Evening star., 1932-02-18
STRANGE animal
LIFE IS DESCRIBED
Science Session Hears of
Swimming Cats and Deer
That Catches Fish.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.


Deer that catch and eat fish, cats
that swim, and prairie dogs that fight
rattlesnakes are among the curiosities
Of animal life lately reported to the
American Society of Mammalogists
here.
The true fish story comes from Sigurd
=. Olson Of the University of Illinois,
who observed the incident on the shore
OF Lake Cecil in Ontario. He saw a
doe and fawn standing in the rocky
bed Of a small creek flowing out of the
lake, at the time when the black suck
ers were running up the streams to
spawn.
THE doe" he says, was busily
stamping around and to my surprise I
saw that she was trying to impale
some OF the suckers with her forefeet.
Immediately took it up in her mouth
While the fish still was Hopping strong
ly she oriented 1t as any fish-eating
animal would do and munched it down
head-f1rst in the same fashion she
would manipulate lump Of grass. The
fawn made no effort to eat any fish,
but gamboled up and down the creek
while its mother was feeding.
"The sucker eaten was about IA
inches long. No sooner had the tail
Of the first fish disappeared than the
doe began trying to get another. In
short time she had trampled another.
picked it up in her mouth, and begun
chewing at the head end Just about
that time she noticed me and gave a
startled leap, disappearing into the
brush still holding the sucker In her
mouth.
Pulling ashore at the source of the
creek, I found tracks which indicated
not only that the doe had been there
repeatedly, but that other deer, among
them huge buck, had been there
was not a drinking hole. nor was it
spot to which deer would come for the
aquatic vegetation of which they are
fond. The only excuse for their COM
ing at all must have been to obtain
the fish"
The swimming cats are reported by
Ernest G. Holt, National Geographic
Society explorer, who saw them during
a Brazilian expedition from which he
recently returned. while my wife and
I were voyaging down the River Ara
suaya In Central Brazil" he says, "a
small round object was noticed bobb1ng
8QOQk Ill lllldOGl Cdul cOAA1C 01oenASS
away. Drawing nearer, We were aston
ished to find that it was the head OF
q swimming jaguar making straight
for the western bank. One OF our
Indians dispatched the animal with
shotgun and 1t was found to be an
adult female.
River Mile Across.
''The river here was more than q mile
across. This was In the widest stretch
Of a country, which is uninhabited ex-
cept for the Caraja Indians. VINO are
a strictly f1uvial people, and it seems
hardly possible that the jaguar could
have been pursued by dogs. or any other
enemy capable of driving 1t into the
river. It must be concluded that the
animal succumbed to the universal ap-
peal Of the greener grass on the other
side of the fence and set out to see
about it.
1.-THE other instance occurred In the
Orinoco, where It is about mile woe.
his animal, too, was swimming from
east to west and when intercepted Dy
the launch It became confused ana
tried to climb aboard, to the utter
conservation of the crew. It seems
unlikely in this case also that the puma
could have been cornered and driven
into the river"
The rattlesnake- fighting prairie dog
is reported by o. E. Stephl OF the
Biological Survey:
Although many believe that prairie
dogs and rattlesnakes live together IN
peace and harmony" he writes, the
fact is that one of the chief foods OF
the snake Is the young prairie dog. A
battle between these two creatures was
witnessed by w. F. Hardin. an employe
of the Biological Survey. He came upon
the pair while engaged in the distr1bu-
ton Of poisoned oats. Apparently the
battle had been in progress Tor some
time, as the prairie dogs breast was
covered with blood as a result OF nav
ing been struck repeatedly by the snake.
Coiled at Holes Entrance.
when first noticed the snake was
coiled in typical rattlesnake fashion at
the entrance to the rather high dog
mound. The prairie dog would cau-
tiously approach the burroV, advancing
up the side Of the mound until near
the opening. Then it would suddenly
dart forward spring upward and oack.
The upward and backward spring was
caused by the snake striking. The
snakes fangs apparently reached their
mark each time. The movements OF
the two were so rapid as the snake
struck that it was difficult to follow
them.
THE prairie dog was at q great dis
advantage, the rattlesnake being IN
such q position that it could be ap-
preached from the front only. The
prairie dog, being he aggressor, was
Obliged to climb the side of the mound
ut each attack. This gave the snake
time to recoil after striking. Being
frightened at the approach of the men,
the prairie dog went down a burrow
short distances away, seeming quite III,
while the snake apparently was unhurt.
This encounter took place long after
the young prairie dogs had come to the
surface, so one cannot say that a
mother prairie dog was trying to defend
her young"