Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-05-02
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SHARPER EARS THAN OURS.
Birds and Beasts Hear Sounds we
Can't Deteet-Have Weather Sense

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Birds and Beasts Hear Sounds we
Can't Deteet-Have a Weather Sense
Too.
Most people suppose mole to be
dumb, but 1t is not. "A mole can give
sound so shrill that 1t hasn't any eff
feet on the human ear at all, and an
other sound SO low and soft that no
human being can hear 1t. Yet wea-
sci can hear both these sounds as
plainly as you can the report of gun,
and sound-registering machine, the
phonautograph, will show. them both,
with scores Of other sounds you are
deaf to.
The usual note of the mole is a low
purr, which 1t uses good deal while
at work underground, and It can also
shout at the top Of It's voice. II hurt or
alarmed; but though it shouted and
purred in your ear you wouldn't hear
IT, The sound-register, however; with
its delicate pencil that marks the vol
ume of sound on q paper, gives the
quality. Of both sounds.
A weasel, too, which is one Of the
moles enemies. can hear these sounds
through couple Of inches Of earth.
and often catches the mole when he
throws up his hillocks Of earth. The
common field mouse, too, has a purr
that Is altogether beyond you, though
/ you can hear him squeak plainly
enough If he Is hurt. A death's-head
moth, too, can squeak, but that is done
| b. hubbing his wings together, and
is not voice at all.
But the champion of all creatures
for good hearing, and one that can
hear a sound that is over hundred
degrees beyond our own limit, Is the
common thrush, and you may often
amuse yourself by watching him at it.
He can hear lobworm moving UNDER
ground, locate him by the noise and
haul him out.
Often you may see a thrush stand
perfectly still on your lawn, cock HIS
ear and listen intently, then make
couple Of steps and haul out TAT lob
worm. Even the starting, which Is
about the size Of q thrush, cannot do
this, but he knows the thrush can, and
being like disreputable persons with no
common honesty, he follows the young
thrushes about on their worm hunts,
and steals the worms from them as
coop On thov q ro ran0hf
AS for the smells you can't smell,
they are more numerous than those
you can, and If you want an example,
go on your knees in field where there
are partridges and see II you can smell
them six or seven yards away-or even
a freshly dead one an inch from your
nose.
They have no scent to you. But II
you own pointer dog you may watch
him canter across field at full speed
and suddenly stop as If shot, tail out
stretched and body rigid, nose in the
air, all because he caught the scent Of
a covey Of birds some yards away
waited to him by the wind. He-and
most other dogs-can smell lark
as far as partridge.
But If you choose you can make
yourself smell so per cent. better by
wetting your finger and drawing it
under your nose. With damped nos
trils-like the dog-you will detect
scents that did not reach you before.
Coming to the feelings you cannot
feel, perhaps 1t is sas well they are SO
numerous. You can feel a gnat on
your skin, but not lake midge, nor so
Of them, and you cannot even feel their
bite-though they stick quiverful
Of saws and files into youth the irri- IT..
tation begins. .,.s W
But watch one Of those midges light
on horses flank, though they do not
weigh the 50,000th Of a drachm-and
you will see the horse give his whole
skin a twist, round about where the
midge is. and try to shake 1t of. Even
though he has shabby coat, he can
feel that midge alight.
Besides these limits to your every
day senses, however. there are several
senses which you haven't got at all,
but which plenty Of other creatures
have. One Is the sense Of weather.
You cannot tell by any sense-except
newspaper reports-what the weather
will be the day after tomorrow, but
animals can, for they carry natural
barometers in their brains. When
frost, for instance has lasted week
or two, and all the meadows are bound
up, you will find insect-feeding birds
that have gone to the mudbanks OF
estuaries, moving back in flocks to the
fields thirty hours before the first signs
Of thaw.-Chicago Record Herald.