170 



RODENT WATER TRESPASSERS. 



and well-seasoned wood, so as to raise a fierce flame 

 which might almost instantaneously destroy life, and 

 by attaching bags of gunpowder to the vital parts of 

 the body. This was not cruelty, but pure mercy, and 

 so is the action of the animals who fall on a wounded 

 comrade and tear or peck him to pieces. 



M. Audubon, however, makes another statement 

 concerning the Musquash, which is of a very startling 

 nature. We are not surprised to hear that when a 

 Musquash is caught in a trap, it should be killed by its 

 companions. But we are very much surprised to hear 

 that the animals can exercise discretionary powers, 

 and act in a totally different manner if their comrade 

 be wounded and at liberty, to their conduct when he is 

 wounded and captured in a trap. Audubon states that 

 if a Musquash be shot and not at once picked up, it is 

 carried off by its comrades and removed to a place of 

 safety. This is a most remarkable statement, but I 

 believe it to be a perfectly true one ; and it throws 

 quite a new light on the mental character of the lower 

 animals. 



