The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-11-25

ally, and indeed many of them pair
for life.
On the other hand while deer and
other herviborous animals obtain their
food only at the expense of blades of
grass and leaves, yet they are any
thing but gentle In disposition, es-
pecially at the mating season. The
fierce battles Of the antlered bucks
are well known, and when those grace
full creatures are seen gouging with
the sharp tines, and striking with their
boots, there is no getting away from
the fact that by some strange alchemy,
a good deal OF ferocity and high tenn
per can be extracted from q simple
vegetable diet. The lion In striking
down a young antelope, exhibits no
more Ill temper than Goes a deer in
tearing off tough mouthfui Of grass
Zebras, wild horses. and a few other
animals are noted as being generally
Ill tempered. but we should abandon
the idea that any race Of creatures as
a whole can be branded with haVing
such a characteristic. This applies to
animals in a wild state but when man
comes upon the scene and domesticates
or confines the wild creatures, he
places them under such unnatural con-
observation-disclosures which their ply
steal and mental evolution could In no
way anticlpate-that i'll temper and
other Calas) human characteristics,
are acquired
Although animals under such condi-
lions are In some ways not as valuable
for psychological study as strictly Wild
ones, yet they give us undoubted clues
to the explanation Of certain feral
traits and moods.
Individuality Is the keynote. Very
rarely an elephant in a wild state be-
comes "a rogue" That is, he becomes
so i'll tempered that he is ostracized
from all herds, to roam the jungles
alone, morose and sullen, ready to at
tack anything which crosses his path
Dozens OF elephants IN captivity de-
velop this rogue" temper and STAY
| keeper after keeper until firsalIy they
themselves must be killed.
The race of cranes has been called
domineering, but this is not just.
once had the opportunity Of studying
four Sandhill cranes, which were as
/ different In temperament as four birds
could be. One. male, was tame to
a ridiculous extreme. Nothing could
alarm the bird, nothing anger IT. It
would follow any person about and
allow any liberty to be taken with It.
A second bird. also male. was
veritable iend. He would fly and run
fifty yards to attack any one approach
ing, and would infict most painful
wounds unless beaten off. He had
70 be thrown down many times with
thrusts from a stiff branch before he
would walk slowly away. even then
not admitting defeat His mate, "a
smaller bird. was still different She
Initiated her lord and master in his
preparations for attack and rushed in
very ugly way toward one, but when
the critical moment came she never
dared to make real attack for she
was an inveterate coward at heart.
A fourth individual was stolid He
showed signs neither OF tameness nor
Of hostility, but simply acted as II
all he asked was 70 be let alone
II Is certainly true that III temper
Is fostered among animals associated
with man, whatever the reason and
that conversely creatures I'm a wild
state as rule show only good nature
toward their cwn Kind and 70 other
species with which they come In con-
tact.