Pond Life 
whole experience, and that of their 
parents and ancestors before them, shows 
them that it is safest to avoid human 
beings. So that timidity becomes a 
second nature tothem. They are always 
on the watch for enemies, human and 
otherwise ; and as their eyes and ears 
are ever so much sharper than ours, they 
are nearly always the first to see or to 
hear, and promptly take refuge in flight. 
You may be perfectly friendly and un- 
willing to hurt them, but you can’t tell 
them this, and so they are just as much 
afraid of you as if you had a gun to 
shoot them with. But if you are well 
hidden away and don’t make a noise, or 
do anything to let them know you are 
hiding there, you will see all sorts of 
things which otherwise would be in- 
visible. 
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