The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-10

world, the young ones may shift for them
selves and the fttest and luckiest sur
vive.
Mature joins with the efforts of the
parent to protect the unborn offspring. 1t
is found that the environment Of every
species of FISH and reptile is naturally
adapted to the concealment CT the eggs
from enemies which would devour them,
and for the susteuauce Of the young when
produced. AT this point the young snake
or turtle or saurian must shift for him
self The female alligator among the
canes at the edge of some bayou makes
her nest of sticks and brush and In it
deposits her eggs. Then she watches it,
keeping herself from sight unless it seems
certain that some intruder will discover
1t. Then she appears and makes a great
bun OF attacking whoever or whatever
II IS, usually driving the intruder away.
II 1t be a pig or dog or a pickaRinny,
the most usual foes to her domestic re-
pose, she eXerts her tactics to secure a
dinner for herself while safeguarding her
nest Her cares do not end with the
Matching of the eggs. There is the con-
Voying them to the water and Papa AL
Hgator has to be considered at this time,
for he highly esteems a dinner of young
saurians and for this he makes no dis
tinction between his own and his neigh
boris children. When by strategy
or downright fighting the female
alllgator has got her family
safely into their natural element
il is not long before the young scatter,
each to begin life on his own account.
II IS doubtful if the mother ever attempts
to feed them. AS In the case of the in
FAINT rattlesnake. the young alligator has
his education by instinct and is equipped
for business from the start.
Among the fishes, so far as they have
been observed, the female of some sspe-
cies having deposited her eggs in the
spawning bed, considers her maternal re-
sponsihliues ended In the case of the
stlckleback, and the perches and bass in
general, the parent pair guard the eggs
ruling their spines at anything that ap-
prcaches, and fiercely attacking anything
not hOpelessly beyond their size that tries
to disturb the nest. Eels are the greatest
deVourers of fish spawn and are ugly crea-
lures for small fish TO tackle, but some
times they get their deserts. A black bass
OF equal weight with an eel will make it
unpleasant for the latter if he approaches
the nest the fish are guarding.
In Roach river at the head of Moose
head Lake, in Maine, are extensive spawn
ing beds of the speckled lake trout, and in
the clear water a line Of big male trout
may be seen in October outside the beds
standing guard over the spawn. They
constitute a rush line for attack on any
Gel or other invader of the spawning beds.
ana Delng swift and powerful with their
sharp Serrated teeth, are likely to make il
warm for such intruders. A hunter stav-
ing at the Roach River Tavern some years
ago from a canoe saw three trout whose
combined weight would have been fully
twelve pounds, tackle a three-foot eel
that refused to be bluffed away from the
spawning beds.
"One trout after another made rushes at
him, but the eel kept on until he got his
nose among the eggs buried I'm the sand.
AT this three trout attacked him at once
and this time they came for business. The
eel turned on the first trout that seized
him. but when the other two caught on
he wrigg!ed away heading back for deep
water. The cells hide was probably too
tough and slippery to be damaged much
by the trout's teeth, but they nipped him
and tumbled him about until life was a
burden to him When the eel found that
deep water was just what the trout want
ed to handle him in he changed his tao
tics and ran aground in shallow water
where the trout could not follow him
But with all the protection that the
trout gives the spawn, when once the eggs
are Matched the young fish are left TO take
care of themselves. 1t can be said that
all big fish eat all small fish they can
catch, and cannibalism is the rule among
all cold-blooded crea lures. The trout that
gets to be a fve-pounder has passed
through an ordeal that has seen the de
struction. presumably, of all his relatives
9nd certainly millions of contemporaries.
Nature is unsparing of animal life. and
VIII sacrifice myriads in the perfecting of
one animal Of a sDPcieS -