THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ANIMALS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2488, 5 July 1909, Page 7

THE INDIVIDUALITY OF ANIMALS.

(13y J. Alden Loring.) Keepers in zoological parks ami meuagorics learn to know their animals quite as well by personal character and individual temperament as they do by color or physical appearance. The hears, for instance, are jolly and good matured as a family, and the wolves also are inclined that way, but one who has an opportunity to study a number of individuals of a given species discovers certain sullen and morose animals that are entirely different from the rest. Then there are others that art' ever on the watch for their keeper and always meet him at the door in anticipation of a friendly bout; and the one with the “greedy” temperament who "hogs” as much food as he can cram into his .mouth and with his paws scrapes the rest together in a corner, stands guard over it, mumbling and grumbling to himself, and when another bear comes near charges him, snorting and striking out with his paws. 11 is opposite is the bear that passively submits to almost any indignity rather than have a fight. Rarely are bears born ill-tempered. They may show some resentment at the time of their capture when huttwo months old, but this feeling soon disappears, leaving a jolly rogue ever willing to box or wrestle. I once knew a cub that was a regular terror, however, and he never reformed. He would attack anything, regardless of its size or strength. At the age of three months he would charge at me, snorting, sniffing, and striking with his tiny paws, and when I did not protect myself he seized my trousers’ leg between his teeth and shook it violently. At first 1 thought that he. had been abused by his former owner, and that by kind treatment he would soon outgrow- his temper, but no, he just had it in him, and he became more dangerous as time sped by. Finally he grew large enough to be put in with the mature bears without danger* of his squeezing between the bars and escaping, and to the surprise of everyone he immediately took charge of the den. Old bears twenty times his size, possibly from some sense of honor, if animals have honor, submitted to cuffs and slaps in the face, and actually allowed him to snatch food from their mouths without resenting the insult. Studying the personality of mammals in captivity is quite different from studying them in their wild state. The few wild mammals that become tame enough to be watched at close range seldom live long enough for us to discover much concerning their character. While I was watching at an Alaskan salmon stream, where bears came to catch fish, two medium-sized brown bears finally made their appearance some two hundred yards away. One was lighter colored than its mate, and I soon discovered that, so far as selfpreservation was concerned, they were as different from each other as difference could make them. One was always on the alert. He would come to the edge of the timber fifty yards from the stream, stand upright' upon his hind feet and survey the flat before him. Then, dropping down on all fours, he would disappear and, circling about again, strike the opening farther up and cautiously look about. Sometimes he ventured out of the timber, but he always exhibited the same vigilance. For fully an hour he worked in and out of the timber, while his companion, oblivious of all danger, sauntered about in the woods and in the tall grass, digging into stumps, rolling logs over, and turning the bodies of decaying fish for the insects and bugs that might be beneath them. He was impatient and always in the lead, as though anxious to get to the stream and begin fishing, but whenever his companion turned back into the timber he took the hint and followed, although not more than half a dozen times did he rise to look for danger. Compared with mammals, parental love is stronger in birds. In protecting their nests and young, birds often show courage and strategy more or less of which is doubtless inherited. Even the so-called dangerous mammals, the bears, mountain lions, wildcats, and other mammals that are best able to protect themselves, seldom make a stand against domestic intrusion. Rarely do they attempt to entice an enemy from their home by strategic means, but at the first warning of danger they either hide or watch the intruder from a safe distance. This, in a way, might be considered one form of protection, for outcries or suspicious actions at Such a time would at once betray the young. But there are very few species of birds that do not attempt to defend their homes in some way, and even the most timid evince ‘more courage and more intelligence than most mammals. Those birds of prey that are wild and difficult to approach under ordinary circumstances are usually fearless

d when their nests are in danger. Flyt ing back and forth over the intruder’s a head, they dart at him, snapping their n bills and screaming with rage. When y within two or three feet of his head 0 their courage deserts them and they turn abruptly in the air and mount 11 for another charge. Cases are on ree cord, however, where exceptionally courageous birds have actually struck ' and inflicted serious face and scalp k wounds. * Almost without exception the ground-dwelling birds, whether or not j they be of the sparrow, lark, grouse, * plover, or dove families, will try first to decoy an enemy from a nest by k squealling and fluttering or dragging themselves over the ground as ’ though injured. Their efforts failing, " they are apt to return and assume a 1 more aggressive attitude. I was once examining a catbird’s nest, when the female flew at me, lit by the side of the nest, and pecked my hand several times as I touched the young ones. Catbirds, though naturally shy and demure, are aggressive when angered. For five successive years a pair cf house wrens occupied a bird-house in our back grounds and brought forth , two broods of young each season. The male bird became so tame that he would take spiders, flies, and mealworms from my fingers. He would never, however, perch upon my hand, but as soon as he could reach the food lie took it and flew away to eat it at his leisure. The same methods as those used in taming the male were adopted in trying to tame his mate, but her confidence was never won. While the shyest “camp robber” is tame in comparison with most birds, you soon discover that certain ones have a personality by which they .can easily be recognised.