chicken tribe I ever noted, was that of 

 a young bird that grew up with a flock 

 of young turkeys. We noticed it 

 among the turkeys when they were 

 quite small. The prairie chicken must 

 have been considerably older than the 

 turkeys, as at first it was larger 

 than they were, but they rapidly gained 

 on it and were soon much the largest. 

 However, the little wildling clung to 

 its adopted family and in the fall, when 

 the turkeys came and roosted in the 

 plum trees near the buildings, it came 

 too and after a time lost most of its • 

 shyness and, strangest of all, adopted 

 the turkeys' mode of roosting in the 

 trees. Later on, however, it disap- 

 peared, probably joining a flock of its 

 own kind. 



The common striped ground-squir- 

 rel is very easily tamed if taken while 

 young and will soon learn to come if 

 called by name, and will learn many 

 little tricks. The gray^quirrels, though 

 much prettier than the striped ones, are 

 naturally shyer and harder to tame. 

 Rabbits of the several species inhabit- 

 ing the United States are capable of 

 domestication in a degree, though of 

 all I ever owned but one would return 

 at my call when allowed its liberty 

 out-of-doors. Western jack-rabbits 

 when young make most interesting and 

 beautiful pets, and, while confined, 

 seem to lose all fear. Notwithstand- 

 ing their prettiness and their soft cud- 

 dling ways, they are stupid little 

 things, all their knowledge seeming 

 to come through the calls of their 

 appetites. 



Minks and weasels have too fierce a 

 nature to accept domestication, and, so 

 far as I have observed, show not the 

 slightest degree of affection for the 

 one who feeds them. That odorous 

 animal, the skunk, however, is very 

 susceptible to kindness, and will 

 become as tame and tractable as a pet 

 dog. One of the most interesting pets 

 I ever had was a skunk taken when 

 very young. It was allowed its full 

 freedom and would follow me around, 

 come at my call, do many little tricks 



at command, and was as playful as a 

 kitten. Being thoroughly tamed it did 

 not make use of its objectionable 

 means of offense and defense, though 

 when frightened it often "threatened" 

 to. As in the case of the prairie 

 chicken, my pet skunk also disappeared 

 when it was nearly grown, thinking, 

 perhaps, that it could make a better 

 living for itself than I could furnish it. 

 Its favorite food was insects such as 

 May-beetles and their larvae, grass- 

 hoppers, and almost every kind of 

 bug, worm, or beetle; even hairy cat- 

 erpillars were devoured after being 

 rolled or moulded with its paws to rub 

 off most of the hairs. This little pet 

 of mine was never troubled with dys- 

 pepsia or indigestion and crammed its 

 capacious stomach with a vast amount 

 of food — mostly insects— though small 

 mammals, eggs, birds, and once a 

 young chicken were devoured with 

 relish. Mice of many species can be 

 tamed to some extent though I have 

 found one of the shyest species when 

 in a wild state to be the most readily 

 and thoroughly tamable. I refer to 

 the deer mice. They are pretty, yel- 

 lowish brown creatures, white under- 

 neath, and have large, dark, brilliant 

 eyes and erect ears giving them a 

 very handsome expression. Their 

 hind legs are much longer and stronger 

 than those of the ordinary mouse and 

 they are capable of making extraordi- 

 nary leaps like the animals from which 

 they get their common name. 



When tamed they will learn little 

 easy tricks such as sitting erect and 

 "begging" for food, coming when called 

 by name, etc., and are not so ready to 

 use their teeth on the slightest provo- 

 cation, as are their cousins, the blue 

 field mice. 



By making pets of wild animals 

 much can be learned of their habits, 

 dispositions, and characteristics. Es- 

 pecially their food habits, which, in the 

 wild state, exert so much influence in 

 the economy of nature as checks to 

 the undue increase of other species of 

 animals, insects, or plants. 



12S 



