Chapter XX: Part II: Animal Life (13)

11. Tell or write a story of some dog of which you know by experience or hearsay. Of what use was the dog to the pioneer? How are dogs used in the Arctic regions? In Holland?

12. How many breeds of dogs do you know? Describe characters of such as follows: The length of the legs as compared with the body; the general shape of the body, head, ears, nose; color and character of hair on head, body and tail.

13. Find if you can the reasons which have led to the developing of the following breeds: Newfoundland, St. Bernard, mastiffs, hounds, collies, spaniels, setters, pointers, bulldogs, terriers, and pugs.

_Supplementary reading_--“Stories of Brave Dogs” from _St. Nicholas_, the Century Co.; the following three stories from Thompson-Seton: “Chink” in Lives of the Hunted, “Snap” in Animal Heroes, “Wully” in Wild Animals I Have Known; Bob, Son of Battle; Mack, His Book, by Florence Leigh; Rab and his Friends; The Dog of Flanders; “Red Dog” in Kipling’s Jungle Stories; Animals of the World, Knight and Jenks, p. 80; Life of Animals, Ingersoll, p. 187.

THE CAT

_Teacher’s Story_

Of all people, the writer should regard the cat sympathetically, for when she was a baby of five months she was adopted by a cat. My self-elected foster-mother was Jenny, a handsome black and white cat, which at that time lost her first litter of kittens, through the attack of a savage cat from the woods. She was as Rachel crying for her children, when she seemed suddenly to comprehend that I, although larger than she, was an infant. She haunted my cradle, trying to give me milk from her own breasts; and later she brought half-killed mice and placed them enticingly in my cradle, coaxing me to play with them, a performance which pleased me much more than it did my real mother. Jenny always came to comfort me when I cried, rubbing against me, purring loudly, and licking me with her tongue in a way to drive mad the modern mother, wise as to the sources of children’s internal parasites. This maternal attitude toward me lasted as long as Jenny lived, which was until I was nine years old. Never during those years did I lift my voice in wailing, that she did not come to comfort me; and even to-day I can remember how great that comfort was, especially when my naughtiness was the cause of my weeping, and when, therefore, I felt that the whole world, except Jenny, was against me.

Jenny was a cat of remarkable intelligence and was very obedient and useful. Coming down the kitchen stairs one day, she played with the latch and someone hearing her, opened the door. She did this several times, when one day she chanced to push down the latch, and thus opened the door herself. After that, she always opened it herself. A little later, she tried the trick on other doors, and soon succeeded in opening all the latched doors in the house, by thrusting one front leg through the handle, and thus supporting her weight and pressing down with the foot of the other on the thumb-piece of the latch. I remember, guests were greatly astonished to see her coming thus swinging into the sitting-room. Later she tried the latches from the other side, jumping up and trying to lift the hook; but now, her weight was thrown against the wrong side of the door for opening, and she soon ceased this futile waste of energy; but for several years, she let herself into all the rooms in this clever manner, and taught a few of her bright kittens to do the same.

A pet cat enjoys long conversations with favored members of the household. She will sit in front of her mistress and mew, with every appearance of answering the questions addressed her; and since the cat and the mistress each knows her own part of the conversation, it is perhaps more typical of society chatter than we might like to confess. Of our language, the cat learns to understand the call to food, its own name, “scat,” and “No, No,” probably inferring the meaning of the latter from the tone of voice. On the other hand, we understand when it asks to go out, and its polite recognition to the one who opens the door. I knew one cat which invariably thanked us when we let him in as well as out. When the cat is hungry, it mews pleadingly; when happy in front of the fire, it looks at us sleepily out of half-closed eyes and gives a short mew expressive of affection and content; or it purrs, a noise which we do not know how to imitate and which expresses perfectly the happiness of intimate companionship. When frightened the cat yowls, and when hurt squalls shrilly; when fighting, it is like a savage warrior in that it howls a war-song in blood-curdling strains, punctuated with a spitting expressive of fear and contempt; and unfortunately, its love song is scarcely less agonizing to the listener. The cat’s whole body enters into the expression of its emotions. When feeling affectionate toward its mistress, it rubs against her gown, with tail erect, and vibrating with a purr which seems fundamental. When angry, it lays its ears back and lashes its tail back and forth, the latter being a sign of excitement; when frightened, its hair stands on end, especially the hair of the tail, making that expressive appendage twice its natural size; when caught in disobedience, the cat lets its tail droop, and when running lifts it in a curve.

A Claw up. B Claw thrust out.]

While we feed cats milk and scraps from our own table, they have never become entirely civilized in their tastes. They always catch mice and other small animals and prove pestiferous in destroying birds. Jenny was wont to bring her quarry, as an offering, to the front steps of our home every night; one morning we found seven mice, a cotton-tail rabbit and two snakes, which represented her night’s catch. The cat never chases its prey like the dog. It discovers the haunts of its victims, and then lies in ambush, flattened out as still as a statue and all its feet beneath it, ready to make the spring. The weight of the body is a factor which enters in the blow with which the cat strikes down its victim, and thus stuns and which it later kills by gripping the throat with the strong tushes. She carries her victims as she does her kittens, by the back.

The cat’s legs are not long compared with the body, and it runs with a leaping gallop; the upper legs are armed with powerful muscles. It walks on the padded toes, five on the front feet and four of the hind feet. The cat needs its claws to be sharp and hooked, in order to seize and hold its prey, so they are kept safely sheathed when not thus used. If the claws struck the earth during walking, as do the dog’s, they would soon become dulled. When sharpening its claws it reaches high up against a tree or post, and strikes them into the wood with a downward scratch; this act is probably more for exercising the muscles which control the claws than for sharpening them.

The cat’s track is in a single line as if it had only two feet, one set directly ahead of the other. It accomplishes this by setting its hind feet exactly in the tracks made by the front feet. The cat can easily leap upward, landing on a window-sill five feet from the ground. The jump is made with the hind legs and the alighting is done silently on the front feet.

Cats’ eyes are fitted for seeing in the dark; in the daytime the pupil is simply a narrow, up and down slit; under excitement, and at night, the pupil covers almost the entire eye. At the back of the eye is a reflecting surface, which catches such dim light as there is, and by reflecting it enables the cat to use it twice. It is this reflected light, which gives the peculiar green glare to the eyes of all the cats when seen in the dark. Some night-flying moths have a like arrangement for utilizing the light, and their eyes glow like living coals. Of course, since the cat is a night hunter, this power of multiplying the rays of light is of great use. The iris of the eye is usually yellow, but in kittens it may be blue or green.

The cat’s teeth are peculiarly fitted for its needs. The six doll-like incisors of the upper and lower jaw are merely for scraping meat from bones. The two great tushes, or canines, on each jaw, with a bare place behind so that they pass each other freely, are sharp and hooked, and are for seizing and carrying prey. The cat is able to open its mouth as wide as a right angle, in order to better hold and carry prey. The back teeth, or molars, are four on each side in the upper jaw and three, below. They are sharp-edged wedges made for cutting meat fine enough, so that it may be swallowed.

The tongue is covered with sharp papillæ directed backwards, also used for rasping juices from meat. The cat’s nose is moist, and her sense of smell very keen, as is also her sense of hearing. The ears rise like two hollow half-cones on either side of the head and are filled with sensitive hairs; they ordinarily open forward, but are capable of movement. The cat’s whiskers consist of from twenty-five to thirty long hairs set in four lines, above and at the sides of the mouth; they are connected with sensitive nerves and are therefore true feelers. The cat’s fur is very fine and thick, and is also sensitive; as can readily be proved, by trying to stroke it the wrong way. While the wild cats have gray or tawny fur, variously mottled or shaded, the more striking colors we see in the domestic cats are the result of man’s breeding.

Cats are very cleanly in their habits. Puss always washes her face directly after eating, using one paw for a wash-cloth and licking it clean after she rubs her face. She cleans her fur with her rough tongue and also by biting; and she promptly buries objectionable matter. The mother cat is very attentive to the cleanliness of her kittens, licking them clean from nose tip to tail tip. The ways of the mother cat with her kittens do much to sustain the assertions of Mr. Seton and Mr. Long that young animals are trained and educated by their parents. The cat brings half-dazed mice to her kittens, that they may learn to follow and catch them with their own little claws. When she punishes them, she cuffs the ears by holding one side of the kitten’s head firm with the claws of one foot, while she lays on the blows with the other. She carries her kittens by the nape of the neck, never hurting them. She takes them into the field when they are old enough, and shows them the haunts of mice, and does many things for their education and welfare. The kittens meantime train themselves to agility and dexterity, by playing rough and tumble with each other, and by chasing every small moving object, even to their own tails.

The cat loves warmth and finds her place beneath the stove or at the hearthside. She likes some people, and dislikes others, for no reason we can detect. She can be educated to be friendly with dogs and with birds. In feeding her, we should give her plenty of sweet milk, some cooked meat and fish of which she is very fond; and we should keep a bundle of catnip to make her happy, for even the larger cats of the wilderness seem to have a passionate liking for this herb. The cat laps milk with her rough tongue, and when eating meat, she turns the head this way and that, to cut the tough muscle with her back teeth.

CATS SHOULD BE TRAINED TO LEAVE BIRDS ALONE

Every owner of a cat owes it to the world to train puss to leave birds alone. If this training is begun during kittenhood, by switching the culprit every time it even looks at a bird, it will soon learn to leave them severely alone. I have tried this many times, and I know it is efficacious, if the cat is intelligent. We have never had a cat whose early training we controlled, that could ever be induced to even watch birds. If a cat is not thus trained as a kitten, it is likely to be always treacherous in this respect. But in case any one has a valuable cat which is given to catching birds, I strongly advise the following treatment which has been proved practicable by a friend of mine. When a cat has made the catch, take the bird away and sprinkle it with red pepper, and then give it back. One such treatment as this resulted in making one cat, which was an inveterate bird hunter, run and hide every time he saw a bird thereafter. Any persons taking cats with them to their summer homes, and abandoning them there to prey upon the birds of the vicinity, and to become poor, half-starved, wild creatures, ought to be arrested and fined. It is not only cruelty to the cats, but it is positive injury and damage to the community, because of the slaughter of beneficial birds which it entails.

LESSON LXIV

THE CAT

_Leading thought_--The cat was made a domestic animal before man wrote histories. It gets prey by springing from ambush and is fitted by form of body and teeth to do this. It naturally hunts at night and has eyes fitted to see in the dark.

_Method_--This lesson may be used in primary grades by asking a few questions at a time and allowing the children to make their observations on their own kittens at home, or a kitten may be brought to school for this purpose. The upper grade work consists of reading and retelling or writing exciting stories of the great, wild, savage cats, like the tiger, lion, leopard, lynx and panther.

_Observations_--1. How much of Pussy’s language do you understand? What does she say when she wishes you to open the door for her? How does she ask for something to eat? What does she say when she feels like conversing with you? How does she cry when hurt? When frightened? What noise does she make when fighting? When calling other cats? What are her feelings when she purrs? When she spits? How many things which you say does she understand?

2. How else than by voice does she express affection, pleasure and anger? When she carries her tail straight up in the air is she in a pleasant mood? When her tail “bristles up” how does she feel? What is it a sign of, when she lashes her tail back and forth?

3. What do you feed to cats? What do they catch for themselves? What do the cats that are wild live upon? How does the cat help us? How does she injure us?

4. How does a cat catch her prey? Does she track mice by the scent? Does she catch them by running after them as a dog does? Describe how she lies in ambush. How does she hold the mouse as she pounces upon it? How does she carry it home to her kittens?

5. Study the cat’s paws to see how she holds her prey. Where are the sharp claws? Are they always in sight like a dog’s? Does she touch them to the ground when she walks? Which walks the more silently, a dog or a cat? Why? Describe the cat’s foot, including the toe-pads. Are there as many toes on the hind feet as on the front feet? What kind of a track does the cat make in the snow? How does she set her feet to make such a track? How does she sharpen her claws? How does she use her claws for climbing? How far have you ever seen a cat jump? Does she use her front or her hind feet in making the jump? On which feet does she alight? Does she make much noise when she alights?

6. What is there peculiar about a cat’s eyes? What is their color? What is the color of kittens’ eyes? What is the shape of the pupil in daylight? In the dark? Describe the inner lid which comes from the corner of the eye.

7. How many teeth has Puss? What is the use of the long tushes? Why is there a bare space behind these? What does she use her little front teeth for? Does she use her back teeth for chewing or for cutting meat?

8. How many whiskers has she? How long are they? What is their use? Do you think that puss has a keen sense of smell? Why do you think so? Do you think she has a keen sense of hearing? How do the shape and position of the ears help in listening? In what position are the ears when puss is angry?

9. How many colors do you find in our domestic cats. What is the color of wild cats? Why would it not be beneficial to the wild-cat to have as striking colors as our tame cats? Compare the fur of the cat with the hair of the dog. How do they differ? If a cat chased her prey like the dog do you think her fur would be a too warm covering?

10. Describe how the cat washes her face. How does she clean her fur? How does her rough tongue help in this? How does the mother cat wash her kittens?

11. How does a little kitten look when a day or two old? How long before its eyes open? How does the cat carry her kittens? How does a kitten act when it is being carried? How does the mother cat punish her kittens? How does she teach them to catch mice? How do kittens play? How does the exercise they get in playing fit them to become hunters?

12. How should cats be trained not to touch birds? When must this training begin? Why should a person be punished for injury to the public who takes cats to summer cottages and leaves them there to run wild?

13. Where in the room does puss best like to lie? How does she sun herself? What herb does she like best? Does she like some people and not others? What strange companions have you known a cat to have? What is the cat’s chief enemy? How should we care for and make her comfortable?

14. Write or tell stories on the following subjects: (1) The things which my pet cat does; (2) The Wild Cat; (3) The Lion; (4) The Tiger; (5) The Leopard; (6) The Panther and the Mountain Lion; (7) The Lynx; (8) The History of Domestic Cats; (9) The Different Races of Cats, describing the Manx, the Persian and the Angora Cats.

_Supplementary reading_--The Life of Animals, Ingersoll; American Animals, Stone and Cram; Our Domestic Animals, Burkett; The Fireside Sphinx, Repplier; Concerning Cats, Winslow; The following animal stories from _St. Nicholas_ Magazine: Cat Stories, Lion and Tiger Stories, Panther Stories.

Photo by Verne Morton. ]

Peer, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.]

THE GOAT

_Teacher’s Story_

Little do we in America realize the close companionship that has existed in older countries, from time immemorial, between goats and people. This association began when man was a nomad, and took with him in his wanderings, his flocks, of which goats formed the larger part. He then drank their milk, ate their flesh, wove their hair into raiment, or made cloth of their pelts, and used their skins for water bags. Among peoples of the East all these uses continue to the present day. In the streets of Cairo, old Arabs may be seen with goat skins filled with water upon their backs; and in any city of Western Asia or Southern Europe, flocks of goats are driven along the streets to be milked in sight of the consumer.

In order to understand the goat’s peculiarities of form and habit, we should consider it as a wild animal, living upon the mountain heights amid rocks and snow and scant vegetation. It is marvelously sure-footed and when on its native mountains, it can climb the sharpest crags and leap chasms. This peculiarity has been seized upon by showmen who often exhibit goats which walk on the tight rope with ease, and even turn themselves upon it without falling. The instinct for climbing still lingers in the domestic breeds, and in the country the goat may be seen on top of stone piles or other objects, while in city suburbs, its form may be discerned on the roofs of shanties and stables.

It is a common saying that a goat will eat anything, and much sport is made of this peculiarity. This fact has more meaning for us when we realize that wild goats live in high altitudes, where there is little plant life, and are therefore, obliged to find sustenance on lichens, moss and such scant vegetation as they can find.

The goat is closely allied to the sheep, differing from it in only a few particulars; its horns rise from the forehead curving over backward and do not form a spiral like those of the ram; its covering is usually of hair, and the male has a beard from which we get the name goatee; the goat has no gland between the toes, and it does have a rank and disagreeable odor. In a wild state, it usually lives a little higher up the mountains than do the sheep, and it is a far more intelligent animal. Mary Austin says: “Goats lead naturally by reason of a quicker instinct, forage more freely and can find water on their own account, and give voice in case of alarm. Goat leaders exhibit jealousy of their rights to be first over the stepping-stones or to walk the teetering log bridges at the roaring creeks.” On the great plains, it is a common usage to place a few goats in a flock of sheep, because of the greater sagacity of these animals as leaders, and also as defenders in case of attack.

Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.]

Goats’ teeth are arranged for cropping herbage and especially for browsing. There are six molar teeth on each side of each jaw; there are eight lower incisors and none above. The goat’s sense of smell is very acute; the ears are movable and the sense of hearing is keen; the eyes are full and very intelligent; the horns are somewhat flattened and angular and often knobbed somewhat in front, and curve backward above the neck; they are, however, very efficient as weapons of defence. The legs are strong, though not large, and are well fitted for leaping and running. The feet have two hoofs, that is, the animal walks upon two toe-nails. There are two smaller toes behind and above the hoofs. The goat can run with great rapidity. The tail of the goat is short like that of the deer, and does not need to be amputated like that of the sheep. Although the normal covering of the goat is hair, there are some species which have a more or less woolly coat. When angry the goat shakes its head, and defends itself by butting with the head, also by striking with the horns, which are very sharp. Goats are very tractable and make affectionate pets when treated with kindness; they display far more affection for their owner than do sheep.

Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture.]

Our famous Rocky Mountain goat, although it belongs rather to the antelope family, is a large animal, and is the special prize of the hunter; however, it still holds its own in the high mountains of the Rocky and Cascade Ranges. Both sexes have slender black horns, white hair, and black feet, eyes and nose. Owen Wister says of this animal: “He is white, all white, and shaggy, and twice as large as any goat you ever saw. His white hair hangs long all over him like a Spitz dog’s or an Angora cat’s; and against its shaggy white mass the blackness of his hoofs and horns, and nose looks particularly black. His legs are thick, his neck is thick, everything about him is thick, save only his thin black horns. They’re generally about six (often more than nine) inches long, they spread very slightly, and they curve slightly backward. At their base they are a little rough, but as they rise they become cylindrically smooth and taper to an ugly point. His hoofs are heavy, broad and blunt. The female is lighter than the male, and with horns more slender, a trifle. And (to return to the question of diet) we visited the pasture where the herd (of thirty-five) had been, and found no signs of grass growing or grass eaten; there was no grass on that mountain. The only edible substance was a moss, tufted, stiff and dry to the touch. I also learned that the goat is safe from predatory animals. With his impenetrable hide and his disemboweling horns he is left by the wolves and mountain lions respectfully alone.” (See American Animals, p. 57; Camp Fires of a Naturalist, chapters VIII and XIII).

Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.]

_Milch Goats_--Many breeds of these have been developed, and the highest type is, perhaps, found in Switzerland. The Swiss farmers have found the goat particularly adapted to their high mountains and have used it extensively; thus, goats developed in the Saane and Toggenburg valleys have a world-wide reputation. Above these valleys the high mountains are covered with perpetual snow, and winter sets in about November 1st, lasting until the last of May. The goats are kept with the cows in barns and fed upon hay; but as soon as the snow is gone from the valleys and the lower foot-hills, the cattle and goats are sent with the herders and boy assistants, to the grazing grounds. A bell is put upon the cow that leads the herd so as to keep it together and the boys, in their gay peasant dresses, are as happy as the playful calves and goats to get out in the spring sunshine. The herds follow the receding snows up the mountains until about midsummer, when they reach the high places of scanty vegetation; then they start on the downward journey, returning to the home and stables about November 1st. The milk from goats is mixed with that from cows to make cheese, and this cheese has a wide reputation; some of the varieties are: Roquefort, Schweitzer and Altenburger. Although the cheese is excellent, the butter made from goat’s milk is quite inferior to that made from the cow’s. The milk, when the animals are well taken care of, is exceedingly nourishing; it is thought to be the best milk in the world for children. Usually, the trouble with goat’s milk is, that the animals are not kept clean nor is care taken in milking. Germany has produced many distinct and excellent breeds of milch goats; the Island of Malta, Spain, England, Ireland, Egypt and Nubia have each developed noted breeds. Of all these, the Nubias give the most milk, sometimes yielding from four to six quarts pet day, while an ordinary goat is considered fairly good if it yields two quarts per day.

_The Mohair Goats_--There are two noted breeds of goats whose hair is used extensively for weaving into fabrics; one of these is the Cashmere and the other the Angora. The Cashmere goat has long, straight, silky hair for an outside coat and has a winter under-coat of very delicate wool. There are not more than two or three ounces of this wool upon one goat, and this is made into the famous Cashmere shawls; ten goats furnish barely enough of this wool for one shawl. The Cashmere goats are grown most largely in Thibet, and the wool is shipped from the high tableland to the Valley of Cashmere, and is made into shawls. It requires the work of several people for a year to produce one of these famous shawls.

The Angora goat has a long, silky and very curly fleece. These goats were first discovered in Angora, a city of Asia Minor south of the Black Sea, and some 200 miles southeast from Constantinople. The Angora goat is a beautiful and delicate animal, and furnishes most of the mohair, which is made into the cloths known as mohair, alpaca, camel’s hair and many other fabrics. The Angora goat has been introduced into America, in California, Texas, Arizona, and to some extent in the Middle West. It promises to be a very profitable industry. (See Farmers’ Bulletin No. 137, “The Angora Goat,” United States Department of Agriculture.)

The skins of goats are used extensively; morocco, gloves and many other articles are made from them. In the Orient, the skin of the goat is used as a bag in which to carry water and wine.

_References_--American Animals, p. 55; Neighbors with Claws and Hoofs, p. 190; Familiar Animals, pp. 169 and 183; Camp Fires of a Naturalist, chapters VIII and XIII; Lives of Animals.

Thompson, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry U. S. Department of Agriculture.]

LESSON LXV

THE GOAT

_Leading thought_--Goats are among our most interesting domesticated animals, and their history is closely interwoven with the history of the development of civilization. In Europe, their milk is made into cheese that has a world-wide fame; and from the hair of some of the species, beautiful fabrics are woven. The goat is naturally an animal of the high mountains.

_Method_--A span of goats harnessed to a cart is second only to ponies, in a child’s estimation; therefore, the beginning of this lesson may well be a span of goats thus employed. The lesson should not be given unless the pupils have an opportunity for making direct observations on the animal’s appearance and habits. There should be some oral and written work in English done with this lesson. Following are topics for such work: “The Milch Goat of Switzerland,” “How Cashmere Shawls are Made,” “The Angora Goat,” “The Chamois.”

_Observations_--1. Do you think that goats like to climb to high points? Are they fitted to climb steep, inaccessible places? Can they jump off steep places in safety? How does it happen the goat is sure-footed? How do its legs and feet compare with those of the sheep?

2. What does the goat eat? Where does it find its natural food on mountains? How are the teeth arranged for cutting its food? Does a goat chew its cud like a cow?

3. What is the covering of the goat? Describe a billy-goat’s beard. Do you suppose this is for ornament? For what is goat’s hair used?

4. Do you think the goat has a keen sense of sight, of hearing and of smell? Why? Why did it need to be alert and keen when it lived wild upon the mountains? Do you think the goat is intelligent? Give instances of this.

5. Describe the horns. Do they differ from the horns of the sheep? How does a goat fight? Does he strike head on, like the sheep, or sidewise? How does he show anger?

6. What noises does a goat make? Do you understand what they mean?

7. Describe the goat, its looks and actions. Is the goat’s tail short at first or does it have to be cut off like the lamb’s tail? Where and how is goat’s milk used? What kinds of cheese are made from it? For what is its skin used? Is its flesh ever eaten?

* * * * *

_Everyone knows the gayety of young kids, which prompts
them to cut the most amusing and burlesque capers. The goat
is naturally capricious and inquisitive, and one might say
crazy for every species of adventure. It positively delights
in perilous ascensions. At times it will rear and threaten
you with its head and horns, apparently, with the worst
intentions, whereas it is usually an invitation to play. The
bucks, however, fight violently with each other; they seem to
have no consciousness of the most terrible blows. The ewes
themselves are not exempt from this vice._

_They know very well whether or not they have deserved
punishment. Drive them out of the garden, where they are
forbidden to go, with a whip and they will flee without
uttering a sound; but strike them without just cause and they
will send forth lamentable cries._

CHARLES WILLIAM BURKETT IN “OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.”

Photo by J. H. Comstock.]

THE SHEEP

_Teacher’s Story_

“_The earliest important achievement of ovine intelligence
is to know whether its own notion or another’s is most worth
while, and if the other’s, which one? Individual sheep
have certain qualities, instincts, competences, but in the
man-herded flocks these are superseded by something which
I shall call the flock mind, though I cannot say very well
what it is, except that it is less than the sum of all their
intelligences. This is why there have never been any notable
changes in the management of flocks since the first herder
girt himself with a wallet of sheep-skin and went out of his
cave-dwelling to the pastures._”
--“The Flock,” by MARY AUSTIN.

Both sheep and goats are at home on mountains, and sheep especially, thrive best in cool, dry locations. As wild animals, they were creatures of the mountain crag and chasm, although they frequented more open places than the mountain goats, and their wool was developed to protect them from the bitter cold of high altitudes. They naturally gathered in flocks, and sentinels were set to give warning of the approach of danger; as soon as the signal came, they made their escape, not in the straight away race like the deer, but in following the leader over rock, ledge and precipice to mountain fastnesses where wolf nor bear could follow. Thus, the instinct of following the leader blindly, came to be the salvation of the individual sheep.

The teeth of the sheep are like those of the goat, eight incisors below and none on the upper row, and six grinding teeth at the back of each side of each jaw. This arrangement of teeth on the small, delicate, pointed jaws enables the sheep to crop herbage where cattle would starve; it can cut the small grass off at its roots, and for this reason, where vast herds of sheep range, they leave a desert behind them. This fact brought about a bitter feud between the cattle and sheep men in the far West. In forests, flocks of sheep completely kill all underbrush, and now they are not permitted to run in government reserves.

The sheep’s legs are short and delicate below the ankle. The upper portion is greatly developed to help the animal in leaping, a peculiarity to which we owe the “leg of lamb” as a table delicacy. The hoof is cloven, that is, the sheep walks upon two toes; it has two smaller toes above and behind these. There is a little gland between the front toes which secretes an oily substance, which perhaps serves in preventing the hoof from becoming too dry. The ears are large and are moved to catch better the direction of sound. The eyes are peculiar; in the sunlight the pupil is a mere slit, while the iris is yellow or brownish, but in the dark, even of the stable, the pupils enlarge, almost covering the eye. The ewes either lack horns or have small ones, but the horns of wild rams are large, placed at the side of the head and curled outward in a spiral. These horns are perhaps not so much for fighting the enemy as for rival rams. The ram can strike a hard blow with head and horns, coming at the foe head on, while the goat always strikes sidewise. So fierce is the blow of the angry sheep, that an ancient instrument of war was fashioned like a ram’s head and used to knock down walls, and was called a battering ram. A sheep shows anger by stamping the ground with the front feet. The habit of rumination enables the sheep to feed in a flock and then retire to some place to rest and chew the cud, a performance peculiarly funny in the sheep.

Sheep under attack and danger are silent; ordinarily they keep up a constant, gentle bleating to keep each other informed of their whereabouts; they also give a peculiar call when water is discovered, and another to inform the flock that there is a stranger in the midst; they also give a peculiar bleat, when a snake or other enemy which they conquer, is observed. Their sense of smell is very acute. Mary Austin says, “Young lambs are principally legs, the connecting body being simply a contrivance for converting milk into more leg, so you understand how it is that they will follow the flock in two days and are able to take the trail in a fortnight, traveling four and five miles a day, falling asleep on their feet and tottering forward in the way.”

The older lambs have games which they play untiringly, and which fit them to become active members of the flock; one, is the regular game of “Follow My Leader,” each lamb striving to push ahead and attain the place of leader. In playing this the head lamb leads the chase over most difficult places, such as logs, stones and across brooks; thus is a training begun which later in life may save the flock. The other game is peculiar to stony pastures; a lamb climbs to the top of a boulder and its comrades gather around and try to butt it off; the one which succeeds in doing this, climbs the rock and is “it.” This game leads to agility and sure-footedness. A lamb’s tail is long and is most expressive of lambkin bliss, when feeding time comes; but, alas! it has to be cut off so that later it will not become matted with burrs and filth. In southern Russia there is a breed of sheep with large, flat, fat tails which are esteemed as a great table delicacy. This tail becomes so cumbersome that wheels are placed beneath it, so that it trundles along behind its owner.

We have a noble species of wild sheep in the Rocky Mountains which is likely to become extinct soon. The different breeds of domesticated sheep are supposed to have been derived from different wild species. Of the domesticated varieties, we have the Merinos which originated in Spain and which give beautiful, long, fine wool for our fabrics; but their flesh is not very attractive. The Merinos have wool on their faces and legs and have wrinkled skins. The English breeds of sheep have been especially developed for mutton, although their wool is valuable. Some of these like the Southdown, Shropshire, and Dorset, give a medium length of wool, while the Cotswold has very long wool, the ewes having long strings of wool over their eyes in the fashion of “bangs.”

The dog, as descended from the wolf, is the ancient enemy of sheep; and even now after hundreds of years of domestication, some of our dogs will revert to savagery and chase and kill sheep. This, in fact, has been one of the great drawbacks to sheep raising in the Eastern United States. The collie, or sheep-dog, has been bred so many years as the special care-taker of sheep, that a beautiful relationship has been established between these dogs and their flocks. For instances of this, read the chapter on sheep-dogs in A Country Reader; “Wully” in Wild Animals I Have Known, and “Bob, Son of Battle.”

LESSON LXVI

THE SHEEP

_Leading thought_--Sheep live naturally in high altitudes. When attacked by enemies, they follow their leader over difficult and dangerous mountain places.

_Method_--The questions of this lesson should be given to the pupils and the observations should be made upon the sheep in pasture or stable. Much written work may be done in connection with this lesson. The following topics are suggested for themes: “The Methods by which Wool is Made into Cloth,” “The Rocky Mountain Sheep,” “The Sheep-herders of California and their Flocks,” “The True Story of a Cosset Lamb.”

_Observations_--1. What is the chief character that separates sheep from other animals? What is the difference between wool and hair? Why is wool of special use to sheep in their native haunts? Is there any hair on sheep?

2. Where do the wild sheep live? What is the climate in these places? Does wool serve them well on this account? What sort of pasturage do sheep find on mountains? Could cows live where sheep thrive? Describe the sheep’s teeth and how they are arranged to enable it to crop vegetation closely. What happens to the vegetation on the range, when a great flock of sheep passes over it? Why are sheep not allowed in our forest preserves?

3. What are the chief enemies of sheep in the wilderness? How do the sheep escape them? Describe the foot and leg of the sheep and explain how they help the animal to escape its enemies. We say of certain men that they “follow like a flock of sheep.” Why do we make this comparison? What has this habit of following the leader to do with the escape of sheep from wolves and bears?

4. How do sheep fight? Do both rams and ewes have horns? Do they both fight? How does the sheep show anger? Give your experience with a cross cosset lamb.

5. Do you think that sheep can see and hear well? What is the position of the sheep’s ears when it is peaceful? When there is danger? How do the sheep’s eyes differ from those of the cow?

6. Does the sheep chew its cud like the cow? Describe the action as performed by the sheep. How is this habit of cud chewing of use to the wild sheep?

7. Describe a young lamb. Why has it such long legs? How does it use its tail to express joy? What happens to this tail later? What games have you seen lambs play? Tell all the stories of lambs that you know.

8. How much of sheep language do you understand? What is the use to the wild flock of the constant bleating?

9. For what purposes do we keep sheep? How many breeds of sheep do you know? What are the chief differences between the English breeds and the Merinos? Where and for what purposes is the milk of sheep used?

10. Have you ever seen a collie looking after a herd of sheep? If so, describe his actions. Did you ever know of dogs killing sheep? At what time of day or night was this done? Did you ever know of one dog attacking a flock of sheep alone? What is there in the dog’s ancestry which makes two or three dogs, when hunting, give chase and attack sheep?

Photo by Gerrit Miller. ]

THE HORSE

_Teacher’s Story_

“_There was once a little animal no bigger than a fox,
And on five toes he scrambled over Tertiary rocks.
They called him Eohippus, and they called him very small,
And they thought him of no value when they thought of him
at all._

_Said the little Eohippus, I am going to be a horse!
And on my middle finger nails to run my earthly course!
I am going to have a flowing tail! I am going to have a
mane!
And I am going to stand fourteen hands high on the Psychozooic
plain!_”
--MRS. STETSON.

It was some millions of years ago, that Eohippus lived out in the Rocky Mountain Range; its fore feet had four toes and the splint of the fifth; the hind feet had three toes and the splint of the fourth. Eohippus was followed down the geologic ages by the Orohippus and the Mesohippus and various other hippuses, which showed in each age a successive enlargement and specialization of the middle toe and the minimizing and final loss of the others. This first little horse with many toes, lived when the earth was a damp, warm place and when animals needed toes to spread out to prevent them from miring in the mud. But as the ages went on, the earth grew colder and drier, and a long leg ending in a single hoof, was very serviceable in running swiftly over the dry plains; and according to the story read in the fossils of the rocks, our little American horses migrated to South America; and also trotted dry-shod over to Asia in the Mid-pleocine age, arriving there sufficiently early to become the companion of prehistoric man. In the meantime, horses were first hunted by savage man for their flesh, but were later ridden. At present, there are wild horses in herds on the plains of Tartary; and there are still sporadic herds of mustangs on the great plains of our own country, although for the most part, they are branded and belong to someone, even though they live like wild horses; these American wild horses are supposed to be descendants of those brought over centuries ago by the Spaniards. The Shetland ponies are also wild in the islands north of Scotland, and the zebras roam the plains of Africa the most truly wild of all. In a state of wildness, there is always a stallion at the head of a herd of mares, and he has to win his position and keep it by superior strength and prowess. Fights between stallions are terrible to witness, and often result in the death of one of the participants. The horse is well armed for battle; his powerful teeth can inflict deep wounds and he can kick and strike hard with the front feet; still more efficient is the kick made with both hind feet while the weight of the body is borne on the front feet, and the head of the horse is turned so as to aim well the terrible blow. There are no wild beasts of prey which will not slink away to avoid a herd of horses. After attaining their growth in the herd with their mothers, the young males are forced by the leader to leave and go off by themselves; in turn, they must by their own strength and attractions, win their following of mares. However, there are times and places where many of these herds join, making large bands wandering together.

After Charles R. Knight.]

The length of the horse’s leg was evidently evolved to meet the need for flight before fierce and swift enemies, on the great ancient plains. The one toe, with its strong, sharp hoof, makes a fit foot for such a long leg, since it strikes the ground with little waste of energy and is sharp enough not to slip, but it is not a good foot for marshy places; a horse will mire where a cow can pass in safety. The development of the middle toe into a hoof results in lifting the heel and wrist far up the leg, making them appear to be the knee and elbow, when compared with the human body.

The length of neck and head are necessary in order that an animal, with such length of leg as the horse, may be able to graze. The head of the horse tells much of its disposition; a perfect head should be not too large, broad between the eyes and high between the ears, while below the eyes, it should be narrow. The ears, if lopped or turned back, denote a treacherous disposition. They should point upward or forward; the ears laid back is always a sign that the horse is angry; sensitive, quick-moving ears indicate a high-strung, sensitive animal. The eyes are placed so that the horse can see in front, at the side and behind, the last being necessary in order to aim a kick. Hazel eyes are usually preferred to dark ones, and they should be bright and prominent. The nostrils should be thin-skinned, wide-flaring and sensitive; as a wild animal, scent was one of the horse’s chief aids in detecting the enemy. The lips should not be too thick and the lower jaw should be narrow where it joins the head.

The horse’s teeth are peculiar; there are six incisors on both jaws; behind them is a bare space called the bar, of which we have made use for placing the bit. Back of the bar, there are six molars or grinders on each side of each jaw. At the age of about three years, canine teeth or tushes appear behind the incisors; these are more noticeable in males, and never seem to be of much use. Thus, the horse has on each jaw, when full-grown, six incisors, two canines, and twelve molars, making forty teeth in all. The incisors are prominent and enable the horse to bite the grass more closely than can the cow. The horse when chewing, does not have the sidewise motion of the jaws peculiar to the cow and sheep.

The horse’s coat is, when rightly cared for, glossy and beautiful; but if the horse is allowed to run out in the pasture all winter, the coat becomes very shaggy, thus reverting to the condition of wild horses which stand in need of a warmer coat for winter; the hair is shed every year. The mane and the forelock are useful in protecting the head and neck from flies; the tail is also an efficient fly-brush. Although the mane and tail have thus a practical value, they add greatly to the animal’s beauty. To dock a horse’s tail as an ornament is as absurd as the sliced ears and welted cheeks of savages; and horses thus mutilated suffer greatly from the attacks of flies.

Owing to the fact that wild horses made swift flight from enemies, the colts could not be left behind at the mercy of wolves. Thus it is, the colt like the lamb, is equipped with long legs from the first, and can run very rapidly; as a runner, it could not be loaded with a big compound stomach full of food, like the calf, and therefore, must needs take its nourishment from the mother often. The colt’s legs are so long that, in order to graze, it spreads the front legs wide apart in order that it may reach the grass with its mouth. When the colt or the horse lies down out of doors and in perfect freedom, it lies flat upon the side. In lying down, the hind quarters go first, and in rising, the front legs are thrust out first.

The horse has several natural gaits and some that are artificial. Its natural methods of progression are the walk, the trot, the amble, the gallop. When walking there are always two or more feet on the ground and the movement of the feet consists in placing successively the right hind foot, the right fore foot, left hind foot, left fore foot, right hind foot, etc. In trotting, each diagonal pair of legs is alternately lifted and thrust forward, the horse being unsupported twice during each stride. In ambling, the feet are moved as in the walk, only differing in that a hind foot or a fore foot is lifted from the ground, before its fellow fore foot or hind foot is set down. In a canter, the feet are landed on the ground in the same sequence as a walk but much more rapidly; and in the gallop, the spring is made from the fore foot and the landing is on the diagonal hind foot and just before landing, the body is in the air and the legs are all bent beneath it.

An excellent horseman once said to me, “The whip may teach a horse to obey the voice, but the voice and hand control the well-broken horse,” and this epitomizes the best horse training. He also said, “The horse knows a great deal, but he is too nervous to make use of his knowledge when he needs it most. It is the horse’s feelings that I rely on. He always has the use of his feelings and the quick use of them.” It is a well-known fact that those men who whip and scold and swear at their horses, are meantime showing to the world that they are fools in this particular business. Many of the qualities which we do not like in our domesticated horses, were most excellent and useful when the horses were wild, for instance, the habit of shying was the wild horse’s method of escaping the crouching foe in the grass. This habit as well as many others is best controlled by the voice of the driver instead of a blow from the whip.