The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-11-08
ODDITIES OF ANIMALS
WHY SOME BIRDS AND BEASTS HAVE
CERTAIN IRREGULARITIES.

The Elephant Could Not Live With
out His Trunk, and the Camel Lives
ON His Hump In Emergencies.
TOngue and Tai of the Ant Eater.
horns, the porcupine quilts and the 81
rafe an extremely long neck merely
for the sake Of ornament. Yet pre-
cisely why these animals have their
peculiarities is a question more diff
cult to answer
Why should the elephant, for In
stance, be the only creature to possess
an enormous trunk? And could it not
exist without one?
Independents Of it's trunk, it's great
bulk, the thickness and toughness Of
it's skin and it's enormous strength
make it more than a match for h rest
Of the animal kingdom, hst without a
trunk the existence of the elephant
would very soon come to an end.
The trunk is merely the elephants
nose, prolonged to an immoderate
length in the shape of a tube, furnish
ed at it's extremity with a kind of
inger-like %appendage which enables it
to pick up a straw or a penny with
the greatest ease. 1t is also a weapon
Of defense, capable of crushing out the
life of a man by encircling it round his
body.
But without it's aid the elephant
would very soon starve. The short,
thick neck would prevent it from
STOPPING to Craze, while the projecting
tusks, which are nothing more than
lncisor teeth, would effectually hinder
it from reaching any vegetation which
might grow at the level of it's mouth.
And as it would be unable to draw wa
ter into it's mouth without it death
from thirst would very soon overtake
the elephant.
That most awkward looking animal,
the giraffe, has it's extremely long neck
for the purpose of feeding from the
tops Of trees and high shrubs.
Tallest of all earth jewellers, a full
grown CRATES height will reach twen-
ty feet, but it's neck has no greater
number Of vertebrae than any other
animal.
! Unless urged by hunger the giraffe
never grazes on level ground. 1t is as
sisted in it's browsing by its tongue,
which it can elongate and contract in a
) very wonderful manne
! Why the camel has a hump it is not
: 70 easy to decide. A large sized, well
shaped and firm hump denotes a camel
In good condition, for in proportion
-- H. $1,000 4n1-1ua1o %ho c0ydvy
: wastes of it's desert lands and suf-
; fers from p~rivation and disease the
; hump diminishes.
! Sometimes at the end of a long and
! painful journey the hump will almost
have disappeared. That is why the
Arabs say the "ships of the DESERT
. feed on their humps. But precisely
Z why they have these curious "swel)-
= ings'' is a matter of conjecture rather
= than Of fact. 4
! 1t is not so with the bullock, buffalo
bison, ibex, reindeer and other horned
. animals. Each of these has horns OF
!. a different nature, but undoubtedly
: given the animal for purposes Of OF.
Tense and defense.
The strongly shaped horns Of the
! Cape buffalo, of a width between theil
points not infrequently of five feet
provide a bony helmet impenetrable tc
an ordinary musket ball and effectu'
: : ally defend their owners against the
: severe shocks-with tree trunks or 9th.
: err buffaloes-shocks which are fire
! ~Quently suffered by these fierce tenn.
! pered creatures.
In the case of reindeer, moose, stays
. and other kinds of deer, moreover, the
horns or antlers are shed every yeal
I by adult animals.
= If you have ever seen the great ami
4 eater you will know what an extraor
! binary creature it is, with it's wonder
fully elongated and narrow head ant
its heavy plume Of a tail.
! The reason for it's peculiar head
4 which is really an extended tube in
Z closing an extremely long tongue, is tt
. allow the creature to burrow into an
hills in order to obtain it's food. The
insects fall ready victims to the an
eaters tongue, to which they adhere
!. through its gummy secretion.
: Its plumy tail, often half as long a:
Z its body, it uses as a shade when a
= rest, making its body appear like :
= bundle Of hay thrown loosely on tn
ground.
A near relative Of the great ant cate
is the armadillo, another queer looking
( creature. It's body is eincumbered will
a very hard, scaly c%uirass, or skinlik'
plate armor, but despite it's load i
runs with such speed that a quicl
s footed man will have difficulty In over
taking It. This queer armor enables !
s to burrow into the earth with tn
greatest ease.
: Do you know why the hedgehog ha
Z those hard, round spines which cove
2 the upper part Of its body? By a pc
s culiar muscle which governs th