Naturalist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 421, 12 May 1904, Page 2

Naturalist.

PATHETIC STORY OF A AND

it DOG ;

incident which may serve as an illustration of 'horse sense' was jj§2Bl£ witnessed last, winter, by a number of gentlemen who were on their way to a railroad station J When, within a few yards; tof the. building, noticed a large grey horse belonging to a brewer, whose stables are in the' rear of the ' station. It was plain that he had escaped from his stall, as the stableman was making vain efforts to catch him. He would not be caught. Heiiid stolen a few moments to cut up pranks in the snow; and, with head up a'nd mahe flying, he was'throwihg the snow into' the air i 'with'his hind feet and snorting with dejight.;. ;. ;- v . ~.a . r t . ..;'.. j ...vl He was not alone in his enjoyment. A beautiful Scotch collie belonging to the' same man, and no doubt the- stable frieidj of the horse, joined in the fua, now jump-s ing at the horse's mane, and.now at his? tail, It looked,for all the world like two| schoblboykovejflowing with;."life and spirits, who had escaped from an overheated class-room, and embraced the opportunity to frolic in the snow, r ; *?■-

But the dog's pleasure, was brought to a sudden end. The iron-shbd'heels flew out unintentional Victim.; It was pitiful to-hear the dog's moans of; pain as 'he lay in the show -ten feet away,' The stableman ran forward, and carried him , into the .c-ffica. Then came the' display of ' horse sense/ • ' ** ' •,

The old |;reyi v when the painful yelps* instantly stopped in his antics-,-and with neck extended and nose almost touching the ground, walked after* the man, and stood motionless while \ the dbg was laid on a blanket in the office; then he returned to the stall. His gait wss now as if he were load.: He looked neither to the* righffnor to the left, his 3iead :was loworeS> iiisiiteps were slow and heavy. Ha remained perfectly still while the- driver put on the harases j|ay's toil. A jinore moving or convincing pioture Of repentance would be hard to find. The men who watched him felt sure that he was saying to him-; self, 'What a fool I was to do that; the few minutes cf* fun have been the means of injuring my pobi fiiend. I'm sorry 1'

-■. ■' BITS AS PETS. » ; \>l the many odd that are adapted as pets, the batia by no means the least interesting. Dißtributad throughout the world there are upwards of four hundred distinct species of bats, of/which, about seventeen are to bo found in Groat Britain. .Owing; to their anatomical are considered by aataralists as mammalia of a. very high ordor, and coneequently have been classed between the moufey and the dat 'tribes. The'r senses are very acute as regards hearing, feeling and smelling, . but they appear deficient in the matter of Bight.. The, wings and the tissues of the ears aad noseare bo furnished with nerves as to enable them, when bereft of sight to ffy about quickly without striking any objects. This was ascertained from some cruel experiments made somo years ago, . Amoßg the foreign bats the one that probably is best known by naaeis the

Vampire. Numerous are the stories {§f| | regarding this bat. Ipp' ! said thjp|b I tacka human beings when they aft asleep, I opening an artery and Buok&g while it lulls its victims them with its wings, till death flflottp is no doubt that it-will sometimes and suck tte : bloo|CT-stfetti whs may expose any part of their body.Darwin agreed in considering that the Vampire is dangerous to life. \ " If bata are kept in confinement, a cage is "required about two feet high, two feet long, and one and a half feet is depth. Tbe front should be of wire. The perches —a most important feature in a cage for bats—must be made about the ordinary lead pencil size, placed pne inch from the top of the cage t ,and running, from one end .to' the other, parallel with the front, 't he bats can generally manage to reach the perch by climbing up the wire frontof i the cage. Some cages, however, are made with wooden slips, an inch or bo apart, fastened to the side, which may be used i nß'a ladder- by the bats. ■■■**>■■*# ti&MiQm It is not a difficult matter to indues bats to take food, even when first captured. They will eat flies, moths,, jand. grasshoppers, and these can be given by band, or placed in the cage. In the autumn, when insects become scarce, bats will reaiily eat meal worms, which they ■ hive been found to prefer to any other .kind/of food. ~They will allow the>meal worms to crawl over them without taking any notice, but'when thoy touch them i with the snout they seem to understand at once, and will eat the worms eagerly.