settlement there exists a class of what are called "bachelor beavers." This is composed of old males who have lost their mates and are no longer of use to the community, and young "bachelors" who have been expelled from the settlement for misconduct, such as idleness, laziness, or more generally theft, and by a jury awarded a sentence of perpetual exclusion-a kind of penal servitude-in which all the community of beavers are bound to cooperate in order to see it thoroughly carried out. These "bachelors" live alone, not in warm houses protected by dams, as in community, but in holes in the banks of the rivers-prison cells, in fact-where they just manage to live, and where they can at a pinch succeed in storing sufficient winter food. Sometimes their privations must be great, but there is no escape for them. If they endeavor to build a proper beaver house near any of their old associates, it is reported, and it becomes the bounden duty of the members of the community to turn out and destroy what had been done. Penal servitude among beavers, therefore, really exists, as it does among men. The beaverthief is compelled to work hard, in isolation from his family, and yet cannot secure the most primary personal comforts. Nor can he exercise himself in that craft of construction in which alone he finds true pleasure. He must atone to society for his fault, just as our convicted prisoners do. Any one who has observed the beavers at zoological gardens ceaselessly comforting themselves and passing their time in constructing houses that they do not need, will realize what a punishment a jury of beavers mete out to one of their kind who is idle or lazy, or who has been guilty of theft, or violated any of the essential laws of the beaver community, when they make him a "bachelor" beaver, and will not permit him to erect a home near them. So we see that with animals, as with men, the way of the transgressor is hard, and that industry, honesty, and right living are prime essentials to a peaceful and happy life. ANIMAL LANGUAGE Mr. M. Francois David, a French scientist, predicts that in time man will solve the "languages of animals," and learn better how to carry on conversation with them. He believes that dogs, cats, elephants, horses, ducks, and even the mosquito and other insects communicate with each other by sounds they make. Many naturalists believe that animals talk to each other by a sort of mysterious sixth sense like telepathy, or mental impressions. 66 Although at present we can understand only imperfectly what animals "say," we have succeeded in making them understand what we say to a remarkable degree; as, for instance, when we say Whoa! to a horse, or "Lie down! to a dog. This proves that animals have some form of intelligence. Every one has seen dogs that were "almost human." 66 99 According to Dr. Hornaday, superintendent of the New York Zoological Park, the chimpanzee is the most intelligent of all animals. He ranks highly also the lion, tiger, dog, and elephant. Speaking of animal intelligence and industry, he says: "If every man devoted to his affairs, and to the affairs of his city and state, the same measures of intelligence and honest industry that every warm-blooded animal devotes to its affairs, the people of this world would abound in good health, prosperity, peace and happiness. Many men are both morally and intellectually lower than many quadrupeds.” A FINAL WORD DEAR READER: You have read the gleanings, observations, and experiences of many years. We trust that you have been both pleased and instructed. The stories have given you some idea of the habits, nature, and disposition of many animals. They have furnished the basis also for many useful and practical lessons. One general observation only remains to be made, and our delightful task is done. The nature and disposition of each animal have their counterparts in man. Some people, like some animals, are wild and hard to manage; others are docile and easily controlled. Some are dull and stupid; others are bright and intelligent. Some are ugly and vicious; others are harmless and kind. Some are greedy and selfish; others are benevolent and generous-hearted. Some are indolent and lazy; others, like the beavers, the bees, and the ants, are industrious and hardworking. Some are faithless and false-hearted; others, like the faithful shepherd- and watch-dog, are constant and true. The things that you dislike and disapprove in animals, repress and subdue in your own nature. The things that you admire and think lovely in animals, cultivate and strengthen in your own character and conduct. Do this, and the reading of this book will have proved of lasting and inestimable benefit to you. With this thought in mind, its rereading might even be well worth while. IF ALL THE WORLD WERE KIND What joy there'd be in living, Our souls would grow much bigger, If only right would figure, And all the world were kind. Earth's bounties would be plenty, Then smiles would come unbidden, Let's do our bit, with others, -Anna L. Colcord. |