Evening journal., 1900-03-19
LAZY ANIMALS.
There Are Several That Dislike Work
as Much as the sloth.

There Are Several That Dislike Work
as Much as the sloth.
A bigger mistake was never penned
than that which described the sloth
as the LATEST animal known. Like the
snail. the poor sloth was never cut out
for anything better. Even when his
worst enemy. the keentoothed jaguar.
is chasing him through the green arch
es OF the tropical forest. the wretched
sloth cannot add another yard an hour
to his speed
It is easy TO find dozen cases Of
wild creatures whose dislike for hard
work far exceeds that Of the sloth.
The first duty Of any self-respecting
bird Is surely TO build n nest ia which
to raise its young Yet look at the
number which shirk this
The cuckoo has passed into a PROV
erh. not only as the LATEST OF lazy
birds, but as a downright thief and
poacher. She not only presumes on the
kindness OF other birds to lay her eggs
in their nests. but her young. when
Matched, cruelty tOsses out its foster
brothers and sisters to perish on the
cold earth below. The cheeky sparrow.
too, has many of the bad habits Of the
tramp. His nest. when he makes one.
Is Of the most untidy description. ana
a barn swallows neat. mud-built
abode Is very much 10 his taste II he
can seize Il during the absence of its
proper owner
Some creatures are much too lazy IA
feed themselves. There is a large war.
rior ant the ancestors of which. many
generations ago. captured smaller ants
as slaves In the course Of ages the
fighting ants have become so helpless
and weak that if their slaves do not
attend Them they simply lie, notknow.
ing how or where to procure their
food
To such an extent indeed. has this
proceeded that the very structure OF
the Amazon Ant. rs It is called, has
slowly altered till IT'S jaws have losl
their teeth and are become mere nip
pets-deaGly weapons indeed. bui
useless except for purposes of war. Not
only do their slaves feed them, but
also carry them on their backs from
palce to place.
The fishhawk is another creature
that prefers it's hard work done for IL
1t hoyers over the gulls as they are
fishing, spots one rising with n plump
mackcrel in its claws. and swoop:
down Ike n thunderbolt The pool
| gull scared out Of its senses. drops II,
feast, which the pirate seizes ere Il
reaches the water. and devours itself
In the water one finds many crea
lures that are too lazy TO do their owl
travelling. and so find something els,
TO act as steed. The remora. or suck
ling fish. thinks nothing Of a thou
snnd-mile trip fastened tight on thl
back Of a shark or the hull OF n ship
and when 1t let's go never dreams o
Offering a fare. or even so much as
thank you. Another small fish with
big Latin name travels in the mout
| Of the Brazilian catfish.
Crabs. some Of them. are not YER
energetic. The little peacrab general
| ly foists himself upon the mussel o
oyster. and lives IN comfort on tn
spoils of his unwilling host The her
NIT crab seems. through ages of lazl
ness. 10 have lost the power of form
ing for himself n she'll of any kind: 81
TO save himself from becoming a tii
bit for the first prowler he hides nj
ielly-like form in the recesses Of tn
FIRST old shell he may come across.
The amount Of creatures whicl
trade on others for homes and place
of refuge is legion. Owls live in prairi
! dogs burrows. petrels OF the Chicke
Islands I'm lizards burrows. Will
snakes Of every description take ref
uge In the holes Dug by. rabbits. toI
toises. or other earth tunnelers.