 within three feet Of the
ground at the bottom Of the curve one morn
ing. being asked how he had slept. he com
planned that the frogs had made such a noise
underneath his hammock that they had kept
him awake Some Indians Of the crew who
were folding up the hammock laughed a good
deal when they heard this. and. being asked
the reason. said. st laughing. "Oh. tiger sleep
with Old man last night" They had found
under the hammock the marks OF where a
puma had lain. The noise which had kept the
occupant Of the hammock awake was probably
The purring of the puma pleased at occupying
the next berth" below man. As these Guiana
Indians have. in addition 10 the unerrnG eye
+ of the forest dWeler special liking and ca
pacity for tanning animals il can hardly be
doubted that their conclusion correct.
Such an absence of fear and liking for hui
man society could only be paralleled by the
behavior Of some domestic cats. Yet in the
case Of the puma this can only be a survival
Of a primitive disposition. which has already
been lost in a great measure by the same spe-
ces in North America Are we. then. to sup
pose that the absence of that fear of man so
general among even the large CarnivOra was the
rule in the primitive world; If il was, We shall
have to account for the survival Of man in the
presence of creatures which did not fear him:
and possessed a far more effective physical
equipment for attack than man possessed for
defence: for we cannot suppose that the bci"No-
lent neutrality which can safely be attributed
Ito the puma was exhibited by the other car
nivOra.
F. The evidence that fear is not the natural at
titude Of animals toward man is mainly oi TWO
hinds-the notes Of explorers who have pushed
into the few regions Of earth where animais
were numerous 1t man had not todden, ana
the results Of the very latest experiments OF
to-day in districts whore the killing Of animals
has been absolutely prohibited. In other words
we must compare the behavior Of tn" creatures
in the Arctic seas n the days ~ NllloushhY
and Barents CT in the voyage Of Weddeii 10
the Antarctic. with the latest reports from the
Yellowstone Park Tho results show striking
agreement in the Gemeanor Of the beasts when
first confronted with the new creature, man.
1 Few Of them exhibited fear. 50 far as the rec
Ords show. When Barentss crew were on their
! first voyage a Polar bear. which probably mad
never seen men before took one Of the crew.
who was lying down. by the back Of the neck.
and after dragging him some way. bit the top
of his head off. Even now the Polar bear IS
the least shy Of his race though 50 constantly
/ hunted.
IN YELLOWSTONE PARK
| The general tendency of wild animals kept in
large reserves and never moested points to the
same conclusion though for obvious reasons
none of the most dangerous carnivOIa can be
/ maintained in such places. The fear Of man IS
! lost bv creatures wild and free but unmOlested
| ca nuicklv as 10 be matter of surprise to those
! most conversant with animals in captivity.
/ Reports published in the United States news
papers dwell repeatedly on the loss oil rear Oh
! l.. In, XDllln .fA,f.. u