Mammal Study 



33 



THE PIG 



Teacher's Story 



"/ wander through the uuderbresh, 

 Where pig tracks pintin' to'rds the crick, 

 Is picked and printed in the fresh 

 Black bottom-lands, like wimmen prick 

 Their pie-crust with a fork."- RILEY. 



|Y a forest law of William the First of England in the 

 eleventh century, it was ordained that any that were 

 found guilty of killing the stag or the roebuck or the 

 wild boar, should have their eyes put out. This shows 

 that the hunting of the wild boar in England was 

 considered a sport of gentlemen in an age when nothing 

 was considered sport unless it was dangerous. The 

 wild hog of Europe is the ancestor of our common 

 domesticated breeds; although independent of these, the Chinese domes- 

 ticated their own wild species, even before the dawn of history. 



The wild hog likes damp situations where it may wallow in the water 

 and mud; but it also likes to have, close by, woods, thicket or under- 

 brush, to which it can retire for rest and also when in danger. The stiff, 

 bristling hairs which cover its thick skin, are a great protection when it is 

 pushing through thorny thickets. When excited or angry, these bristles 

 rise and add to the fury of its appearance. Even in our own country, 

 the wild hogs of the South whose ancestors escaped from domestication, 

 have reverted to their original savagery, and are dangerous when infuri- 

 ated. The only recorded instance when our great national hunter, Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt, was forced ignominiously to climb a tree, was after he 



Anxious for dinner. 



