80 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



scarcely claim a position with domesticated animals. They may be more 

 appropriately said to be semi-domesticated. This would apply also to 

 the "wild" horses of the western United States. House rats and mice, 

 more intimately associated with human habitations than any cattle or 

 horses, cannot be considered domesticated. They are unwelcome in- 

 truders. 



The fact that individual animals have been caught or even bred in 

 capitivity, tamed and trained for various purposes or kept as pets, 

 does not make of them domesticated animals. Thus deer, kept in en- 

 closures, often become very tame, just as squirrels and wild birds 

 in parks learn to feed out of one's hands, but are not domesticated. 

 Canadian moose have on several occasions been captured while young, 

 tamed and used as draft animals, but were not bred in captivity and 

 only an occasional animal was so used, consequently they would not be 

 included in the term, while the European moose was in northern Europe 

 long used as a draft animal, in considerable numbers, and might have 

 been considered at least semi-domesticated. 3 The reindeer is usually 

 considered a domesticated animal, as it has for centuries been intimately 

 associated with human beings and kept in controlled herds. Zebras 

 are often driven in harness, especially in circus parades, but they are 

 not domesticated. 4 The cheetah, or hunting leopard of Asia, caught and 

 trained to hunt game for its captors, is not domesticated. It is said 

 that for the best results it must not be caught until it has acquired 

 hunting experience. The ferret, kept in captivity and used in catching 

 rats, is not domesticated. Neither are bears, lions and many other 

 wild animals that must be kept confined, but are taught to perform 

 many acts for exhibition purposes, nor are squirrels and other pets 

 kept in cages. 



The great value of cattle, sheep and goats to the human race has 

 been discussed in other chapters, in connection with the supply of meat, 

 milk, hides, furs and other products. Further information concerning 

 these and the other domesticated mammals may be found in the sys- 

 tematic part of this volume (Part n) . The flesh of horses is used as food 

 in some lands and the skins are used in making excellent leather. In 

 addition, horses and their relatives (mules, burros, donkeys, etc.) have 

 for many centuries been used in all lands as draft and saddle ani- 

 mals and beasts of burden, the horse being the most valuable and most 

 extensively used of all animals, for those purposes. 



8 Jones, Fur farming in Canada, p. 95, 1913. Shields, Forest and Stream, XLI, 316, 

 1893. 



4 Forest and Stream, LVII, 24, 1901. 



