St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1901-12-07
HOW DO THEY KNOW?
Animals Seem to Have Sense of Days
and Hours.
Old Gent
fool with it.

Do animals and birds have within
them some instructive consciousness
Of time? Naturalists believe that
they do, and many Well-knoWn facts
observed BY different men in diff
ferent places lend color to that view,
says the Youths Companion.
The oriole arrives in Massachusetts,
every year about the tenth day Of
May, paying little attention to differ
ences of weather. He may have his
late seasons and his early seasons, but
the very large number Of years in
which his arrival has been noted on
the tenth day indicates that his
chronological machinery, like that Of
a cuckoo-clock, pops him into view at
a given moment.
Birds which migrate southWaFd
early, not waiting for frost or cold
winds, also seem to be aware when the
date has arrived for their departure.
Many king birds, for instance, may
Ibe seen in Massachusetts, on the last
day Of August, but very few are seen
after the first day Of September.
The Woodehuck knows when the
time has come for him to sSden up. :"
He not only feels the necessity Of roll
.
ing himself up in his own sustaining
fat and going to sleep for the winter,
but he feels it at a particular time,
quite regardless of the state of the
weather. Woodchucks have been do
mesticated, and allowed to sleep in
a warm place, with all the food they
needed, yet they .denned up" when
the regular time came for them to
do so.
They awake in the spring with
much the same regularity. The
grounding day" legend is ridieu
ious. It is, Of course, unreasonable
to suppose that in a country like ours,
with a range of climates from the
semitropical to the completely arctic,
creature will come out of his hole
everywhere On the second day Of
February, and then regulate his fu-
ture conduct according TO the wealth
er on that day, staying outif it be bad,
and going back if it be good.
But the legend belongs properly not
to the Woodehuck but to the badger,
and to the European badger at that;
and, moreover, the Germans give us
version exactly opposite to that
which IS most current. They say that
the badger peeps out Of his hole on
Candlemas day, and draws back when.
he finds snow shining mot the SUM-
The persistence Of the Woodchuck
legend may thus be traced to the reg
ularity Of the chueks European rela-
tive.
A naturalist who has studied this
interesting characteristic Of animals
tells a story, from his own obserya-
tion, which seems to show that some
creatures may have a still more exact
sense Of time than is indicated by the
regularity of their migrations and hi
bernations. He once enjoyed the ac-
quaintance Of a mouse which, at ex-
actly a quarter before four o'clock ev-
cry afternoon, was in the habit OF
coming out along Wainscoting ard
making his way to pot of paste on
the table, the crust of which he then
proceeded to nibble. No Suburban
ite, having his train in mind, could
be more regular in arriving at his
breakfast-table than this mouse was
in coming for his daily nibble Of paste.
How did the mouse know when it
was a quarter before four? The nat
uralist could Lot answer the question,
but lie is certain that the little crea-
ture had some way Of measuring time.
Some people are as hare 10 getriid
Of as al old habit. -Atchison Globe.