Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-08-07
considerable injury.

and also between fox and mlhh
: over a captured rabbit and the inten
g ton is to convey good natural his
( tory. 1t is. however. pure fiction
. though not less true than his story
4 OF the hunting of both parent lynxes
] with the young. Everyone should
: know that except with the lion, there
( is mortal hatred on the part OF
5 male Felidae toward the young and
) there is never the semblance OF
family circle. The mere approach
Of male within hailing distance OF
the female nursing or leading the
) kittens is met with offensive yells and
threats that fully cover him. There
: are statements of the kind by less
= capable authors in books and arti-
! cles, the writer's wishing to assume
for the sake of pleasantly rounding
! a story that all animal parents must
: feel kindly toward their young.
A present-day author, Boy Scout
! instructor and very entertaining
story-teller recently made the state
ment that cold weather is always ia
tai to the Reptilla, as everyone knew.
\ But everyone who has observed even
casually knows precisely that the re-
verse is true; that many snakes win
ter underneath stones but a few
inches below the surface when the
ground freezes two feet or more
down; that salmanders, wood frogs,
toads and lizards also hibernate be-
meath logs and shallow mold where
the ground freezes solid and that
there are authentic cases of snakes
being found within the ice of ponds
and recovering completely, uphold
ing Aesop's fable. One such instance
came within the observation of the
+ present exponent.
f Much of the same misunderstand-
ing has been given expression con-
corning the effect of low tempera-
tures upon insects, but it is known
that no amount of cold can destroy
any anthropod that has yet its natur-
al functions to perform; there is
merely suspension of animation and
the hosts of late summer insects that
fail to reappear in the spring have
become the easy prey of cleaning
birds, mice and shhrews.
+ The purpose of the cocoon is also
commonly misunderstood. The wri-
ter lately heard lecture by gener-
ally capable naturalist who referred
TO the wisdom of nature as shown
by teaching the caterpillar to protect
itself from winter cold by a thick
web of silk.
The cocoon, however, serves a very
different purpose: that of a protec-
ton against enemies. There is not
sufficient heat in the body of the
ehrysalis within to retain a higher
temperature and the insect does not
need this to survive the cold Ger
+ tain species that develop two broods
each year build thicker cocoons in
the summer period than in the win
/ ter and the butterflies, with chrysal-
ides no more hardy than those of the
moths, build no cocoons. but rely
upon protective resemblances to
guard against enemies. Moreover,
the eocoons of tropical moths are
thicker and denser than those of any
espcies inhabiting temperate climes
The author last indicated tells, in
a story for boys, of a wolverine at
lacking a well-grown lad in the for
est. but this, with unproyoked at
tacks of wild cats, peecaries, ct cetera
is without the least foundation in
fact All our wild creatures, how
ever hungry, have too long expert
enced the sting of the arrowhead and
the bullet not to respect most thor
oughly the man associaed Herewith
and to evade the odor of him.
A common error and one that has
given name to any brevity of ex-
istence is the notion that day-fiies
(ephemera) live no longer than from
sun to sun. AS a matter of fact they
exist commonly for week or more,
which a little close observation of
certain forms trapped in screened
buildings and living in pond lily
houses will prove Recently the L.
9 Daporf v,,a,,f IF hor;auIfura ,ooda
the statement that no one had ever
{ known the common house-fy to sur
vive the winter, but no greater mis-
statement could have been made, for
several observers have recorded the
opposite. There is a pleasure in TAX
ing this opportunity to state that the
writer has marked several flies in a
house cellar and found that they sur
vived, partly in semi-lethargic
semi-active state, where enemies
were not, until spring.
The leaping snake is another fal-
lacy Possibly it began in print with
e. p Roe's Near to Natures Heart
and has been INDUCED in ever since
No venomous reptile can strike over
one-half its length-rarely over g
quarter of it, and never leaves the
ground when striking Another pop
ular error is that rabbits are hypno
TIED by weasels.
Z HUNT FOR TAILED MEN"
i -