WHY DOKKEYS DON'T SHY.

Lake County Press, Issue 974, 8 August 1901, Page 3

WHY DOKKEYS DON'T SHY.

Horses shy b j caase they aru He - s ended from ancestors accost -mud to uam over plains, when* any tuft of grass or bush might conceal an enemy w ailing to spring on them. Under these ciicumstancos they must have often saved themselves by suddenly starting away on observing any sudden or unexpected movement, or on coming without warning upon some strange object. This is suppt\ H to have become a habit which has to their domesticated dcThe donkey, on the other band™ descended from animals which dwelt in the hills, among which there were precipices and dangerous paths!, hence the surefootedness and comparative slowness of the donkey. His ancestors were not so liable to sudden attacks of wild beasts or of snakes. Moreover, sudden and wild starts on alarm would have been positively dangerous to them ; hence they learnt to avoid the very habit which proved so useful to the horse in the plains. The habit of eating thistles, which is almost peculiar to the donkey, is also supposed to come from these same ancestors. Living in dry and barren localities they founcTlittle food, and hence learnt to eat hard and dry and, if necessary, prickly plants.