KEEPING THEIR WITS

Hawera Star, Volume L, 26 July 1930, Page 11

KEEPING THEIR WITS

“COMB years ago I saw a, large k ” motor ear travelling fast, and beneath: it a- fluttering black object keeping pace, now darting to one side and now to the other in its efforts to escape from its moving prison (writes I. W. Morton in an English periodical'). !This continued for a few seconds, when t 100 object saw its chance, arid, darting out between the front and back wheels, flew to the nearest tree without injury. 'Although fire whole affair had happened in a few second's, the blackbird had kept its wits in trying arid dangerous circumstances. Keeping just off the ground, but too low to touch the bottom of the car, it had made sure of safety before attempting to escape, and so had' succeeded (where large numbers of bird's, or of animals, for that matter, would have been killed' outright. “The blackbird is not the only creature which keeps its wits in times of stress. A motor .ear was travelling fairly fast when the driver saw a cat sitting on the road dire'etly in front washing itself. There was no time to ( avoid the animal, but the driver, as was a, man who hated to destroy * life, kept straight on, but put on both

Road Sense of Wild Creatures

brakes with a view to discovering how badly the animal was injured. On looking round he saw the eat in the same place and! still washing itself; the passing of the car right over the animal had not in the least disturbed it.

“This is altogether unlike the action of the hare under the same conditions. This animal will run in front of a car for u considerable distance, first to one side and then to the 'other, until in very many cases it is destroyed, through it's lack of decision.

“It would .seem, indeed, that, taken collectively, birds are much mure sensible than are animals. A flock of pigeons settled on the railway right-in front of an on-coming train. The birds were lost to view for « few second's out when the train had passed it. was seen that every one was alive, crouching close t'o the ground. Had they attempted flight, nil must have been killed outright. “Perhaps the stupidest of all birds in front of a car is the pheasant, often refusing to flv from danger, while the partridge takes flight at the first sign of trouble.’’