Taming and Trapphig. 203 



The whole process of taming and training ani- 

 mals depends upon the fact that they learn by ex- 

 perience. When a wild squirrel is first caught, he 

 trembles with fear, and his heart throbs, as your 

 own would, at the roar of a lion in the jungle, or the 

 war-whoop of the savage close at hand. He de- 

 fends himself instinctively, with all his power, and 

 with the weapons nature has given him. Now put 

 him in a cage, and daily feed him, and treat him 

 kindly, if that is possible while he is caged. By de- 

 grees, he trusts you more and more, until he is tame, 

 and trusts you implicitly. His instincts are not 

 changed. He still fears what he considers danger- 

 ous ; but he has learned, by experience, that you 

 are not dangerous, though he once judged you to 

 be so. 



The whole art of trapping animals consists in 

 deceiving their judgment. This judgment is to a 

 certain degree, instinctive, as we have shown ; but 

 it certainly is not entirely so, in the case of the 

 higher animals. They become cunning as they are 

 hunted. No animal knows instinctively, that iron 

 is dangerous ; as may be readily proved. Rats will 

 run overall sorts of iron utensils, until one is caught 

 in a trap ; and after that, his fellows generally ^\yq 

 that particular piece of iron-mongery, a wide berth. 

 If it persistently remains at the rat-hole, and snaps 

 up a few, which have not learned the danger, that 

 hole will be deserted, as a dangerous place for rats. 

 A fox learns that a trap is dangerous only when 

 It is set ; and, sometimes, the trapper has to match 

 his wit against that of the fox, and often finds him- 



