XX 



PLAYS AND PASTIMES OF ANIMALS 



I APPROACH this subject with a feeling of satisfac- 

 - tion; but I would not like to state the number of hours 

 that I have spent in watching the play of our wild animals. 



Out in the wilds, where the bears, sheep and goats live and 

 thrive, the outdoorsmen see comparatively few wild animals 

 at play. No matter what the season, the dangers of the 

 wilderness and mountain summit remain the same. When 

 kids and lambs are young, the eaglets are hungriest, and their 

 mothers are most determined in their hunting. After Sep- 

 tember I, the deadly still-hunters are out, and strained watch- 

 fulness is the unvarying rule, from dawn until dark. 



Out in the wilds, it is the moving animal that instantly 

 catches every hostile eye within visual range. A white goat 

 kid vigorously gamboling on the bare rocks would attract all 

 the golden eagles, hunters, trappers and Indians within a radius 

 of two miles. It is the rule that kids, fawns and lambs must 

 lie low and keep still, to avoid attracting deadly enemies. On 

 the bare summits, play can be indulged in only at great risk. 

 Generations of persecution have implanted in the brain of the 

 ruminant baby the commanding instinct to fold up its long 

 legs, neatly and compactly, furl its ears along its neck, and closely 

 lie for hours against a rock or a log. During daylight hours 

 they must literally hug the ground. Silence and inactivity is 

 the first price that all young animals in the wilds pay for their 

 lives. It is only in the safe shelter of captivity, or man-made 

 sanctuaries, that they are free to play. 



In the comfortable security of the "zoo" all the wild condi- 

 tions are changed. The restraints of fear are off, and every 



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