THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 44

THE NATURALIST.

How. Animals Amuse Themselves.

In animals the faculty of amusement awakes very early. Our four-footed friends seem to be aware of tbis, and make it a part of their parental duties to amuse their young. A ferret .will play with her kittens, a cat with hers, a dog with her puppies. A mare will play with her foal, though the writer has never seen a cow try to amuse her calf, nor auy birds their young. If their mothers do not amuse them, the. young ones invent games of tbeir own. A flock of ewes and lambs were once observed in adjoining fields, separated by a fence with several gaps in it. " Follow my leader" was the game most in favour with this flock, the biggest lamb leading around the field and them jumping the gap, with all the others following in single file ; any lamb that took the leap unusually well would give two or three more enthusiastic jumps out of sheer exuberant happiness when it reached the other Bide. Fawns played a sort of cross touch from one side to the other, the •' touch " in each case being by the nose.

Little pig 3 are also great at combined play, which generally takes the form of races. Emulation seems to form part of their amusement, for their race 3 seem always to have the winning of the first place for their object, and are quite different from those combined rushes for food, or causeless scampedes in which little pigs are wont to indulge. Racing is an amusement natural to some animals, and, beiDg soon taught by others, becomes one of their most exciting pastimes. Many horses, and all racing dogo, learn to

be as keen at winning as schoolboys. Birds delight in the free and fanciful use of their wings. There is all the difference possible between the flight of birds for "business" aud plsasure, and many kinds on fine days will soar to vast heights for pleasure alone.

Dealing with Show. Skhpents.— Fakirs who toy with venomous serpents in India have a far more effective way of depriving them of power to do harm than pulling oat tbeir poisqn fangs, which are soon replaced by other teeth moving up into the place of the extracted incissors and establishing connection with the ducts that contain the virus. When they wish to tame a cobia, which is the most deadly of all snakes, they make a-cut under the creature's upper lip, so as to expose the reservoir of venom just above each tooth. This poison bag they cut out with a knife, and then apply a hot iron, thus destroying the part entirely. A serpent operated upon in this manner is rendered innocuous ior ever. There are cobras iv Egypt also, but the favourite snake for exhibition in that country is a very venomous species called the " cerastes." This kind of serpent has a little horn on each 6ide of its head, which is supposed lo serve as a, bait for attracting small birds resembling as it does a worm. However, the fakirs substitute for the cerastes a harmless ophidiau from Turkey, which looks jcist like it, save for the lack of horas. i These they supply by grafting upon the head of the souu;erfeit a pair of spurs freshly cut from the legs of a laik or other small bird.

When Animals abb lll.— Animals, says a well-known veterinary surgeon, .when ill, are the most helpless and appreciative of all

creatures, and the way of administering relief and medicine in many instances is as novel as it is effective. The most savage and revengeful animals during spells ~of severe pain are as docile and tractable as a child. Relief mutt come from a human being and come quickly, and they seem to know it. The most vicious horse when groan* ing with pain would allow a mere child to administer relief, and many of the wild animals when in sickness eeem to forget their javage instincts. It is next to impossible to give a dog or a cat any liquid medicine or powder, and the only proper way is to mix the medicine with butter, lard, or some greasy substance and smear the mixture from time to time upon their noses. They at once begin licking off thi3 unnatural substance with their tonguee, and in a few moments an effectual dose of the most nauseous compound can be administered. A Duck on the Wing.— Ducks fly at a speed of 90 miles an hour, and with the wind, when it is brißk, they have been known to attain a velocity of two and a-half miles a minute.