72 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



fox passed near. It laid back its ears, bared its 

 teeth, and bit at the air in the direction of the 

 fox. Kingsley accounted for the hostile demon- 

 stration on the part of his horse by the fact that 

 it was an old hunter. Excellent naturalist though 

 he was, I think he was wrong in his conclusion. 

 A horse ridden after hounds seldom has a chance 

 of seeing the object of pursuit, and probably in 

 nine cases out of ten knows nothing about it. 

 Certainly he could never learn enough to acquire 

 a savage hostility to poor Reynard. Nor is there 

 any reason why he should. The hunted fox, 

 whether known or unknown, is to him a source of 

 delight ; for a hunter always manifests pleasure- 

 able excitement when he sees the hounds and 

 anticipates a gallop. 



I have often observed that young foals show 

 some instinctive fear of dogs, and that they are 

 very careful to keep on the opposite side of their 

 dams when a dog comes into the paddock. 

 Doubtless this is due to an inherent protective 

 habit which was very valuable in the wild state. 

 In looking for remnants of wild traits in domestic 

 animals, we are far more likely to be successful if 

 we study young creatures which have not had 

 their innate primeval instincts adulterated with 



