Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1881 — About Animals. [ARTICLE]

About Animals.

On a hollow tree being thrown down some weeks ago iu England, two owlets were found, fori whom their considerate parents had provided two young rabbits, two good-sized rats, more'than twelve mice, and several birds. A farmer at Kickapoo, Illinois, had a dog that some time ago disappeared. The other day he returned a mere skeleton. It was then discovered that the dog had dug into & gravel and sand bank for a skunk, throwing the dirt behind him, and after he had caught and killed the skunk he found himself in a tomb, from which it took him sixteen days to dig out. A shepherd dog on the farm of Mr. Thomas Halo, at Seeleyviile, Penn., attracted attention last winter. He was seen repeatedly to drag a piece of bark up a steep hill back of the farmhouse, where a thick crust had formed, then deliberately seat himself on it and slide to the bottom of the hill. Many people have witnessed this strange freak of the dog’s. After coasting down the hill several times the dog would carry the bark sled to a place of safety until-he needed it again. A western Massachusetts farmer last summer found a nest of youug crows and at once killed them. Upon opening them to see what they had been fed upon, he found only potato beetles, Now, if the crow is acquiring a taste for potato beetles, will not the farmers regard him with more favor? Will they not overlook, to some extent, his past trangressions and bis foudness for a little green corn, and consider anew his claims to public favor? Let the crow have a chance to redeem his character. If he is the enemy of the potato beetle he deserves to be regarded as the friend of the farmer.

The hook and ladder company of Oswego own a dog named “Truck,” whose services are esteemed more valuable than those of any of the firemen. Recently the alarm sounded while the men were a block away and out of hearing. But they heard the dog barking furiously and knew what he meant. Hastening to the house and opening the door, they found “Truck” greatly excited, with his lamp in his mouth, running to and fro between the horses and the door, to inform them that an alarm had come in. The men understood and hurried to the fire, the dog running as usual with lautern in his mouth. A case has just been tried at Rutland wherein damages of SSO were wanted for the poisoning of a cow. It was testified that the creature ate old meat, bones and soap-suds, and that upon one remarkable occasion one of a party of men who were whitewashiug the railroad bridges, having left his overalls, stained with paint and lime, on the borders of the field, returned just in time to see the second leg disappearing down her throat, the rest of the garment having been already swallowed. She suffered no material damage from the meal, and it is supposed that the jury could not make up their minds that an ounce or so of Paris Green could have affected a cow of such omniverous propensities. A letter-writer says: After the battle of Fredericksburg it fell to my duty to search a given district for any dead or wounded soldiers their might be left, and to bring relief. Near an old brick dwelling I discovered a soldier in gray, who seemed to be dead. Lying by his side was a noble dog. with head flat upon hiß master’s neck. As I approached, thedog raised his eyes to me good-naturedly, and began wagging bis tail; but he did not change his position. The fact that the animal did not move, but more than all, the intelligent, joyful expression of his face, convinced me .that the man was only wounded, which proved to he the case. A bullet had pierced his throat, and, faint from the loss of blood, be had fallen where he lay. His dog had actually stopped the bieoding from the wound by iayiug his bead across itl Whether this was causal or not, I can not say, but the shaggy coat of the faithful creature was completely matted with his master's bldotL A hunter says: How many times, on my hunting excursions, have 1

witnessed the poor kangaroo-j-when a the almost hair-1 less and utterly helpless little Joey (as its offspring is called) and cast it. whilst at full speed, Into a tuft of high grass, from file rflhlesa hungry spring over tne Joeysfas 11 if such puny prey were unworthy of their notice, ana continue in hot pursuit of the poor panting mother, who, if so fortunate as to outstrip the hounds, in one hour’s time would instinctively return to the Bpofwhere she had left her young one, and, on recovering her dear Joey, would hurriedly replace it in its sanctuary, and retire liar away, amidst the

hills and valleys, for many successive weeks. Bat Master Joey Is frequently captured by the huntsmen, reared up by hand, and invested by a bright scarlet collar to distinguish him from his uncivilized brethem. I brought up one which formed a great source of mirth and admiration to ns all. To witness gentle, unsophisticated Joey turn out of his warm crib at daylight, and join the hounds and a half a dozen huntsmen, displaying his great agility and delight by clearing dogs, buckets, aud iron pots at a single bound, added considerably to the fun and goodhumered witticism which always enliven an early hunting party, even in the green forests of the antipodes. In the heat of the chase, gentle Joey—arrived at the age of two years—could keep pace with the swiftest of our pack; invariably took his place, leaping in the midst of them, and was always ia at the death.

A remarkable piece of canine instinct was lately witnessed in Williamsport, Pa. A little child of Mr. 8. J. Drinkwater, not two years old, was out in the street, and a dog oelonging to the child noticed a horse bitched to a carriage coming along at a rapid pace and on a line with his little friend,. Apparently thinking that the driver would not Cum out, the dog jumped into the street and threw his front legs around the child, and endeavored to gull it to the sidewalk. Finding that e was unable to accomplish this, he pulled the ehild down ana spread himself over it, with his four legs outside iu which position he remained until the horse and carriage passed. This act was witnessed by the childs mother and others. Does it not look as if he possesses reasoning powers, and that this dog resolved to sacrifice his own life to save that of the child? The albatross attempting to rise from the water, (he is supposed to be unable to rise from the laud or a ship’s deck,) flaps his wings violently to* get his body out of the water; at the same time paddling with his webbed feet, he acquires a degree of momentum sufficient with outstretched wings, to carry him forward and upward ujnm an easy iodine. During this first rise, he will generally give a few heavy, lazy flaps, and then stretch his wings steadily to their full extent. As he rues, lie must gradually lose hii acquired momentum. When it suits him to acquire more momentum, by a movement of his tail he takes a shoot downward at any 'angle that suits his convenience, still with outstretched wings. By this movement his velocity is rapidly increased, and he soon acquires a sufficient momentum to carry him to a height equal to or greater than that from which* he started to take his downward flight. By this wave-like motion he willjtravel day after day for hundreds of miles, perhaps giving at long and irregular intervals a few lazy flaps with his immense wings.