New-York tribune., 1903-03-22
nv WILLIAM J. LONG.

..., o,6 accuracy than we could wish TO see.
Mt Burroughs denies that porcupine ever rol'S
himself into ball That may poss1oiy De 'Ne
of the porcupines that he has seen. Here the por-
cunine has no longer any natural enemies that he
IS afraid Of and there is no need OF the naot.
In the wilderness have found them when mao
to poke them with g stick, so closely were tney
rolled before 1 was where the head and tall
were Neglect Of this habit cost the life OF one
uorcupine that have seen. 1t was in deep. sort
snow. A fisher attacked the porcuplne' ~hIch
stuck his head against log and kept his Tall max
to the ground ready to strike. The hsner tun@
nelled deep in the snow, passed under the tail ana
body Of the porcupine, stuck his head out OF the
snow under the porcupine's throat gripped him
and killed him without receiving single barb.
Mr.. Burroughs will call this Ie because he
has not IL.
The critic accuses Mr.. Seton Of deliberate false
hood and Misrepresentation While differ radi-
cally from Mr.. Seton in many OF his observations
and theories Of animals. my notes, covering
nerlod of twenty years OF close watching or AMI
mails. bear out some Of the things which MI BUR
roughs are pure inventions The roA'
for instance that deliberately led the hounds in
front Of train is ridiculed piece of pure ao-
surdity. Yet two dogs Of mine were killed by the
same fox in this way at different times. ana a
third in q way much more remarkable. Tnere was
also a fox in West Upton. Mass In the winners
of 1s7-1So0 that would play around the hills until
he heard the hoot Of distant train' When ne
would lead the hounds straight for the railroad
tracks He succeeded IN killing one OF them, at
least to my knowledge.
Mr Burroughs quite far astray about the
fox In many other particulars. He claims that q
fox knows trap by inherited knowledge Now
fox is like caribou in that he believes only his
nose. When he avoids a trap 1t is not because ne
knows II is a mans invention, but for exactly the
opposite reason: namely. that It has smell on 1t
that he does not know. Put the same trap in shall
low running water to take away the unknown
smell, put a bit Of green moss from q stone upon
it. and a fox will put his foot into it without
question
es much as In a settled community. That must be
q prior knowledge, for he has certainly never
tried the wilderness fox Personally have trapped
foxes in both places. and have invariably found
that the wilderness fox is an innocent when COM
pared with his brother of the settlements. And
this-contrary to Mr.. Burroughs's absolute decree
is the result OF teaching and experience
Mr.. Burroughs denies absolutely the story OF
the fox that brought poison 70 her young. There
is a difficulty in that story which hope some day
10 have Mr. Seton explain; but Mr.. Burroughs
does not 1t Yet most of it is true to both
fox and wolf natures as 1 know them Mr. Rich
ard Maddox an English gentleman who has hunted
each year for over twenty years in the Canadian
Rockies and IN Ontario, told me that mother
wolf brought poison to her two cubs that were
kept chained on his ranch and killed them both In
precisely this way.
Mr. Burroughs treats my own books. and es-
Oecially 'SCh0Oi or the "OOuS, Will cNel less
courtesy He denies the facts absolutely because
he has not seen them on his farm. and therefore
they cannot be true He also denies the theories
There is absolutely such thing as an animal
teaching her young-"there is nothing In the deal
nss Of an animal with her young that In the re-
notest way suggests human instruction. Teach
ing is not primarily instruction, by the way. II
is not giving something new to the young animal
or boy but rather by inducement bringing out
what is already in him.
Anna BotsfOrd Comstock. who Is one OF our best
and most careful naturalists, tells Of cat that
learned to open a door and taught two out or
her litter of kittens to do the same thing. Kew.
Magee Pratt Of Hartford. who Is an authority on
horticulture. had a cat that learned from dog
to sit up her hind legs and beg food she
taught four out of FIVE kittens TO do the same
thing. 1 could quote hundred other instances. In
! both wild and domestic animals, and show the
same thing.
Mr.. BurrouEhs's whole argument in this connec-
ton misses the point altogether.
"a wild animal is wild animal as 1t Is
; born, and II fears man and its natural enemies
as soon as its senses are developed" he writes
But all our domestic animals were wild yesterday;
: how. then, they tame? Young fawns
/ when found in the woods just after birth have
fear Of man: how does fear come? The Arctic
animals had no fear OF the first explorers; now
they wild; whence this change? Here are two
animals. otter and fisher; both belong to the
weasel family. and in general way are alike
The first is gentle and harmless to all animals;
the second is savage and persistent hunter. Now
without the mothers influence and teaching how
shall the young grouse know as they soon do
know. which of these animals to avoid and which
to ignore?
Again he says Let domestic cat rear its kit
tens in the woods and they are at once wild anil
mails" That depends entirely the cat. Let
motherly old tabby drop her kittens anywhere,
and at your approach she will rub against your
legs. and the kittens will be like her Let
half starved wild creature drop her kittens in the
same spot. and she will fight your approach
| and the kittens will show the Wiidness. MI
/ Burroughs dogmatIzes here; but he can test the
| theory IL he will, l have done. In the Nan
/ tucket swamps scores Of wild eats that
q scourge to the ga Summer visitors bring
cats with them and frequently Whan they go away
abandon their pets thoughtlessly. Little by little
| they drift OF to the swamps and become wild. I
have found and studied them there often. At first
these abandoned cats will come TO you. The young
are tinid, as all defenceIess things naturally are
| (tmidity and watchkllness the part OF the AMI
chapter in School Of the Woods tries to show
out The mother by her example teaches them to
! trust you Gradually they grow wilder. in sue
cessive nerations. and / spent three weeks once
| trying TO tame half starved savage mother and
her three kits. Twice she sent her teeth through
my hand, hut in the end the fear vanished / had
taught them what the mother would have taught
them few years earlier
| There are many other arrogant and inaccurate
criticisms IN this article of Mr Burroughs that
will be answered in The North American Re-
| IMPRESSED THE JUVENILE MIND.
| From The Chicago Tribune.
VI1~