ANIMAL COMPANIONS 57 



study of the dog's feeding. It will be unwise, however, to bring in a second 

 dog unless there is an abundance for both. 



Drinking. After he has eaten give the dog a drink. How does he get 

 the water ? Watch to see the shape of his tongue as he laps it. Let some- 

 one go to the board to draw the shape. Watch to see how the cat drinks 

 milk. Does a horse drink as a dog does ? How does a cow drink ? 

 Squirrels and rabbits. 



Feeding. For this lesson have the squirrels and rabbits in the school- 

 room. It is wise to cover the entire outside of the box that you use as a 

 cage, and not the open side only, with the inch-mesh galvanized- wire 

 netting or else protect vulnerable points with strips of tin. These animals 

 are rodents and will gnaw their way to freedom and mischief in the school- 

 room if opportunity offers. 



Watch the rabbits and squirrels eat. How does the squirrel hold the 

 nut ? Does he crack it as you would crack a nut ? What teeth does he 

 use ? What is their shape ? Does he chew the nut well ? Does he eat the 



i nut where you give it to him or does he run off to some other part of the 

 cage to eat it ? What position does he take while he is eating ? After he 



, has eaten all he needs what does he do with other nuts you give him? 

 Compare the rabbit's method of eating with that of the squirrel. Can the 

 rabbit hold food in its forepaws when it eats ? Can you ? 



Drinking. Take the pan of drinking water out of the cage and leave 



I it out for several hours so that the animals will be sure to be thirsty. Then 



! put in fresh water and observe the method of drinking. Compare with the 

 dog and horse. From your observations do you think that animals get 

 hungry and thirsty as we do ? This will afford an appropriate opportunity 



; for simple directions on the care of pets. 



Perchance this work as outlined appears so commonplace that it will 

 seem to some an unnecessary expenditure of valuable time on what is not 

 only familiar but also insignificant. But a careful study of these familiar 



; matters will convince one that what is so commonplace is not always 

 therefore well known. Moreover, there is more of significance in these 



i observations than one might at first think. There is a volume of ancestral 

 history revealed in some of these apparently trifling mannerisms. The cat, 

 for instance, you will find sniffs daintily of her food, eats leisurely, and 

 prefers to have her meal in seclusion. The dog bolts his food with all pos- 

 sible celerity, growling meanwhile at any possible interference and yet not 

 seeming to be greatly disturbed by onlookers. One can see at once the 

 inherited traits outcropping. The cat has always been a solitary hunter. 

 Her ancestors did not hunt together, as the dog tribe has usually done. 

 The members of the great cat family are accustomed through generations of 



