Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of AnimalsLee, R., Mrs.
General
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals
Lee, R., Mrs.
Animal behavior -- Juvenile literature
Equally interesting is the biography of Mr. Bell's setter, Juno, who
from a puppy was one of the best dogs that ever entered a field. "She
appeared to be always on the watch, to evince her love and gratitude to
those who were kind to her;" and she had other than human friends. "A
kitten, which had been taken from its mother, shewed the usual horror of
cats at Juno's approach. She however seemed determined to conquer the
antipathy, and by the most winning perseverance completely attached the
kitten to her; and as she had lately lost her puppies, she became its
foster-mother. Juno also played with some tame rabbits, enticing them by
her kind manner; and so fond was she of caressing the young of her own
species, that when a spaniel of my father's had puppies, and all but one
were destroyed, Juno would take every opportunity of stealing this from
its mother, and lick and fondle it with the greatest tenderness. When
the poor mother discovered the theft, she hastened to bring back her
little one; only to be stolen again at the first opportunity, until at
length, Juno and Busy killed the poor puppy between them, from excess of
tenderness."
I close this account of the setter, by giving an instance of the
remarkable power of dogs to return to their homes from a distance, so
often cited, and which was exemplified by my father's setter Flush, a
dog of remarkable beauty and value. His master drove him in his dog cart
as far as London, a distance of above fifty miles, being the first stage
of a shooting excursion in another county. The carriage was so
constructed, that the opening to admit air was above, and not at the
sides, so that Flush could not possibly have seen any part of the road.
On his arrival in town, the groom tied him up by a cord, with access to
a kennel in the yard of the inn where my father stopped. He saw him the
last thing at night, but in the morning the rope had been severed, and
the dog was gone. All inquiries proved fruitless, it was supposed the
great value of the dog had tempted some one to purloin him, and in great
trouble his master wrote home his lamentations. Late in the evening of
the day in which he was missed, my mother heard a scratching and whining
at the front door, as she passed through the hall. Not supposing in any
way it could relate to her, she did not heed it. In about half an hour a
smothered bark met her ears, and then she ordered a servant to open the
hall door and ascertain the cause. There was poor Flush--wet, dirty,
hungry, and weary; with the remainder of the rope hanging to his neck.
He had never been a house dog, and that he should seek the
dwelling-house rather than the stable at some little distance, was
another proof of his sagacity; he knew he should be there more
immediately cared for, and so he was. My mother fed him herself; and,
stretched before the fire, he forgot his troubles. The joyful news was
conveyed to my father, as fast as the post would take it, and from that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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