Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-19
Some Things You Want to Know
Can Animals Think?

number of larger dogs, and a general feast
followed. At the conclusion Of the treat,
which was made possible by the denial
of the one with a grievance. they all set
off toward another part of town, and the
owner followed out Of curiosity. The object
of the little dogs economy and its rea-
son for sharing with the others, soon be-
came apparent. They met and soundly
punished the big dog which had been max
ing life miserable for it's small neighbor.
Although a close watch was kept, the
bully made no effort to retaiiate and gave
the place a wide berth thereafter.
Another remarkable case of canine wis
dom was where a retriever and a terrier
saved a 2-year-old child from drowning. A
woman heard the dogs barking for some
time, first one and then the other seem
ing to be In distress, and the supposition
was that they relieved each other in the
task of keeping the little ones head up.
Some of her playthings were found on the
end of e plank leading out over the deep
water, so 1t was easy to surmise where
she had fallen in, 1t was certain that the
retriever pulled her ashore because the
strength of the little dog could not have
been equal to the task. When help arrived
both dogs were almost exhausted from their
exertions, but the TERROR was gamely hold
ing on, while the retriever was barking
with all his might.
A western woman had a cat with unusual
traits of character. Tabby had been in the
family a long time and had always been
locked after by the mistress of the house.
When the latter took sick the cat seemed
very sympathetic. 1t became much more
demonstrative than usual, insisting upon
licking the suffarar'S faca and hands apd
showing in every possible way its deep
affection and concern. 1t had been the
custom each week for the cook, while
doing the marketing, to procure a piece of
liver for Tabby. This would be cut into
seven pieces, and a portion given to the
cat each day. When the mistress took to
her bed Tabby showed that her heart was
in the right place by carrying her allow
ance of meat upstairs and carefully lay
ing 1t on the coverlet in front of the sick
person. Failing to tempt the appetite of
her good friend with this morsel, Tabby
tried again by purloining the whole piece
OF liver from the cooks basket, before that
worthy had an opportunity to cut 1t up,
and surprised them all by dragging it up
stairs and onto the bed before she could be
intercepted. The cats evident notion of
treatment for the sick was something to
eat.
A man who spends considerable time each
year hunting in the northern woods tells
OF an experience he had with a bull moose
which led him TO believe that that par
ticular bull was nobody's fool. He slightly
injured the beast at closer range than 1t is
usually possible to approach such game.
Suddenly the animal turned toward the
hunter with lowered head. The sportsman
squared away and prepared for a second
shot, but to his horror his feet became
entangled in some briers and he fell. Close
to him was a large tree several feet In
thickness. Without having an opportunity
to recover his weapon, he barely had time
to scramble to his feet and dodge behind
the trunk OF the tree before the bull was
upon him. The breathless nimrod was
chased around the tree until his head fairly
whirled. Suddenly the bull stopped and
charged from the other direction. Then he
stopped again and resorted to the small
boys trick Of making a feint one way, then
darling the other. BY this ruse he nearly
caught the now thoroughly ratified hunter.
The gentleman claims that the timely ar
rival OF a companion, who dropped the
willy bull In his tracks, was all that saved
his life,
Another novel story deals with a foxy
little rabbit that played 'possum when
caught In a piece OF mischief. A lady had
two pets in a double hutch, and one or the
other OF them kept gnawing a hole in the
partition between their quarters. When
she approached on tip-toe she was certain
that the sound of g~nawing came from the
side nearest her, but upon lifting the lid
and looking In, there was bunny curled
up in the straw apparently fast asleep.
She replaced the cover and listened. This
time there could be no mistake about It.
Raising the lid the second time the cute
little trickster was curled in a different
position and one OF his roguish eyes was
open. The third time she left the lid
slightly ajar and caught the offender In
the act, but, as in each instance before,
.