The Human Side of Animals

Part 1

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ANIMALS

BY ROYAL DIXON AUTHOR OF "THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS," "THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES,"

"THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS," ETC.

WITH TWO ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS AND THIRTY-TWO IN BLACK-AND-WHITE

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1918, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages

MADE IN U. S. A.

TO MARCELLUS E. FOSTER WHO BELIEVED

NOTE

The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to his fellow-naturalist and friend, Mr. Franklyn Everett Fitch, for carefully reading the entire manuscript and making many scholarly and valuable criticisms and corrections.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

FOREWORD xiii

I ANIMALS THAT PRACTISE CAMOUFLAGE 1

II ANIMAL MUSICIANS 18

III ANIMALS AT PLAY 32

IV ARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS 46

V MINERS AND EXCAVATORS 61

VI ANIMAL MATHEMATICIANS 88

VII THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS 99

VIII IN THEIR BOUDOIRS, HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES 120

IX SELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT 130

X ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, AND HOUSE-BUILDERS 150

XI FOOD CONSERVERS 170

XII TOURISTS AND SIGHT-SEERS 181

XIII ANIMAL SCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS 199

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XIV AS THE ALLIES OF MAN 210

XV THE FUTURE LIFE OF ANIMALS 234

ILLUSTRATIONS

Recreation is as common among animals as it is among children (in Colours) Frontispiece

The Indians claim that the mother bison forced her calf to roll often in a puddle of red clay, so that it might be indistinguishable against its clay background 6

The zebra is one of the cleverest of camouflagers. The black-and-white stripes of his body give the effect of sunlight passing through bushes 7

Monkeys are the most musical of all animals. When they congregate for "concerts," as some of the tribes do, the air is filled with weird strains of monkey-music 20

Cats, unlike dogs, are very fond of music. And it has been proved that their music-sense can be developed to a remarkable degree 21

A happy family of polar bears. The young cubs wrestle and tumble, as playfully as two puppies. This play has much to do with their physical and mental development 34

Dryptosaurus. The prehistoric animals, too, undoubtedly had their play time, with games and "setting up" exercises 35

The mother opossum is never happier than when she has her little ones playing hide-and-seek over her back 38

This young fox came from his home in the woods daily to play with a young fox-terrier. He is now resting after a romp 39

Naosaurus and Dimetrodon, two extinct armour-bearers who should have been well able to protect themselves 50

An armour-bearer of prehistoric times whose shield was an effective protection against enemy horns 51

To the polar bear the ice and snow of the Far North means warmth and protection. The mother bear digs herself into a snowbank, where she lives quite comfortably throughout the winter 84

The sharp claws of the ground squirrel are efficacious tools in digging his cosy underground burrow 85

The coyote can readily distinguish whether a herd of sheep is guarded by one or more dogs, and will plan his attack accordingly 94

The zebu, the sacred bull of India, in spite of its domestication, has an agile body and a quick, alert mind 95

Roosevelt's Colobus. These horse-tailed monkeys chatter together in a language exclusively their own, yet they seem to have no difficulty in making themselves understood by other monkey-tribes 112

A tamed deer of Texas, whose constant companion and playmate was a rabbit dog. Between the two, there developed, necessarily, a common language 113

Water-loving animals, like the beavers, seemingly take great pride in their toilets. Their fur is always sleek and clean 122

Great forest pigs of Central Africa. Like the common domesticated hogs, they will seek a clay bath to heal their wounds 123

The Rocky Mountain goat has many means of defence, not the least of which is his agility in climbing to inaccessible places 134

Wild boars are among the most ferocious of animals. By means of their great strength alone they are well able to defend themselves 135

Brontosaurus. The animals that seemed best equipped to defend themselves are the ones that, thousands of years ago, became extinct 144

This prehistoric monster was equipped not only with a pair of strong horns but with a shield back of them as well 145

The beaver is the greatest of all animal architects. His skill is equalled only by his patience (in Colours) 158

The skunk mother tries to keep on hand a good supply of such delicacies as frogs and toads, so that her young may never go hungry 172

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The porcupine and the hedgehog have a unique method of collecting food for their young. After shaking down berries or grapes, they roll in them, then hurry home with the food attached to their quills 173

The black bear is not one of the great migrating animals. The thickness of his coat must therefore change with the seasons 188

Rabbits seem to have a well-devised system in their road-building, running their paths in and out of underbrush in a truly ingenious manner 189

The mongoose, a scavenger of the worst type, feeding on rats and mice and snakes, and even poultry 202

Diplodocus. The prehistoric animals, also, undoubtedly had their scavengers and criminals 203

The Esquimo-dog is man's greatest friend in the Far North 218

Chipmunks are among the most easily tamed of man's wild friends, and they even seem fond of human companionship 219

Men cruelly take the lives of these denizens of the wildwood, rejoicing in their slaughter, but the animal soul they cannot kill 244

Two pals. There is between man and dog a kinship of spirit that cannot be denied 245

FOREWORD

"And in the lion or the frog-- In all the life of moor or fen-- In ass and peacock, stork and dog, He read similitudes of men."

More and more science is being taught in a new way. More and more men are beginning to discard the lumber of the brain's workshop to get at real facts, real conclusions. Laboratories, experiments, tables, classifications are all very vital and all very necessary but sometimes their net result is only to befog and confuse. Occasionally it becomes important for us to cast aside all dogmatic restraints and approach the wonders of life from a new angle and with the untrammelled spirit of a little child.

In this book I have attempted to bring together many old and new observations which tend to show the human-like qualities of animals. The treatment is neither formal nor scholastic, in fact I do not always remain within the logical confines of the title. My sole purpose is to make the reader self-active, observative, free from hide-bound prejudice, and reborn as a participant in the wonderful experiences of life which fill the universe. I hope to lead him into a new wonderland of truth, beauty and love, a land where his heart as well as his eyes will be opened.

In attempting to understand the animals I have used a method a great deal like that of the village boy, who when questioned as to how he located the stray horse for which a reward of twenty dollars had been offered, replied, "I just thought what I would do if I were a horse and where I would go--and there I went and found him." In some such way I have tried to think why animals do certain things, I have studied them in many places and under all conditions, and those acts of theirs which, if performed by children, would come under the head of wisdom and intelligence, I have classified as such.

Life is one throughout. The love that fills a mother's heart when she sees her first-born babe, is also felt by the mother bear, only in a different way, when she sees her baby cubs playing before her humble cave dwelling. The sorrow that is felt by the human heart when a beloved one dies is experienced in only a little less degree by an African ape when his mate is shot dead by a Christian missionary. The grandmother sheep that watches her numerous little lamb grandchildren on the hillside, while their mothers are away grazing, is just as mindful of their care as any human grandparent could be. One drop of water is like the ocean; and love is love.

The trouble with science is that too often it leaves out love. If you agree that we cannot treat men like machines, why should we put animals in that class? Why should we fall into the colossal ignorance and conceit of cataloging every human-like action of animals under the word "instinct"? Man delights in thinking of himself as only a little lower than the angels. Then why should he not consider the animals as only a little lower than himself? The poet has truly said that "the beast is the mirror of man as man is the mirror of God." Man had to battle with animals for untold ages before he domesticated and made servants of them. He is just beginning to learn that they were not created solely to furnish material for sermons, nor to serve mankind, but that they also have an existence, a life of their own.

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