ANIMALS AND THEIR WHISKERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 13 July 1929, Page 2

ANIMALS AND THEIR WHISKERS

■ Certain facts about whiskers (says a ■‘Yorkshire Weekly Post” writer)' are quite clear. A very large number of creatures—lions, tigers, dogs, cats, rabbits, hares, rats, mice, moles, and even seals and otters—adopt the fashion, and wo can hardly think it is for the mere purpose of adornment. Again,. unlike the human ’growths, whiskers in animals certainly serve in- expressing the state cf feeling of their owners. When a cat’s whiskers bristle forward she is plainly featuring anger; when they lie softly back they speak at once of a mind at peace. Perhaps the most expressive whiskers are those of the longtailed field-mouse. They are abnormally long and sensitive, and they seem to quiver and change their direction with every feeling that passes through the tiny creature’s' frame. ! Do the outstanding whiskers-of the hare warn her of any strange object in her track? Do the whiskers of the mole aid it in finding 1 its : way in dark tunnels? Do tliey, in some way or .other, help the seal and otter in their ■ adventures under water? Some Writers [ aver that they do, but precise evidence ■ seems to be lacking. ■ n We have often watched long-tailed field-mice in a roomy enclosure where their activities could have full play. Whatever they -might bo doing—feed-nest-building, tiying to -scale some aim quit Height—the long, sensitive hairs seemed to be alive, twitching and trembling as though seeking to catch ; S01 ) 1 o vibration that might serve as a i guide to their owners’ actions. It may he, as many assert-, that the outstanding whiskers are of use in simply brushing against the sides of path or tunnel, and so warning the animal of any obstacle in its way ■ but | on the other hand, we can be liy no { means sure that such exquisitely sensijtiyo and delicate instruments like the t ia ’ ls °f the long-tailed field-mouse mav not serve some much more subtle and useful purpose.