The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-16
QUEER FACTS ON CATTLE
cow KNOWS HER OWN YOUNG
ONES WHEN MAN Is
MISTAKEN
THE CASE OF TWO NE1eHBoRs
Stall Feeding No More Develops
Mind In Cattle Than In Human
Beings-DisIflxe Smell
'pOOIa 10

"'4'Si N TIE w aShlnSton poSt, they
have an instinct of neighborliness and
Comradeship almost human Further.
mother love among them persists long
after the period of helpIessness. A cow
knows her calves. ticks them and moos
TO them when they are full grown. with
calves Of their own She lows lamenta.
ton IL they are sent to a separate mas
fure' and recognizes them after six
months or even a year Of separation.
rms, OF course, on the commons. where
animal instincts persist and even
strengthen. Stall feeding does not de-
Velop heart or mind in cattle anv mora
than in human beings.
once at least this continuing mother
love prevented bad blood between neigh
Dors' with possible suit at law Two
COWS upon adjoining farms dropped with
In the same week calves so nearly alilea
1t would have puzzled that tradftionaIIv
Wise person, a Philadelphia lawyer r.
Know one from the other They vyera
heiter calves, dun, with a white snnt on
the forehead, and the barest tip of white
IN the talls. Dun was a rare color upon
the range round about. so both tho
youngsters We're looked at with interest
Ihsy sucked morning and night through
the summer, were weaned in the fan. and
turned cut next spring to find their own
living IN tho natural blue grass meadows
along the creeks. Food was abundant
the creeks had many windings. with
mere and there in the secluded spaces
remnant frin8es Of cane. The dun heifers
throve so finely, and fell so in love with
freedom, they did not come home in tho
IaH as did other we'll conducted youns
cattle. Just what they did do, indeed, was
never known. The spring they were two
years old one owner went looking for his
property and discovered a fine, saucy.
young cow, with a pretty frisky calf at
foo0 grazing happily ten miles away.
KNEW IT'S OWN CALF.
Neither yearling had been marked be-
fore turning out-that is to say, It's ears
had not been cropped, nor slit. nor swaI.
iow-forked, nor under-and-over- bitted to
show particular ownership, So the finder
was quite justified in assuming that he
mad found his own, and took 1t home re,
Joicing. There his neighbor at once
claimed 1t, saying he knew 1t by a pc
culiar indentation In the white star. AS
the other dun was still missing there was
room for pretty general quarrel, until
it was agreed to let the, old cows decide
1t The three We're turned together In a
pasture. A t first both the old cows looked
askance at the young aone, and after q
little made "a rush at her as If to bear
ner TO her knees. But as they got with.
in three yards Of the youngster who
stood tossing her horns defantIy, the
claimants COW half wheeled, butted the
other In the flank, sent her Keeling, sniff
ed gently at the stray, then began to
lick her on the neck and hrisket, just as
she licked her own new calf. The de-
monstratton was -conclusiye-the men
shook hands on it and the stray dun went
home with her mother.
fnC Ell 1o,,l
cattle have a curiously accurate sense of
time. If they are sailed every other
morning at a certain spot, they will be
prompt almost to the minute, though they
may not come near the place between
times Dairy maids whose mixers run
out, give them g. click Of salt" Hence,
no doubt. comes the cant rural proverb,
expressing n1ulish obstinacy: 81 wouldn't
do it for lick of salt"
Buck and Brandy were brindled oxen
a yoke of renown throughout the country
side. They had horns yard from tip
to tip. intelligent, black nosed, white
starred faces and beautiful bushy tails
Broken together at a year old, they work
ed and played and graZed side by side
until they were rising seven. Then
Brandy, falling lame, was turned out for
a long rest, his owner thinking to fatten
and sell him in the fall. Buck at once
quit work. Yoked to cart or plow or OK
wagon, he simply lay down. The goad
could not move him. AS soon as he was
free, although he never in his life tried
TO jump a fence or throw one down. he
straightway made a breach somewhere
and went through it to his comrade. AS
result. his owner sold two stall-fed oxen
in place of one. In death, as in life, the
pair were not divided.
HOME COMING OF A PRoDIGAL.
MI
tton upon his home coming. The herd
looks him over at long range, bellows de-
fiance and scorn of him, then keeps on
with its own affairs. If the prodIgaI
hangs modestly back, feeding upon the
outskirts for q day or maybe a week,
never obtruding himself, and running
from each lowered head or brandished
horn, he may in the end be grudgingly
accepted. But If he comes boldly In,
crowding for salt, snathcing at forage,
answering bellows with a low, disdain-
full mIen, he must conquer a peace or
go to the wall. At first the head leader
rushes at him, butts him to his knees and
tries to roll him over, but does not gore
him. If the stray stands up stoutly or
gives the leader q fair argument, he may
win out right there. But If he is badly
worsted, yet lacks the sense to profit by
defeat. and keep In place, next time there
will be combined rush that will leave
him with whole bones, 1t is true, but a
badly scratched coat and sore all over
from the pummeling horns
Atavism perhaps explains why cattle
go mad at the smell of blood-especially
the blood Of their own species. Even
fresh hide Tailed across their feeding
ground make them dangerous With
lowered heads, tails stifly extended, bel
lowing, not loudly, but with a deep, men
acing, growing note, they charge COM
pactly upon almost any moving thing in
sight, particularly a human being on
foot. 1t is charge not easily stayed,
but readily evaded-it is hard for a herd
to check itself and harder still to turn
square about. Circling is, however an
other matter, so, If attacked, it is the
part of wisdom to keep directly in front
until the charge is almost upon you, then
run out of the way at a right angle.
FOLLOWING A LEADER
Cattle are great path makers For the
most part they go straight almost as the
crow flies and always in Indian file, one
right on the heels of another In every
pasture there is leader, who chooses the
way. Commonly, the leader is the bell
cow. but if the bell-bearer grows old and
weak, she may be disregarded. Another
instinct no doubt going back to the days
Of wolf and bear ravages, is that which
makes them go to the same place to sleep
and choose that place on the highest
available ground. A new herd put into
pasture will sleep in the old place.
A curious bit of adaptation to circum-
stances may be seen in summer among
the cattle of the swamp lands along the
Mississippi From July to mid-Septem-