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 persistence of the mental and moral parallelism between men
and wild animals is a source of constant surprise. In a state of
freedom, untrammeled by anything save the fear of death by
violence, the deer or the mountain sheep works out in his own way
his chosen scheme for the survival of the fittest,--himself. In
the wilds we see very few manifestations of the criminal instinct.
A fight between wild elk bulls for the supremacy of a herd is not
a manifestation of murder lust, but of obedience to the
fundamental law of evolution that the largest, the strongest
and the most courageous males of every herd shall do the breeding.
The killing of natural prey for daily food is not murder. A
starving wolf on the desolate barren grounds may even kill and
devour a wounded pack-mate without becoming a criminal by that act
alone. True, such a manifestation of hard-heartedness and bad
taste is very reprehensible; but its cause is hunger, not sheer
blackness of heart. Among wild animals, the wanton killing of a
member of the killer's own species would constitute murder in the
first degree, and so is all unnecessary and wanton killing outside
the killer's own species.
To many a wild animal there comes at tunes the murder lust which
under the spur of opportunity leads to genuine crime. In some of
the many cases that have come under my notice, the desire to
commit murder for the sake of murder has been as sharply defined
as the fangs or horns of the criminal. Of the many emotions of
wild animals which are revealed more sharply in captivity than in
a state of nature, the crime-producing passions, of jealousy,
hatred, desire for revenge, and devilish lust for innocent blood,
are most prominent. In the management of large animals in
captivity, the criminal instinct is quite as great a trouble-
breeder and source of anxiety as are wild-animal diseases, and the
constant struggle with the elements.
In many cases there is not the slightest premonitory manifestation
of murderous intent on the part of a potential criminal. Indeed,
with most cunning wisdom, a wild-animal murderer will often
conceal his purpose until outside interference is an
impossibility, and the victim is entirely helpless. These
manifestations of fiendish cunning and premeditation are very
exasperating to those responsible for the care of animals in
captivity.
In every well regulated zoological park, solitary confinement is
regarded as an unhappy or intolerable condition. Animals that live
in herds and groups in large enclosures always exercise more, have
better appetites, and are much more contented and happy than
individuals that are singly confined.
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