The Courtship of Animals

by W. P. Pycraft

Having regard to the fact that so many of the females among the hollow-horned ruminants have acquired horns, it is somewhat remarkable that in the Reindeer alone among the deer are these weapons normally possessed by the female. The gradual transference to the female of features which were originally secondary sexual characters in the male is an occurrence which is met with in every group of animals. In writing “The Infancy of Animals” I gave a number of instances of this kind. But the case of the Reindeer affords a more than usually striking illustration of this curious sequence; and this because rudiments of antlers are to be met with among the females in several different species of Deer to-day. They have been found in the females of both Roe- and Red-deer, though such cases are rarely met with. As a rule this assumption of the male secondary sexual characters by the female occurs only in very aged animals, or as one of the sequelæ of diseased ovaries and consequent sterility. But at least one instance is on record of a doe Roe-deer which possessed small antlers while pregnant. Thus, then, we gain a further insight into the process by which the female slowly assumes the outward attributes of the male; that is to say, the secondary sexual characters appear first in the male, and as seasonal characters. Sooner or later they become permanently established. By the time they have become firmly fixed in the male, and apparently not till then, they appear in a dilute form during senility, or in consequence of ovarian disease, in the female. Having once started, however, they appear earlier and earlier in the life-history of succeeding generations of females, and at last in the juvenile stages of both sexes.

The hollow-horned ruminants, which must now be considered, afford some very striking facts in regard to these “secondary sexual characters,” more especially in so far as horns are concerned. In the first place these weapons are permanent structures, taking the form of a bony core ensheathed in horn, with which we may compare the temporary covering of velvet in the deer: in the second, they are unbranched. The only exception to this rule is furnished by the Prong-horned Antelope, wherein the sheath is both annually shed, and branched. The branching, however, is very slight, taking the form of a short forwardly directed prong about half-way up the sheath, which is borne on a long bony pedicle recalling that of the Muntjac. The shedding is due to the formation of new horn material at the base of the old sheath, which is gradually forced off by the growth of the new tissue. Structurally the horn of this remarkable Antelope differs somewhat from that of its relatives.

As may be seen in Plate 4, in the form of the horns the typical hollow-horned ruminants present an exceedingly varied range, and one often of great beauty in the matter of curvature. That they serve as formidable weapons of offence was demonstrated during 1912, when, according to the Annual Report of the Government Game Reserves, published by the Pretoria Government, the game warden, Major Stevenson Hamilton, reported of the Antelopes that “many carcases of males of almost all species, killed in single combat with rivals, were found during the mating season, untouched by anything except vultures.” As a rule, however, these animals, like the Sheep and Goats, and their larger relatives the Cattle, seem to avoid a duel to the death. One or two instances as to the general character of these combats for the possession of mates must suffice. Thus the late A. H. Neumann, a hunter of experience, remarks that he once or twice saw conflicts between the Topi (Damaliscus jimela), an ally of the Hartebeestes. The two rivals would stand a little apart, affecting, apparently, to be unaware of one another’s presence. Suddenly they would rush headlong at one another, bringing their heads together with a clash, each, at the same moment, falling on his knees.

Major Powell Cotton, again, once witnessed an affray between two Beisa Oryx. Here the master bull of the herd was infuriated by the advent of an intruder in his harem. Time after time they dashed at each other, their foreheads meeting with a thud; then, with horns interlocked, they wrestled fiercely; then, separating, they charged again. Yet neither, he remarks, tried to use his lance-points, as they do when cornered by man or beasts of prey. Nevertheless, encounters of a more sanguinary character appear to be by no means rare, for it is no uncommon experience of hunters to kill bulls of this species in which one eye has been burst by a horn-thrust. Another peculiarity of these animals is the extreme thickness of the hide of the neck and withers, which seems to afford a shield against such spear-thrusts during these battles. How powerful is the thrust of these weapons, and how efficiently they can be used, is shown by the fact that lions in making an attack on an old bull are often severely wounded, or even killed. And there are many instances on record of cases where both the lion and his intended victim have died together, the Antelope having been unable to withdraw his horns from his adversary’s body. The beautiful Pala Antelope fights furiously with rival rams, and the vanquished, as with so many of the Antelopes, form herds by themselves, till one by one they gather strength and skill enough to establish their right to mate.

Plate 7.

Photo by courtesy of the Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey.

ELAND COWS.

Among antelopes the females commonly bear horns, which may be even longer than in the males, though less massive.

[Face page 64.