IV.— THE BASER PASSIONS 

 XXII 



FEAR AS A RULING PASSION 



IF we were asked, "Which one may be called the ruling 

 passion of the wild animal?" we would without hesitation 

 answer, — it is fear. 

 From the cradle to the grave, every strictly wild animal 

 lives, day and night, in a state of fear of bodily harm, and 

 dread of hunger and famine. 



"Now the 'free, wild life* is a round of strife, 

 And of ceaseless hunger and fear; 

 And the life in the wild of the animal child 

 Is not all skittles and beer." 



The first thing that the wild baby learns, both by precept 

 and example, is safety first ! When the squalling and toddling 

 bear cub first goes abroad, the mother bear is worried and 

 nervous for fear that in a sudden and dangerous emergency 

 the half-helpless little one will not be able to make a successful 

 get-away when the alarm-signal snort is given. During the 

 first, and most dangerous, days in the life of the elk, deer and 

 antelope fawn, the first care of the mother is to hide her off- 

 spring in a spot cunningly chosen beside a rock, beside a log, or 

 in thick bushes. In the absence of all those she looks for a 

 depression in the earth wherein the fawn can lie without making 

 a hump in the landscape. The first impulse of the fawn, — 

 even before nursing if the birth occurs in daylight, — is to fold 

 its long legs, short body and reptilian neck into a very small 

 package, hug the earth tightly, close its eyes and lie absolutely 



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