60 SAVAGE SURVIVALS 



instinct by not actually covering the eggs, but 

 merely throwing a few straws or sticks over,, or in 

 the direction of, the eggs, and letting things go at 

 that. 



In the wild state the mother rabbit makes her 

 nest out of hair which she pulls from her own 

 body, and she will continue to do this when domes- 

 ticated, even tho cotton or other nesting material 

 is provided for her. 



These mother instincts of the fowl and the cow 

 are useful in a world where eggs and young are 

 hunted, but in human fields and barnyards they 

 are vestigial. They are often more than useless 

 — they may be injurious. For, sometimes, the cow 

 will hide her calf so that the owner can't find it 

 at all, till after it has perished from cold and rain. 

 Domesticated animals are in many ways still 

 adapted to the wild world, and continue to act the 

 same as they would act if they were still living 

 the wild life which they have left. Animals that 

 live in association with man are generally better 

 off if they co-operate with man. But there are a 

 good many instincts in their nature, surviving 

 from their wild life, which cause them to act in op- 

 position to man. As time goes by, these contrary 

 instincts will grow weaker, and will finally pass 

 away entirely. For man tends to select for breed- 

 ing purposes those best suited to him. 



Mother cows, horses, sheep, hogs, and other do- 

 mestic animals always acquire a strangely fierce 

 nature when young are born to them. They are 



