ANIMAL FRIENDSHIPS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 312, 31 October 1929, Page 3

ANIMAL FRIENDSHIPS.

Strange comradeships between animals, sometimes of most dissimlar species seem to show that there are exceptions to the maxim that hostility is the law of Nature. Queer compacts are formed frequently between domestic animals, and thia leads to the assumption that these species which have been “ adopted ” by man become in a measure, civilised, and relinquish a part of their savage instincts. Be this as it may, afinities between various species were almost proverbial in the ancient world (states a writer in the Melbourne Age). For example, the strong pariality of the horse for the goat as a stable companion is alluded to by more than one mediaeval writer.

The fables of Aesop are eloquent of dealings between beasts, some of which may have been founded on direct observation, although it need scarcely be said that they are for the most part matter of pure allegory. But every apparent friendship between birds and beasts must not be attributed to mere good-natured tolerance, or any excess of amiability; for the lying down of the lion with the lamb is an occurrence as uncommon as the hobnobbing of the Turk with the Armenian. A case is recorded from the Zoological Gardens of Antwerp where a wretched little stray og wad thrust into the cage of a lion to serve his majesty as light refreshment. But to the surprise of the keepers,, Leo, after sniffing at his destined prey, began to lick him over in the most affectionate manner. Far from frightened, the dog made every demonstration of satisfaction, and shortly they were inseparable, the lion refusing to allow his new acquaintance to be removed from the cage. The dog shared the lion’s food, and when efforts were made to remove it. set up a doleful yelping, to the accompaniment of the wrathful roarings of its protector. On occasions parrots and dogs become firm friends, and a case of a fox terrier and a parrot comes to my mind. The parrot had the run of the house, and would flutter up and down stairs, accompanied by the dog, uttering discordant cries and occasionally questionable language if the dog disappeared for a moment. To watch them wrestling for a walnut, thp parrot inserting his beak between the terrier’s jaws, was a standing amusement. Instances of animal friendship arising through compassion are not rare. A terrier dog was suffering so severely from distemper that it was necessary to confine her to her kennel. A bantam cock, noticing her plight, took pity on the sufferer and, squeezing himself through the bars of the kennel, took up his abode along with the stricken terrier, never leaving her except to pick up his daily food. When he did so, the terrier whined and betrayed every symptom of uneasiness.

Every now and then in. the daily press odd cases of animal fosterage are alluded to. We read of a hen mothering a brood of ducks, or of a cat rearing puppies, and more rarely of the solicitude of a cat for a nest of young rats, or a rabbit for motherless chickens. These, of course, result from the cravings of the maternal instinct, and it is doubtful if they survive the stage of helplessness. Cats and dogs are considered to have a longstanding feud, and yet we can all call to mind many homes where, although perhaps a little jealous of any attention paid to the other, they are firm friends. One reason why some of these famiout of a freakish liking for one another, which is probably aroused by contiguity and long association.