THE GOSPEL OF NATURE 
treat one another as rivals, or associate for mutual 
protection. One cow will lick and comb another in 
the most affectionate manner, and the next moment 
savagely gore her. Hate and cruelty for the most 
part rule in the animal world. A few of the higher 
animals are monogamous, but by far the greater 
number of species are polygamous or promiscuous. 
There is no mating or pairing in the great bovine 
tribe, and none among the rodents that I know of, 
or among the bear family, or the cat family, or 
among the seals. When we come to the birds, we find 
mating, and occasional pairing for life, as with the 
ostrich and perhaps the eagle. 
As for the rights of property among the animals, 
I do not see how we can know just how far those 
rights are respected among individuals of the same 
species. We know that bees will rob bees, and that 
ants will rob ants; but whether or not one chip- 
munk or one flying squirrel or one wood mouse will 
plunder the stores of another I do not know. Prob- 
ably not, as the owner of such stores is usually on 
hand to protectthem. Moreover, these provident lit- 
tle creatures all lay up stores in the autumn, before 
the season of scarcity sets in, and so have no need to 
plunder one another. In case the stores of one squir- 
rel were destroyed by some means, and it were able 
to dispossess another of its hoard, would it not in 
that case be a survival of the fittest, and so condu- 
cive to the well-being of the race of squirrels? 
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