Casco Bay breeze. [volume] (South Harpswell, Me.) 1901-1917, 1907-08-22
ANIMALS COMMIT MURDER.

Many OF Them Are Also Known to
Be Thieves and Hishwaymen.
All the great groups OF the animal
kingdom include numerous forms
which are murderous by profession.
though. as their object is to obtain
food. jury would probably consider
them as guilty of "justifiable animal
icide" only.
Such are birds and beasts of prey;
crocodiles. which drown their prey
under water; snakes which swallow
their victims alive: lizards and frogs
which slaughter insects. worms and
other small creatures by the thou
sands. cuttleishes, which use their
sucker-studded tentacles to enfold
other animals in a deadly embrace;
scorpions and spiders, which poison
insects and suck their juices. and
myriads of forms still lower in the
scale but equally remorseless.
Some OF these creatures. however,
when In a savage mood, not only kill
for the sake Of satisfying the crav-
ings OF hunger, but from mere blood
thirstiness, and this is murder, pure
@~0 SaAApAS. "CdSClCS duu tuCii
also offers. furnish the best exam
pies of this undesirable propensity.
Those unpleasant creatures known
as parasites, which live on the out
side, or, 1t may be, within other ami
mails. take toll Of the blood or juice
OF their victims, which may in the
end die of sheer weakness, though
usually their prosecutors like them
to, remain alive as long as possible.
so that they may continue to act as
living larders.
Sometimes murder Is deliberately
planned with malice prepense in such
cases, though the artful schemer is
not the actual murderess, but leaves
the foul deed to be perpetrated by
her offspring
This Is the case with ichneumon
nies, where the female lays her eggs
In some other creature, often a fat.
juicy caterpillar, so that the young
when they hatch out are surrounded
by nourishing food. commonly finish
Ing up by reducing their unwilling
host to a mere skin.
Piracy upon the high seas Is the
recognized profession of the Skuas.
marine birds with hooked beaks. and
talons to their webbed feet. These
ingenious animals lie in wait for sea-
gulls. which have been out fishing.
and chase thees unfortunate birds
until they disgorge their booty. which
Is then snapped up before 1t can
reach the water.
II an obstinate gull refuses to do
this 1t is often shaken by the tail I'll
the desired end Is attained.
Some Of the most confirmed rob-
bers are found among insects. Vari-
Gus bees are examples Of this, max
Ing raids upon the honey Of their
relatives. Even domesticated swarms
sometime become lazy and thievish.
and persistently rob their neighbors,
much TO the disgust of the bee mas
ter.
The stores Of honey laid up by
bees and wasps also proves too great
temptation for some other insects
to resist. The most interesting of
these forms are the so-called cuckoo
parasites" which guided by pervert-
ed parental love, lay eggs within the
hive or nest. Here we find snugly
quartered in consequence the grubs
OF oil-beetles, which devour the honey
and the caterpillars Of certain moths.
which gnaw the combs.
Food is not the only object Of
thievish attention. for, as Is well
Known, ravens. jackdaws, and mag
pies purIoin and hide all sorts of
giittering objects. and in this way
have often led to groundless accuse.
tons being brought against innocent
human beings Pesrson's Weekly.