Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 March 1885 — The Average Age of Animals. [ARTICLE]

The Average Age of Animals.

The average age of cats is 15 years; of squirrels , and hares 7 to 8 years; a bear rarely exceeds 20 years; a dog lives 20 years; a wolf 20; a fox 14 to 16. Lions a far long-lived, the one by the name of Pompey living to the age of 70. Elephants have been known to live to the age of 400. When Alexander the Great had conquered Porus, King of India, he took a great elephant which had fought valiantly for the king, and dedicated him ■to the sun, and let him go with this inscription : "Alexander, the son of Jupiter, dedicated Ajax to the sun.” The elephant was found with the inscription 350 years after. Pigs have been known to live to the age of 20, and the rhinoceros to 29. A horse has been known to live to the age of 62, but averages 25 or 30. Camels sometimes live to the age of 100; stags are very long-lived; sheep seldom exceed the age of 10; cows live about 15 years. Cuvier considers it probable that whales sometimes live 1,000 years. The dolphin and porpoise attain the age of 30; an eagle died at Vienna at the age of 104; ravens have frequently reached the age of 100; swans have been known to live to the age of 300. Mr. Masterton has the skeleton of a swan that attained the age of 200. Pelicans are long-lived. A tortoise has been known to live to the age of 107 years.