Improving on Nature 



selves do. We are possibly as amus- 

 ing, as puzzling, as great an enigma to 

 them as they are to us. 



Strolling down the road the other 

 day I came by a lot in which a drove 

 of young Duroc-Jersey shotes were 

 interned. I stopped and watched 

 them working away at the weeds and 

 rooting for grubs. One of them sus- 

 pended operations, looked me over for 

 a moment and gave a grunt, which 

 from long familiarity with the species 

 I knew to be a friendly greeting. It 

 said, as plainly as if it had been uttered 

 in good English, "Hello, where did you 

 come from?" He was looking at me 

 intently, knowing well enough that I 

 was a stranger. I said something in- 

 tended to encourage a prospective 

 conversation, which drew forth a sec- 

 ond good-humored grunt, and the pig 

 started to walk slowly towards me. 

 I thought we were in for a pleasant 

 little chat, but just then one of the 

 others looked up, seeing me now for 



[i47l 



