The Human Side of Animals

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llow creatures and establishes whole cities with winding passages, chambers, exits and entrances. In fact, he has not only an exquisitely arranged home, but highways and roads that lead to his kingly hunting-grounds which are as elaborate as that of a modern man of wea

atch his prey both below and above ground, build wells to collect and retain water, swim like a fish, a

powerful shovels, and by the aid of an extra bone, the sickle, which belongs to the inside of the thumb, he is enabled to work like an athlete. His velvet-like hair stands straight up, like the pile on velvet, and his tiny eyes are so hidden by hair that they do not get injured. The eyes are not well finished from an optician's point of view-but they serve admirably all t

s unknown; he always works in darkness, unless it is that he can see in the dark. His little hills are not deliberate structures; they are only shaft ends through which this miner throws out the earth that

keep are two circular passages, one of which is level with the ceiling, while the other is above. The upper circle is decidedly smaller than the lower; and there are five ascending passages which connect the galleries with each other. There is only one entrance, however, and from it three roads lead into the upper part of the keep. When

s little danger of the walls collapsing even after a rain-storm. No human being knows just why the mole has such a complex system of underground streets and tunnels; perhaps it is becau

he condition of the mole's hunting-grounds, which are really the spaces of ground through which he tunnels. Worms and underground insects are his chief food. Sometimes he ploughs along the surface of the ground, and exposes his back as he works; but if the weather is dry, he ploughs deeply into the earth for worms. He

ors of great ability, and because of their nocturnal habits are rarely seen alive. They are very simil

and pretensions of his engineering and tunnelling. His eyes are very small and deeply hidden in his fur. During the

the warm sunshine. At the least signal of alarm he darts away to his subterranean home. As a mining engineer he is unexcelled; he sinks his tunnels by first

he also rears his young in underground nests as a burrowing animal. But few naturalists believe that he does his own digging. This is not surprising when we remember that there are many other animals that live in caves and grottoes, and lik

d under the gnarled roots of old trees. He is a bright-eyed little creature, with a slender snake-like neck and red body. He is a great friend of mankind, as he does more towar

nt-dweller and builds his home in the deep, shady woods. His home is rather pretentious with severa

s soon as the forest in which he dwells is drained and converted into farm land, the badger disappears. He is driven from

hese cunning little animals rarely make their homes away from others of their kind. Sometimes twenty to thirty are found in close proximity. And their owners are unquestion

ally in a sandy hill, where it is very easy for them to burrow; and the strangest part of the whole city is that each burrow is complete and entirely independent in itself. There are many wi

nter will dig into a fox's burrow and never discover the nest of young, and later the clever mother will return to carry away her babes, which are usually five to six in number. Adjoining the nursery are two or three storage rooms

snow white so that he may easily escape his enemies-especially men, who seek his beautiful fur and edible body. He is skilled in his distrust of wires, sticks, guns and strings! No man knows better than he the meaning of foot-tracks

ir kind, have the longest horns in proportion to their size of any animal in existence. The argali of Siberia is the largest of all sheep, and is equal in bulk and weight to an average-sized ox, with horns proportionally large. The horns of these animals are strikingly like those of the Rocky Mountain sheep of America, except they are much larger. They spring up from the forehead, tilt backward, then

ave fought and fallen. It is not long after they have thus fallen before they are utilised by Mr. Fox. He stores himself carefully a

elaborate houses as their arctic cousins. Again, it may be that the existence of numerous deserted homes of badgers, or even rabbits, makes it unnecessary fo

he nursery, and here the babies are born and nurtured. Nothing is more beautiful than to see the entire family-mother, father, and children-come forth at evening to play. The young are as sportive as pups,

and knows how to fight far better than the average bull terrier. It requires a ver

ace to place, while the latter stick to one general locality, although their hunting-grounds may range for several miles in all directions. R

isadvantage. Here none but the smallest canines may enter the holes and crannies, and they are usually wise enough to stay

se wise creatures are sometimes hard pressed for food. Birds and small animals are hard to catch, and the farmers' chicken houses are closed. It is then that the wise fox nee

in the art of constructing underground "dog towns." He is rarely called by his Indian name, Wish-ton-wish, and we know him only

and his extensive burrows seem to have no ends. They are rather large, and run to great depths. In the western part of the United States, especially on the big prairies, the prairie-dog towns often cover large areas. They are usually dug in a sloping direction, and descend four to six feet i

described, is able to survey a wide extent of territory and as soon as he sees a visitor, he gives a loud yelp of alarm, and dives into his burrow, his tiny feet knocking together with a ludicrous flourish as he disappears. In every direction similar scenes are enacted. The warning cry has been heard, and immediately every dog within a hundred yard

ilies live in perfect harmony; but it is a well-known fact that the snake occasionally devours the young prairie-dogs, and he must be considered by them as an intruder who procu

lled "vizcacheras" and are provided with from ten to twenty mouths or subway entrances, with one entrance often serving for several holes. If the ground is soft, it is not uncommon to find twenty to thirty burrows in a vi

o six feet from the entrance; from this street other streets wind and turn in all directions, like a man-made subway, and many of them extend clear into other streets or subways, th

e plains are as level and smooth as a bowling-green, especially in winter when the grass is close-cropped, and where the rough giant-thistle has not sprung up, these mounds appear like brown or dark spots on a green surface. They ar

oil, or roots of trees, or even tall grass; knowing that they only attract the opossum, skunk, armadillo, and w

lmost lead one to believe that they have a primitive city government, and are ruled according to definite laws. Their cities stand for generations, and many of the old human inhabitants tell of certain

he sides of the vizcacha's cities. Several insects, among which may be mentioned a large nocturnal bug, with red wings and shiny black body, also seek the same shelter; another foreign inhabitant is a night-roaming cincindela, with dark green wing-cases and pale red legs, which remind one of oriental jewels. T

ppear, as if to see if everything is safe from danger; if it is, others immediately pop up and take their places at the entrance to the burrow. The females are smaller than the males, and stand up that they may se

ent to the general affairs of the household, and he really goes quite unnoticed, even though he may be sitting on the mound in the family group. But when the vizcachas appear in the spring, the fox begins to become interested in the nursery and as soon as the older animals are away he devours the young. Occasio

g effect among these little animals. As soon as the report is broken on the stillness of the night a perfect furore of cries issues forth from every direction. In a few seconds it ceases for a momentary lull, and then suddenly breaks forth again, louder than before. The tones of the different ones are so different that the cries of nearby individuals may be plainly distinguished amidst the

rrows. Although a number of individuals may reside in adjoining compartments in the same burrow, yet if one enters a burrow not his own-woe is he! Even when pursued by fierce dogs a vizcacha will rarely enter a ro

issippi region. He is unusual in appearance, dressed in brown and grey fur, with tiny white feet, small eyes and ears, and a short stubby tail. His feet are wonderfully

es below the surface, and usually wind under the foot of a tree where a sinking passage goes down four to five feet further and leads to a large living-room. This is the family nest and n

rth; and while his fore-feet are kept constantly at work in digging and pressing the dirt back under the body, the hind feet also aid in shovelling it still farther back. When a sufficient amount has heaped up behind him, he performs the stranges

backwards, he says that even in carrying food to one of his barns or storehouses the gopher rarely t

his pouches. If a potato is too large to be carried in this way, he trims it off to the right size. His method of

nch the name of siffleur; and we sometimes call him by the very inappropriate name of ground-hog. He is a skilled weather pro

ering his home proper. The tunnel descends obliquely for several feet, and again rises towards the surface. His nest is rather large, and nicely lined with dry grass and leaves, which serve a

better place for storing food, and a far safer nursery for rearing his precious babes. So snug, cosy and hidden are the tiny quarters to which his runs or subways lead that h

pproaches, he seeks a position, usually near a big rock, where he digs out a hole of small dimensions, and allows the snow to cover his body. Strangely enough it is only the female bear that seeks this permanent snow hut; the males do not care to spend so much time in s

m of Natural H

MTH AND PROTECTION. THE MOTHER BEAR DIGS HERSELF INTO A SNOW

IRREL ARE EFFICACIOUS TOOLS IN DI

pen at the top of the snow-cell. This snow-house increases as time goes on, the heat exhaled from their bodies gradually melting the

the black bear of North America, and the brown bear of Europe, agree in the curious habit of semi-hibernation. In the late fal

d accumulated before she went into retirement. The same is true of many hibernating animals, but in case of the bears it is more remar

antities of earth to form his home. This dwelling might be termed a cave, as he heaps up the earth in the shape of a mammoth artifici

is claws are powerful and enormous, and with them he is able to dig into the hardest soil, and to destroy the gia

le in the stony side of an ant-hill, to the utter dismay of its tiny inhabitants. As they run among the ruins of their fallen city

rica use them as vaults into which are thrown their dead. The aard vark outrivals, with his great claws, the most skilled burrowing t

ion, and found there many difficulties to overcome, they not only have won in the great struggle of life but have so skilfully