Evening star., 1949-03-07
This and That
Bu Charles Z. Trdce1Dell

Do squirrels eyes go round and round
as he eats? What do you think?
reader thinks they do. and describes
the process as follows:
spread on bread.
They will come upon the rather high
back porch and look in the window, and then,
if the food is not forthcoming, get on the
canopy over the door and make a scratching
sound.
If that doesn't work, they 60 to the
screened-in porch and run up and down the
wire until they get attention.
when supplied two slices Of bread
yesterday. the only one in sight took slice
and scurried up the tall catalpa tree and
out on a limb, where there was last years
bird nest.
He put the bread In the nest and came
back for the other slice.
This one will come right up to the door
and take the bread from my hand. go down
the steps, perch on the walk and MUNICH
away. Seems as though his little eyes go
round and round as he eats"
Whether its eyes go around or not any
little creature in the cold with something to
eat is happy, and no doubt his eyes flash, at
least.
squirrel has interesting eyes. far above
those of most rodents. to which great animal
family he belongs.
The thing to do, as our correspondent
points out is to look at the eyes. Then the
watcher sees something few people see. and
may be able to put it in form not usually
used
Each animal eye has its own charm, from
the limpid orbs Of the opossum to the cruel
yellow eyes of the purple grackle.
Eyes of the big cats, notably tigers and
lions, seen by most Of us only at the ZOO.
have expressions Of kindness in them. along
with a pathetic something the imaginative
will attribute to their captivity.
No doubt the day will come, if mankind is
to survive, when the four animal freedoms
will come into being:
l. Freedom from being eaten.
2. Freedom from being kept prisoner
3. Freedom from being used for clothing.
T. Freedom from being used in expert
ments.
At the present stage of mankind's progress
toward freedom, both for himself and all
living things, we have slaughter houses.
geological parks, trappers and experimental
work.
These things have grown with mankind in
civilization.
Will the day ever come when they will
all be abolished and the four freedoms for
animals established?
Seeing the animal eye as thing in itself.
is not easy.
One must look pointedly. with determina-
ton, to escape the all-over picture presented
by the creature.
This will be harder for some watchers
than for others. since some are much more
interested in animals than others, and so
tend to be captivated by the whole look
of the creature. The concentration on one
feature, such as the eye, at least for few
minutes has its own rewards II the human
eye is the mirror of the SOUL as some have
said, the animal and the bird eye also show
something. What it is must be left to the
individual observer. But he can rest assured
that he will discover that the eye, as
living thing is extremely interesting and
reWarding.
Several people we're arguing the other
day, as people do, whether 1t would be
worse to lose ones eyes or both hands.
The final feeling was that to lose both eyes
would be far worse, although human beings
are indeed what may be called hand
minded and would lose a great deal with
both hands.
The animal eyes. if lost. would leave the
creature completely helpless. shortly to
starve to death or be killed by foe. With
its eyes it sees as much as it needs to see,
and is able to make "go" Of life. Many
animal eyes are very beautiful, some comical,
some bright, some beady, some evil, but all
interesting.