Naturalist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 423, 2 June 1904, Page 2

Naturalist.

ANIMALS' QUEEB ESCA.PADES. IN a terrible race which ensued between a stag and a pack of eager hounds lust autumn the Unfortunate quarry seemed brought to bay at last. Already the tally-hos of the huntsmen resounded through the air in his vicinity; but with a last great effort for freedom the poor animal burst away again, and dashed over a cliff 100 feet high, the dogs impetuously following. The stag broke his neck, and eight of the hounds also met their death, and it was only with a superhuman effort that the leading huntsmen were enabled to pull up in time. Another singular stag adventure happened in one of the runs of the Surrey Staghounda recently. Being hard preßßsed the .affrighted animal actually leapt through an open window into the smoking-room of a country mansion, and from thence it graduated into the draw-ing-room, finally seeking a sanctuary in the butler's pantry. It was captured, but its life was spared fox another hunt. As will readily be credited, menagerie inmates are responsible for more than a fair share of the exciting animal escapades that occur. In the early years of his oareer the veteran showman, George Wombwell, used to get up for the benefit of his patrons sanguinary rights between lions and selected packs of dogs, and the slaughter among the latter was awful; but Parliament at last mercifully interfered. One terrible enoounter, however, which took place some time ago in Perth, Western Australia, was quite an unpremeditated affair, though none the less grimly exciting for ail that. It wab nothing other than a duel to the death between a tiger and a lioness, who up till then had been great friends. Allowed to run loose in the exercise yard one day, as usual, the lioness grew nasty over some horseplay indulged in by the tiger, and hit the latter a couple of tremendous blows on the side of the head with her enormous paw. Of course, the tiger didn't appreciate this sort of thing, but he confined his protests to savage growls, But the lioness, not to be intimidated, fairly knocked him off his legs with a third and even harder blow, and then the battle began. Throwing chivalry to the wind?, the tiger sprang upon his 'fair' companion, and there ensued a terrific duel, which it was found impossible- to effectively interfere with, The lioneßS was considerably the heavier of the two, but the tiger's immense reach and greater activity were such that he had a great deal the better of every round. Indeed, in a few minutes the lioness was dead, and the tiger was beaten back to his den little the worse. In nearly every menagerie fight in which a tiger is a principal, it has come off the victor, the grizzly, bear being perhaps the only animal that can give it a good fight and a beating. Of a very different nature are the elephant escapes, a bill for which all menagerie owners have at some time or other in their career to meet. Bat the surprising intelligence of the huge animal is such as not only to facilitate these escapades, but to make them a great deal more diverting than dangerous. It is only recently that an elephant belonging to a show then stationed at the iron manufacturing town of Motherwell had a 'night out' all by himself, and as he did not return till morning, he left behind many eloquent traces of his travels. Coming to a cottage whose inmates were asleep in bed, he showed his disdain for locks by calmly smashing in the door with a hitch of his great shoulders, and then made a tour of the house in search of food, frightening the now thoroughly aroused inhabitants almost out of their judgment, the mere especially as in the darkness they were unable to say what shape the terrible visitation took. Beyond straining a few planks of the floor, smashing such articles of furniture as interfered with his progress, and eating up every scrap of food in the place, the big fellow behaved himself very well, and departed in the best of humour with himself. On such rarer occasions, however, tigers, lioss, and panthers manage to give their keepers the slip, and then a whole neighbourhood is plunged into terrified disquiet until the brute has been safely housed again. A lion recently escaped from one of the large touring shows when it was on the road, and for two whole days it had the count?? side to itself. But it appears to have been even more frightened than the inhabitants round about, and, despite its long fast, nobody came to grief. Not many months ago there died in the Paris Zoo a python, which had to its credit a performance surely one of the most remarkable on .record. It abstained from food for no less time than two years five months and three days. It had arrived from Japan in splendid condition, weighing 1651b5; and measuring 21 feet long. Dating from its arrival, however, it resolutely declined all food, and as a result steadily lost wefght. It became quite harmless, and its scales turned a sickly grey colour, while sores began to break out all over its body. When dead its weight was found to be just 601bs, having thus lost 1051bs during its remarkable fast.

Another remarkable but unavoidable fast was successfully endured by a bull terrier recently. The poor animal fell into a disused mine, and remained there for three weeks without a scrap of food. When found, it was terribly emaciated and well-nigh dead, but it was speedily revived.

An American dog surely brought cff & record performance whea he fouad his way on foot from Los Angelos, where he had been left behind, to his old home at Pittsburg, a distance of 2 300 miles. He had only enough vigour left to crawl into the old place and tenderly lick the hands of the delighted children. But what was in, some respects a still more extraordinary canine adventure occurred only recently in London. A beautiful retrieTer dog astonished a cabman by jumping into his cab and taking a seat in manner born. The driver was keen enough to notice, however, that the dog wore a collar with an address engraved upon it. So he readily accepted the animal as a fare, to the delight a few minutes later of his master, who had almost despaired of ever seeing his favourite again. Gat escapades have seldom anything in common with those of other animals, A big torn cat was the means of all the towns in the western part of New York State being enveloped in darkness for quite two Lonra. The ill-starred animal climbed a trolley pole on the electric railway, and boldly attempted to walk along the feed wire, His tail waved fearlessly above the parallel wire, then it touched, and there ensued a flash which was seen for miloa around—the cat's body being instantly burned to a cinder. The fuse at the Power House at Niagara Falls was, as a result, burned out, causing the power to be cut oS from almost every line fed from it—J. D.