ANIMAL COMMUNICATION 



offense, — but that the act was expressive of any- 

 thing more than her present anger, that she was in 

 any sense trying to train and instruct her pup, there 

 is no proof. 



But with animals that have not been to school to 

 man, all ideas of teaching must be rudimentary 

 indeed. How could a fox or a wolf instruct its young 

 in such matters as traps ? Only in the presence of 

 the trap, certainly; and then the fear of the trap 

 would be communicated to the young through 

 natural instinct. Fear, like joy or curiosity, is con- 

 tagious among beasts and birds, as it is among men; 

 the young fox or wolf would instantly share the emo- 

 tion of its parent in the presence of a trap. It is very 

 important to the wild creatures that they have a 

 quick apprehension of danger, and as a matter of 

 fact they have. One wild and suspicious duck in a 

 flock will often defeat the best laid plans of the duck- 

 hunter. Its suspicions are quickly communicated to 

 all its fellows: not thi'ough any conscious effort on 

 its part to do so, but through the law of natural con- 

 tagion above referred to. Where any bird or beast 

 is much hunted, fear seems to be in the air, and their 

 fellows come to be conscious of the danger which 

 they have not experienced. 



What an animal lacks in wit it makes up in cau- 

 tion. Fear is a good thing for the wild creatures to 

 have in superabundance. It often saves them from 

 real danger. But how undiscriminating it is! It is 

 89 



