CANINE SAGACITY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1051, 6 January 1883, Page 3

CANINE SAGACITY.

A curious story of canine sagacity is reported in the Cologne journals. The owner ol a number of rabbit* near Barnicu found that for six successive nights one of his rabbits was stolen from the house which he had made for them out of a wooden ewe, which stood a few inches above the ground. At tl e top of it on opening had been made, about tho width of two hands, which was closed at night by a board on which heavy stones were laid. The hous* having thus been secured, and as it was found each morning that only one rabbit had been stolen, and that all the rest were quite uninjured, it was considered impossible for a weasel to have effected the theft. It was, therefore, supposed that human hands had been at work. Tho owner consequently first made the opening more secure by nailing down one side of the board, and covering it with grass and stone*, and then hid himself in order to watch for the thief. At one o’clock in the morning he heard a noise at the rabbit-house, and was a little astonished to see two dogs instead of a man on the lop of it. One was a large dog of the neighborhood, well known to him a cross between a St. Bernard and a largo woolly collie, feared by all other dogs; the second was a stranger, a small tender, just slender enough ta get through the hole into the rabbit-house. The big dog, who, on other occasions, never noticed his small comrades , had evidently come to an understanding with his little friend about the nocturnal rendezvous. Tho big dog scratched away aU the grass and stones, dragged up the hoard, and let tho terrier jump through the hoi--. The latter returned in a few mina f cs with a rabbit in bis mouth, which he presented to his great friend, and both proceeded to devour their supper undisturbe 1.