The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal ObservationsHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Science
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Animal behavior
The only thoroughly safe deer is a dead one; for even does can do
mischief. A SAMPLE OF NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT. As an example of
temperament in small carnivores, we will cite the coati mundi of
South America. It is one of the most nervous and restless animals
we know. An individual of sanguine temperament rarely is seen. Out
of about forty specimens with which we have been well acquainted,
I do not recall one that was as quiet and phlegmatic as the
raccoon, the nearest relative of _Nasua_. With a disposition
so restless and enterprising, and with such vigor of body and
mind, I count it strange that the genus _Nasua_ has not
spread all over our south-eastern states, where it is surely
fitted to exist in a state of nature even more successfully than
the raccoon or opossum.
The temper of the coati mundi is essentially quarrelsome and
aggressive. While young, they are reasonably peaceful, but when
they reach adult age, they become aggressive, and quarrels are
frequent. Separations then are very necessary, and it is rare
indeed that more than two adult individuals can be caged together.
Even when two only are kept together, quarrels and shrill
squealings are frequent. But they seldom hurt each other. The
coati is not a treacherous animal, it is not given to lying in
wait to make a covert attack from ambush, and being almost
constantly on the move, it is a good show animal.
THE STRANGE COMBATIVE TEMPERAMENT OF THE GUANACO. In appearance
the guanaco is the personification of gentleness. Its placid
countenance indicates no guile, nor means of offense. Its lustrous
gazelle-like eyes, and its soft, woolly fleece suggest softness of
disposition. But in reality no animal is more deceptive. In a wild
state amongst its own kind, or in captivity,--no matter how
considerately treated,--it is a quarrelsome and at times
intractable animal. "A pair of wild guanacos can often be seen or
heard engaged in desperate combat, biting and tearing, and rolling
over one another on the ground, uttering their gurgling, bubbling
cries of rage. Of a pair so engaged, I shot one whose tail had
then been bitten off in the encounter. In confinement, the guanaco
charges one with his chest, or rears up on his hind legs to strike
one with his fore-feet, besides biting and spitting up the
contents of the stomach."--Richard Crawshay in "The Birds of Terra
del Fuego."
MENTAL TRAITS AND TEMPER OF THE ATLANTIC WALRUS
Mr. Langdon Gibson, of Schenectady, kindly wrote out for me the
following highly interesting observations on a remarkable arctic
animal with which we are but slightly acquainted:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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