ANIMAL HABITS

Opotiki News, Volume X, Issue 1041, 28 October 1947, Page 3

ANIMAL HABITS

SCIENTISTS’ EXPLANATION Nearly everybody has observed that some dogs often turn around several times before lying down. Charles Darwin said he had seen a dog turn around twenty times before' finally settling down in a comfortable position. Scientists attempt to explain this trait by the theory of evolution. They, cay our domestic dogs arc descended from wild dogs or wolves. These progenitors of the vlog lived in the forest or brush and to find a comfortable place to rest they had to trample down the grass or other vegetation. This ancient bed-making process still survives as an instinct in the domestic dog that turns around several times before lying down. Naturalists say there is ample evidence to sustain the common assertion that gorillas, whether in captivity or in a' native state, sometimes heat their breasts with their fists. It seems to be. a form of nervous activity to which these great apes resort only when enraged, frightened or excited. Carl Akcley, who devoted years of study to this animal asserted that the male gorilla when approached by man in his native haunts sits for a moment with a. savage expression on its face, then straightens up to full height, starts to beat its breast with both fists and utters several sharp' barks followed by a characteristic roar.