Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-06-12

Amsrlcan.--L Is my aim to consider
the study of natural history as it ap-
Feared in current literature during
the last two or three years, and u
suggest some of the reasons for a..
vergence of opinion. II any one thing
is apparent in the recent nature
stories, it is that the study OF natural
h story is undergoing a transition
and moving out upon 4 broader plane
of observation.
The naturalist today realizes, as he
has never done before, the import
anee OF studying animals and birds
in their natural environment where
they are entirely free from associa
uIn with man, and il possible uncon.
scious of his presence. Unde~ these
conditions and these ouy will they
appear natural, and UNFOLD those at.
tributes CT character and intelligence
about which man is seeking know,
edge. Formerly the animal to be
studied was TRAPPED and put in cage
or SO encam9assed about by artihc al
barriers that he became at once EN-
OarIassed and unnatural
1t does not stand to reason that
creatures to whom the free breath OF
heaven is life, can or will respond
under these conditions to the In.
quiries of man, with any of those ma
tive graces spontaneous in their wild
state. Furthermore, | am confident
that their native instinct. or wild rea-
son, whichever you viii, becomes I'M
paired as soon association with
man begins.
This is so with savage races and
why should it not be so with animals ?
Let red man live for long in the
settlement with the whites. and he
loses that wild cunning and prefer.
natural perception that are his native
inheritance.
II You put collar around a young
fox's neck. and chain him as you
would dog, he is no longer a fox of
the wilderness, but a domesticated
fox. half fox. and half dog, as his
chain and collar implies He will
soon cease to watch your every mo
ton W tn those hungry yellow eyes
and partially lose that alertness OF
sight and hearing that are his native
endowment. He viii no longer CON
slider eternal vigilance the price OF
his brush. his instinct will be duIed.
# by accident he ever slips his
collar and goes back to the wild, he
sure to fall an easy victim to some
hunter or trapper
The term domestic" animal furth-
er corroborates this theory. for all
animals in their native state We're
wild. Intelligent as he is, the dog is of
necessity duilard beside his wild
brother the wolf How easy it would
be to trap or 20 son a deg! True. he
has a cultivated knowledge that the
wolf does not possess. but his wild
instinct, that taught him how to take
care of himself and sustain life in Il
hostile world is gone. 1urn him
loose III the woods to shift for himself
and he wou' d soon starve The cat,
which has never been as thoroughly
domesticated as the dog. would soon
return to Is wild state and hunt for
itself
From the foregoing it seems appar-
ent that the only reliable observa-
tons OF animals that can be made
are those seen in the wild state, TN
fettered By man.
The second step forward tlat nat
uralists have taken of late Is TO go
from a study of the genus to the in
dividual, for that brought up on a
farm would ever doubt.
That the yearling colt is better than
his twoyear-old brother. in every
thing that makes a horse horsey, tie
farm boy has seen too often to Ne
skept cal upon that point. Dogs,
there are too, that would no more con.
sort with others that a high-caste
Hindu would with a low caste. There
are lordly dogs, petulant, snappy dogs
good-natured dogs, who are always
wagging their tails whether their
master is pleasant or rot. aristocrats
and plebians. just as there are in our
own SHARPLY divided society.
So that when we 20 from the study
of the genus to the individual. the
problem multiplies a hundred fold.
That some Of the strange doings OF
animals chrouic'ed by naturaiists.
which are scoffed at b. the knowing
are the act of eccentric individuals
in the family | have no doubt
Others there doubtless are. that be
come mad and 90 stra ge things that
are directly opposed to the usual
plane of conduct of the part cular
animal
A farmer in my vicinity recenT-
went to the banks of the Connecticut
and was thuuderstruck to be furious.
Iy set upon by a muskrat. The ami
mai rushed at him again and again
biting at his legs. The farmer was
finally obliged to kill the rat in self
defense There is an eccentr hound
in Old Deerfeld whose particular
pastime is frog hunting. These are
two instances Of the eccentric and alb
normal. That there are countless
others every hunter, dog.tralner
horse-trainer and Snowman knows,
Is there a school of the woods? Do
animals train their young? Is animal
tuta1lfgence instinct or a lower tvaa