Evening Star Newspaper, March 6, 1932, Page 87

Men and Animals Are THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 6, ery Much Al Birds Imitate Each Other; Rattlesnakes, Like Gangsters, Travel in Pairs; Seals Fight Each Other for the “Ladies” of Their Harems, and a Big Buck Moose Is So Proud of His Strength He Will Charge a I .ocomotive! BY H. L. DILLAWAY American Naturalist, Forest Ranger and Author Did you know that the Kodiak brown bear of Alaska is the largest living mammal on the American Continent today? And that its young, born in hibernation, are only the size of squirrels? Did you know the beluga whale is white; that the penguin, though a bird, cannot fly; that no two zebras are striped alike, but, like @ man’s thumb and finger prints, each has its distinct and indi- vidual markings? Did you know that the kick of an ostrich could break a man’s leg? Or the kick of a moose could break a wolf’s back? Or that the raccoon washes and scrubs its food before eating? That the giant tortoise can carry a full-grown man on its back? Did you know that a bat sleeps upside down? hyena can crack the thigh bones of a buffalo? That the jaws of a Or that a horse can scream, and so can a rabbit or a mink? Did you know that snakes go to sex by the hundreds? MONG the ducks there are redheads, blackheads, greenheads and bald- heads. The baldheaded eagle is not bald until two years old, then it is not bald, but has a head covering of white feathers. The wood duck builds its nest in the hole of a tree, usually high up over the water. There are white crows and white blackbirds. There are white robins, meadow larks and pheasants. There are white mink, raccoons, woodchucks and squirrels. The chimney swift keeps up a continuous flight from dawn to dark without alighting. Its feet are mere de- formities from nonuse. It builds its nest of twigs inside & disused chimney, using saliva to make it stick. The Chinese make soup of these nests, considering them a great delicacy. The cobra, or spitting snake of Africa, can eject its poison with accuracy into the eyes of its victim by spitting it considerable distance. Such an attack leaves its victim helpless before what is to follow. Butcher birds kill other birds, also beetles and mammals, and impale them on thorns on a tree. Birds imitate one another’s calls; this is especially true of the mocking bird, magpie, crow, raven and bluejay. In countries where stock is plentiful the raven, crow and magpie have an unpleasant trick of picking out the eyes of new-born stock, especially sheep. The purple bird of paradise, in showing off to its mate, displays its finery by hanging upside down, shaking and shivering its plumage, con- tinually whistling during the show. Chicadees, nuthatches and bushtits enjoy feeding upside down. The penguin is sometimes called the jackass penguin, from its braying call. The kingfisher is also called the laughing jackass for the same reason. In China cormorants are taught to catch fish for their keepers. RIZZLY bears cannot climb trees. Some grizzlies have such a heavy hump on their shoulders that they are called roach-backs. Some animals hibernate for a period of seven months. Bears fear porcupines and skunks and avoid them. Male cougars, also called mountain lions, waylay their own offspring and kill the males of their union. A cougar’s hide is so tough that a dog’s teeth cannot penetrate or injure it. Among themselves the males fight vi- ciously; their hides show frightful injuries. A ccugar kills 100 deer or elk annually. It can kill, skin and eat a porcupine without injury to itself. Coyotes, when caught in traps, will occasionally actually wag their tails and whine like a dog at the approach of the trapper. The next one in line may fly at his throat; that is the individuality in animals. Occasionally a young bobcat, when caught in a trap, may be handled and played with and will become a great pet; but look out for the next one. Wild animals are not always as sure-footed as we have been led to believe. Even the sure- footed mountain goat takes an occasional tumble Both elk and moose have been known to slip and fall to their death. A half-grown moose slipped on a high cliff just after a “silver thaw” and crashed to the beach below, break- ing its neck in this unusual manner. A full-grown moose, having broken its leg, staggered into civilization on the three re- maining. A rancher, finding it in his front yard at dawn, called a veterinary and a ranger. They found its hind leg broken. A game war- den and the veterinary set the leg and the animal was released. That showed intelli- gence in the moose. The same Summer a deer and a fawn were seen crossing a lake a mile wide. When almost ashore the deer turned and realized her fawn was having trouble making shore. Noting its distress, she at once turned and led it back again across the lake. That was not intelligence. Moose like to walk on raliroad trestles over streams and lakes; that has been the undoing of many. Only a few weeks ago a wild moose was trotting along a railroad track in Canada. It was the rutting season of the moose. As the train approached Or that water-snakes live on young trout? in the darkness the engineer saw the animal and blew the whistle. Almost instantly the moose turned and charged the locomctive; that was, indeed, poor judgment and the end of that moose. This is not at all an uncommon ac- cident, and in Oregon automobiles have killed so many deer that in scme soctions there are highway signs warning autoists to “slow down, deer ahead.” Many young animals born in the wilderness are beautifully mottled or svotted. This is Nature’s protective coloration in hiding the de- fenseless. The fawn of the deer family are particularly beautiful in this deception, imi- tation of the sunlight mottling the ground with its spotted shadows being perfect. Oddly enofigh, the young of the elk are very reddish and are easily seen in the open. Baby cougars are mottled, but this disappears quickly as they grow older. Oddly enough, domestic animals can be used as foster-mothers to the wild. At the rangers’ station up on the Sawtooth we picked up many odd and curious pets. A tree had fallen and scattered a litter of young squirrels. They were picked up by one of the rangers, fed with an eye-dropper until we could get them out to civilization, then they were pawned off on a house cat one night and, strange to say, she raised them to full maturity. Another event in the rangers’ lives was when a doe was killed by coyotes. The rang- ers caught the baby fawn and took her out- side the forest to a rancher’s house. An Irish setter, having lost her family of puppies by an accident, was given the fawn to nurse. Shc cared for the young deer as if it were her own and raised #t to maturity. She guarded the deer against all harm even after it was well grown. Two stray hounds, having chased the deer to the ranch house, were set upon furi- ously by the setter. She held them at bay until the rancher interfered. After each thunderstorm the rangers patrol the forests carefully, watching lest lightning should start a fire. Then wild life suffers, for there are few of zewfldthlnuuutanescapelru.flyhlg e. Caribou and reindeer are the only members of the deer family where both males and females have horns. Each season the Alaskan caribou swim the Yukon River on their an- nual migration. They swim high and strong, the males in the lead. The fawns swim with their mothers, at her right rear flank, and never in any other position. If a fawn tires when the mother Is swimming, she realizes it in- stantly, slows down and the weak little fellow scrambles up on mother’s back and is carried “pick-a-back” fashion to shore. 1932. Zebras are beautifully striped, yet, as the fingerprints of persons differ, so de the stripes of the zebras. No two are exactly alike. OLAR or white bears, in the Arctic regions, live principally on seals. Polar bears have been scen off Point Barrow, Alaska, two miles from shore on the nearest floating ice cakes. They seem perfectly composed and not at all uneasy over their unusual situation. When cubs accompany their parents on a long swim and they tire, the parent slows down and lets the young one grab it by the stubby tail and it is towed to the nearest ice cake for a rest. Fur seals are now increasing under the United States Government supervision on the Pribiloff Islands. Seal pups are born shortly after ar- riving from their southern migration. Bulls fight one another for the cows for their harems. Occasionally two males, or bulls, will fight for the same female. They each grab her in their teeth and pull in opposite direc- tions. She is soon torn apart, the pieces cast aside and the matter forgotten. HE beluga is the white whale of the Arctic. These small whales gather at the mouths of rivers in schools. They are the ice cream and cake of the Eskimos, being considered a great delicacy; though occasionally, for some unexplained reason, one of these whales will poison an entire village or kill an entire family. A Wright whale taken at the Port Hobron, Alaska whaling station, weighed 250 tons, was 15 feet high and 22 feet wide. The sea ele- phant, now almost extinct, is still found in small numbers on the Mexican coast of the Pacific Ocean. They are protected by the Mexican govern- ment. The males have a short trunk or snout and sometimes weigh two tons. A salmon can leap a high falls. Pish idling in a river always face upstream. It is seldom that any bird lays more than 20 eggs at a set- ting, while fish will lay thousands. Fish, turtles, alligators and snakes all lay eggs. They are of the soft-shell variety. Sea gulls, ravens and crows will pick the eyes out of a spawning salmon. Naturalists tell us that al- ligators devour their own young, while photo- The bald-headed eagle is one of the most vicious birds of prey. graphs show at least one mother that delights in having her family scramble over her with- out harm; perhaps she isn't hungry. Fish have lice, and sharks have suckers attached to them. Naturalists tell us that a shark cannot swallow a man; we have photographs that prove otherwise. In the bad lands-of the cattle country rattlee snakes live in great numbers in dens. Cowe boys destroy them *“en masse” with dynamite, Rattlers usually travel in pairs. They cane not always be depended upon to give warning; sometimes they strike first. Rattlers can and do charm birds. This is accomplished by the snake protruding its eyes, which shine and glisten like scintillating diamonds. This has a peculiar fascination for the birds, and ap= parently they cannot resist its spell. They slowly advance upon the serpent, apparently against their will, and when within reach are caught. A snake kills by constriction—that it, it throws its coils about its victim and then constricts its coils; this also crushes the bone preparatory to devouring. The poison of snakes acts as a digestive in the assimilation of food. Big snakes, in capturing big game, strike them down with a blow of their heads. The constriction follows, crushing the bones. IRDS migrate; so do seals, salmon, caribou and even butterflies and “darning- needles.” Some animals sleep standing up and some birds sleep in flight, the albatross being one of them. It has an immense wing ex- pansion and will keep on the wing for days without alighting. The animal called the platypus has a duck bill, webbed feet, a flat tail, lays eggs and is & night prowler. The harpy, crested or tufted eagle, Is the most terrible of our eagles. It can kill in stantly any living thing that flies. It Kkills with a blow of its feet, doubled up like fists, striking from above at terrific speed. It then easily picks it victim from the air. The peli- can catches fish in a big pouch attached to its lower bill. The California vulture has a wing- spread of 10 feet, the bald eagle a spread of 8 feet. Among the oddities in nature is the Amerie can merganser duck, with teeth on its bill, Some fish have teeth on their tongues. A mole is blind. Beavers can cut down trecs. Squirrels can fly. Pack rats swap gifts. One camper found a clam shell in place of his false teeth. Waxwings play ball, using cherries. The cardinal wears a scarlet coat. The water ouzel walks along the bottom of running streams. Hawks and eagles eat snakes. Wild ostriches have been killed with their gizzards full of diamonds. (Copyright, 10832.) Coal-Testing Device " A MONG the interesting experimental equipe= ments of the Bureau of Mines experie mental station in Pittsburgh is a minature gas and coke plant in which various samples of coal are tested to obtain their value measured in terms of the various products to be obtained from distillation of the coal. The apparatus consists of a welded retort holding from 75 to 90 pounds of coal which is heated in an electric furnace at a constant temperature. The gases driven off by the heat are carefully gathered, measured and analyzed. The average result of one charge of coal I8 & yield of about 60 pounds of coke, 500 eubis feet of gas and a half galion of coal tar.