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
When Alice was unwound and permitted to arise,--with certain
limitations as to her progress through the world,--it was evident
that she was in a chastened mood. She quietly marched to her
quarters at the Antelope House, and there we interned her. But
that was not all of Alice. Very soon we had to move her to the
completed Elephant House, half a mile away. Keeper Richards said
that two or three times she had bolted into buildings at Luna
Park; so we prepared to overcome her idiosyncrasies by a
combination of force and strategy. I had the men procure a strong
rope about one hundred feet long, in the middle of which I had
them fix a very nice steel hook, large enough to hook suddenly
around a post or a tree.
One end of that rope we tied to the left foot of Charming Alice,
and the remainder of the rope was carried out at full length in
front of her.
Willingly enough she started from the Antelope House, and Richards
led her about three hundred feet. Then she stopped, and
disregarding all advice and hooks, started to come about, to
return to the Antelope House. Quickly the anchor was hooked around
the nearest fence post, and Alice fetched up against a force
stronger than herself. She was greatly annoyed, but in a few
minutes decided to go on.
Another lap of two hundred feet, and the same act was repeated,
without the slightest variation.
This process continued for nearly half a mile. By that time we
were opposite the Elk House and Alice had become wild with baffled
rage. She tried hard to smash fences and uproot trees.
At last she stood still and refused to move another foot; and then
we played our ace of trumps. Near by, twenty laborers were
working. Calling all hands, they took hold of that outstretched
rope, and heading straight for the new Elephant House started a
new tug of war. Every "heave-ho" of that hilarious company meant a
three-foot step forward for Gentle Alice,--willy-nilly. As she
raged and roared, the men heaved and laughed. A yard at a time
they pulled that fatal left foot, into the corral and into the
apartment of Alice; and she had to follow it.
Ever since that time, Alice has been permanently under arrest, and
confined to her quarters; but within the safe precincts of two
steel-bound yards she carries children on her back, and in summer
earns her daily bread.
Elephant Mentality in the Jungle. Mr. A. E. Ross, while
Commissioner of Forests in Burma, had many interesting experiences
with elephants, and he related the following:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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