KNOWN BY SMELL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 517, 28 April 1933, Page 7

KNOWN BY SMELL

STORY OF HOW ANIMALS RECOGNISE THEIR YOUNG. Sir Herbert Maxwell furnish'es an interesting example of the way animals depend on the sense of smell: — A Cheviot lamh had fallen into the river, and could not get out by reason of a steep bank. An angler passing dowi^ the stream rescued the shivei*ing creature from its p'light, and it staggered away, bleating pieously for its dam. It found her without much difficulty, and immediately applied to the natural source for the refreshment whereof it stood in sore need; but the mother -sheep, sniffing disdainfully at the dripping little wretch, push'ed it off, refusing to recognise it. The shepherd happening to pass that way, the angler appealed to him, and asked the cause of the dam's unnatural behaviour. "Oh," said he, "the bit of beastie's been in the water, ye see, and the ould ewe canna smell it. She'll tak' it back as soon as it's dry," And so it turned out. A few minutes in the keen March wind served to dry the little fleece; the natural odour returned ; mother and child were reconeiled at once, 'and celebrated the occasion with much tail-wriggling and eager pokes on the p'art of the prodigal, and patient indulgence on that of the parent. Sheep can see and hear very well, yet the features and voice of her offspring made no impression on this Cheviot ewe; it required the familiar smell to carry conviction.