Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1896 — The Dogs of Madagascar. [ARTICLE]

The Dogs of Madagascar.

An acquaintance of mine who has Just returned from Madagascar tells many Interesting stories of that far away land of trouble, but, being a great admirer of dogs, he never tires of dwelling on the remarkable Intelligence of the nondescript curs that Infest the Island. “Like the dogs of Constantinople,” said he, “they know no owners* permit no familiarities and make no friends. They are self-reliant scavengers, with all the cunning and Intelligence that chronic hunger Inspires. They are nomadjc In their habits and always travel In large packs, sometimes traversing great distances in an extraordinarily short space of time. “The island is cut up by a great number of deep, sluggish streams, and pestilential swamps whic* are infested wtfch crocodiles and caymans. Those voracious reptiles don’t want a better dinner than a stray dog, and no one knows better than the dogs themselves. When a pack of marauding canines come to a stream they know that they have to resort to strategy In order to cross In safety, so the whole pack get together and they bark and howl and bark furiously for several minutes. A crocodile or an alligator that has slept far a month will wake up as soon as he hears a dog bark,' and commence a still hunt for the dog. The result Is that every reptile within hearing of the yelping pack hustles up as near as he can approach and waits for one to plunge in. When the river is full of them the dogs suddenly dash up stream about 300 yards, plunge in and swim across before the alligators get done snapping their Jaws together, and scurry off till they get to the next stream, when the strategy is repeated.”