A BEAVER'S REASON 



Is instinct resourceful ? Can it meet new condi- 

 tions? Can it solve a new problem? If so, how 

 does it differ from free intelligence or judgment ? I 

 am inclined to think that up to a certain point in- 

 stinct is resourceful. Thus a Western correspondent 

 writes: "At three different times I have pursued 

 the common jack-rabbit from a level field, when the 

 rabbit, coming to a furrow that ran at right angles 

 to his course, jumped into it, and crouching down, 

 slowly crept away to the end of the furrow, when it 

 jumped out and ran at full speed again." This is 

 a good example of the resourcefulness of instinct 

 — the instinct to escape from an enemy — an old 

 problem met by taking advantage of an unusual 

 opportunity. To run, to double, to crouch, to hide, 

 are probably all reflex acts with certain animals 

 when hunted. The bird when pursued by a hawk 

 rushes to cover in a tree or a bush, or beneath some 

 object. Last summer I saw a bald eagle pursuing 

 a fish hawk that held a fish in its talons. The 

 hawk had a long start of the eagle, and began 

 mounting upward, screaming in protest or defiance 

 as it mounted. The pirate circled far beneath it 

 for a few minutes, and then, seeing how he was 

 distanced, turned back toward the ocean, so that 

 I did not witness the little drama in the air that I 

 had so long wished to see. 



A wounded wild duck suddenly develops much 

 cunning in escaping from the gunner — swimming 

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