ANIMAL ANECDOTES. 
A CatirorniA farmer, who has three small 
children, owns a pony which is 
their constant companion. They 
have ridden him, rolled over him, 
fed him, and have come to consider him as one of 
the family. When the children went on an 
expedition and did not want to ride, the pony 
went along as if he had been a pet dog. A 
San Francisco newspaper tells the following 
story of the pony’s presence of mind :— 
“One day the three children went on a nutting 
expedition, and while they gathered the nuts, the 
pony grazed near by. Suddenly, almost beneath 
Pony and 
Rattlesnake. 
the feet of the nut gatherers, there was an 
ominous whir, and they saw with horror a huge 
rattlesnake coiled ready to strike. 
The children 
be 
e sharp hoofs brough 
the air, and landed squarely on the snake’s coil. 
With his four littl 
huddled together, too much frightened to move, 
but as the deadly head went back there was 
a quick trample of hoofs, a rush through the 
bushes, and the pony appeared. With his 
four little sharp hoofs brought together he 
shot up into the air, landed squarely on the 
snake’s coil, and was off again before the 
wicked head could strike. The interruption 
had released the frightened children from the’ 
charm and they ran a short distance away, 
then stopped to witness the contest. The 
rattler was wounded but full of fight and 
coiled again, and again the pony landed on 
him and got away safely. This time the snake’s 
body was nearly severed in two places, and 
the snake was conquered. The pony walked 
round if and, apparently satisfied, 
gave a cheerful whinny and returned 
to his grazing.” 
a" 
in South Africa tells 
of a singular combat 
he witnessed. He was 
musing one morning 
with his eyes on the ground when he 
noticed a caterpillar crawling along at 
a rapid pace. Pursuing him was a 
host of small ants. Being quicker in 
their movements, the ants would catch 
up the caterpillar and one would mount 
his back and bite him. Pausing, the 
caterpillar would turn his head and bite 
and kill his tormentor. 
After slaughtering a dozen or more of 
his persecutors, the caterpillar showed 
signs of fatigue. The ants made a 
combined attack. Betaking himself to 
a stalk of grass, the caterpillar climbed 
up tail first, followed by the ants. As 
one approached he seized it in his jaws 
and threw it off the stalk. The ants, 
seeing that the caterpillar had too 
strong a position for them to ovyer- 
come, resorted to strategy. They began 
sawing through the grass stalk. In a 
few minutes the stalk fell and hundreds 
of ants pounced upon the caterpillar. 
He was killed at once, and the victors 
marched off in triumph, leaving the 
foe’s dead body on the field. 
A TRAVELLER 
A Singular 
Combat. 
146 
