Herds of large herbivorous mammals, such as musk-oxen and buffalo, frequently present a solid array of bristling horns to the attacking wolves, and thus protect the weaker members of the herd and give an example of the usefulness to them of the social instinct. Wolves and some other predatory animals hunt in couples or in packs and succeed in pulling down prey which singly they could not successfully attack.
Prairie-dogs living in colonies have the advantage of community intercourse as well as added safety through the chance that some member of the colony will espy an approaching enemy and by its warning cry allow a safe retreat. In other cases, such as the flying-squirrels, which gather in considerable numbers in hollow trees or other shelter, and the bats, which gather in caves, the congregation appears to be purely from a desire for close companionship.
FOOTPRINTS OF NATURE’S WILD FOLK
BY ERNEST THOMPSON SETON
In the drawings accompanying Mr. Nelson’s article I usually give the track of a normal adult animal in about one inch of snow, that being ideal for tracking. Some of the smaller kinds are shown in fine dust. The trail goes up or across the page at the ordinary gait of the animal. The scale is indicated, but when possible the topmost set is given of life size. While there are endless variants in each kind, I aim to give the reader at least one typical set of each.
In all animals which bound, the hind feet track ahead of the front ones. This is very plainly seen in the rabbits. There are two arrangements of the fore feet when bounding: That of the rabbit (b), in which the fore feet are usually one behind the other, and that of the tree-squirrel (a), in which the fore feet are side by side. The latter arrangement is associated with power to climb a tree. The former means that the animal is purely terrestrial. These, however, are true only as generalizations. There are exceptions in all species. The ground-squirrels conform to the rabbit type. The tracks are, of course, ideal, giving far more detail than is usually to be seen.
THE ANTELOPE JACK RABBIT (Lepus alleni and its relatives)
(For illustration, [see page 506])
The antelope, or Allen, jack rabbit is one of the most picturesque of American mammals. It is larger than the common western jack rabbit and is strongly characterized by enormous ears, long, slender legs, short tail, and contrasting colors. It is a member of the white-sided group of jack rabbits, which are distinguished by the extension of the white of the underparts well up on the sides of the body.