Hunters and Hunted 



fortress. Now the mole cannot paralyse its prey as can 

 the sand-wasp, yet dead earthworms will soon decay, 

 even in frosty weather. The mole surmounts the difficulty 

 in an ingenious way ; he simply bites off a small portion 

 of the head end of each of his victims and, being very 

 tenacious of life, they continue to exist, though their 

 burrowing powers are ended for ever. 



Having briefly reviewed some of the notorious hunters 

 of the animal world, we will devote a little space to the 

 consideration of the beasts that are hunted, that we may 

 see how they contrive to avoid the attentions of their 

 enemies, either by flight, by protective or warning 

 colouring, by evil odours or by other means. 



The giraffe, so conspicuous a beast in his enclosure at 

 the Zoo, by reason of his size and his yellow, brown - 

 dappled hide, is in his native retreats, beneath some 

 shady tree, preferably an acacia, wellnigh indistinguish- 

 able from his surroundings. Now the defences of the 

 giraffe against the attacks of wild beasts consist in rapid 

 flight and powerful kicks. But better than these is the 

 power conferred upon the giraffe, by reason of its long 

 neck, to see its enemies afar. To a lesser extent, the 

 camel is thus protected ; added to his excellent sight, he 

 possesses a scent so keen that he is reported to be able 

 to smell water at a considerable distance. 



The elephant one would imagine to be sufficiently 

 powerful to pay little heed to possible foes, but even this 

 gigantic beast is alert at all times, and eager to avoid an 

 encounter with one of the larger cats. Its sight, as might 

 be guessed from the small size of its eyes, is poor. Its 

 scent is extraordinarily keen, but, above all, its hearing is 

 very highly developed. Its gigantic ears, acting as giant 

 ear-trumpets, are ever on the alert to catch the slightest 

 sound. 



Does it not seem somewhat peculiar that two totally 

 dissimilar water-loving animals, the hippopotamus and 

 the crocodile, have eyes of very similar design ? In both 



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