66 SAVAGE SURVIVALS 



ram of experience and courage. These flocks were 

 often pursued by wolves and other animals. The 

 sheep escaped, not by hiding or fighting, but by 

 flight. The life of the flock often depended on the 

 skill and faithfulness with which the members of 

 the flock copied their leader. And the practice 

 sheep have of following and imitating their leader 

 was acquired no doubt thru the necessity when 

 pursued of leaping over the same chasms and 

 rocks that their chief and those in front of them 

 leaped over, whether they could see the reason for 

 it or not. Those who did this survived in the 

 struggle for life, and those who did not do it went 

 down or were destroyed. 



The copying instinct is, therefore, of great use 

 to a species living as sheep lived in their wild ex- 

 istence, but of no use to them since they have be- 

 come lowlanders. The instinct to follow the leader 

 exists in all animals that live in flocks and herds. 

 It is useful in the most of them. 



At the Chicago ** stock yards'' they take advan- 

 tage of this copying instinct of sheep by having 

 a trained ram lead the sheep to the slaughter. The 

 sheep have the nature to follow the ram, and when 

 they arrive at the killing place, the ram steps aside 

 and escapes, to lead another flock a little later. 

 This is an instance where the leader-following in- 

 stinct in sheep is of use to men but not to sheep. 

 Hogs and cattle do not have this instinct ; and they 

 have to be prodded and whipped by men to get 

 them to the killing place. 



