The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-12-09
MEANS BY WHICH
ANIMALS PROTECT
THEMSELVES
Similiiude to Surrounding 0)jtcts Which
They Are Able to Assume in
Emergencies.
Dy c. WILLIAM BEEBE.
Curator OF 0rnithology, New York Zoc-
logical Sos ETY.,

1Ow they contribute to the indi
viduaI's advantage in the worldwide
Bife and death game of hide and seek
which animals are forever playing with
one another.
What an advertisement of his power
r. the black and white coat OF the
skunk. How we'll It j. seconded by his
s7onchalant manner fearless of the
world, which in any other less to be
dreaded creature would assure its
SPEEDY extinction. Notice the snowy
'-Utton tail of the rabbit which furlcd
1oniiI the last moment. at the critical
Jump is flashed out In terror signal
10 all of its kind.
when fear comes. how wonderfully
-fhe timid creatures Of the wild shrink
JBiO copies of surrounding objects: how
sbeir colors. forms. shapes eloquentiy
spell, There is nothing here but bark.
Aut stone; this 4, Only an incdible
Branch, Il bit of moss. Il patch of sun
Night How thi, magic came to be
nred not concern us now; let Us simply
notice some Of the more remarkable
Instances.
hfail Ntu tNfA 4l'lA OliF ~ ttl' III ilpi
Dlayers in springs symphony. that
'src.ahlirg r.tlp C..'y that rcoclaims II
finy tree toad: lie calls loudly for his
gnatc. but it is indeed wandering
W0icc." seeming to come from first one
direction. then another. Even when
we are standing directly before the lit
slc musician. the cloak of invisibility
still surrounds him. He clings with
bis twenty sucker toes TO the trunk,
perhaps OF some white oak. where the
markings of his back merge with eX-
SIuisiIe exactness with the surrounding
lichcl etched bark. Defenseless little
creature thar he Is, he can call and
croak his love songs in safety, sharp as
arg the eyes of his enemies.
Another sound comes through the
April woods, deep and rolling, and,
ElGiHc our ears as hound his muZzle
rWc come upon great bullfrog. squat
Arg bowlcgged upon Il piece of moss
6als nnder the water. For a time he
will bafilr MS. for the green of his head
and back seems but a part of the pool
slime, and how cleverly the queer bend
~ his back destroys all appearance of
Symmetry- making of him but Il mis-
shapen bit Of swamp moss.
dt is far cry from 4 New England
swamp to the Desert of Sahara. and
rom n lowly bulfrog to the greatest
OF all birds. but even the latter has en-
vNmies. and the sand colored lion is n
terrible foe. When the ostrich is
awake his speed leaves all terrOrs he
.I.ld, but when asleep, or when the
male bird Is patiently brOOding E.s
great nesifnl Of eggs. death is often
picar. The untold myriads of sand
gains forever being piled up by the
desert ants are the safeguard of the
ostrich. He settles low down on the
sand, bending his long legs under hiA,
lld iiattening out his head and neck
a'ntl they ar" lost to view. Up to tbs
dime he was an ostrich. q gigantic
fc0tbrrel Great are. nOW-bch0ld only
another anthill among II Thousand!
There are some examples of protoc-
Sion which are hard to explain. For
nstAnce, what enemies can the young
nj the osprey be supposed to haye-not
she helpless naked things of the first
Wcrk. but month old, full sized birds,
almost ready TO fly? We approach Il
NEST when the parents are away fish
ing. and these big birds greet us
1icrcely. with open beaks and threaten.
fEG falons. \ more conspicuous nest
ful could not well be ima agined. but now
1ar overheard the mother iish-hawk
comes and, at her lrs! shrek OF alarm,
down drops each ospreyl.ng, prone no
On the nest. Unless we examine the
mass carefully, 1t is Impossible 60 tell
where the feathers of the young birds
end and the seawced and debris of the
Crst begin. We may lift the head Of
'onc Of the bird, a foot or more from the
nest, but when we let it 90 1t drops
6ack without q motion of life; all
threatening, all agTessiyeaess, has
vanished at the first warning cry of the
parent.
The color of sand Is mimicked by
many creatures. one of the most won
sierful being the well named spirit
crabs OF our Southern coasts. Sit qui'
city ON the sand for five minutes. and
portions Of it viii soon appear 10 be-
eOme animated and TO move In various
directions. Raise 50 much as a finger
.and-sand TO sand returns. Not por.
ton of these quea? daylight ghosts but
~ mottled with the light gray OF thelT
habiiat Two feet away and the eye
FefHses TO dlaerent.ate them. No won
sIcI their holes dot the beach IN
1myriads-
81 we have observed this little mir
.acle on the sandy shore OF a coral key
Aet MS walk inland TO where the beau
tifHl cocoanut palms rear their tall
filmy mass OF fronls The ground 4
aittered with unripe cocoanuts. and, al
ahopGh we should be prepared for al
most any surprise In this wonderlan,
Of nature, yet II is rather discoacert
Ing when several Of these nuts pre-
trude eight legs ard scramble away
Cocoanut crabs. OF course. with har
brown backs and neat pockets IN whlc
.eJe-sialks. jaws. feelers. claws al
legs may be packed away 50 CAREFUL
flnt there results--a cocoanut-ident
cal except In Internal constitution
Dante. when he came 70 the forest q
bnman souls. on his ramble in th
neiber regions. experienced. perhap
the sAr:e feeling which one has
walking through such cocoannt grow
knowing ti9t tiny eyes are peerIng on
io yar.r r.ttfa