LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



being pursued by other beasts or birds, or by 

 man, I should say, judging from my own obser- 

 vations, that comparatively few of them experience 

 more than two or three really narrow escapes in 

 the course of a year. 



Of course this is only guess work, but may in 

 part serve to correct what I believe to be a gener- 

 ally false impression in the other direction. But 

 I doubt if it matters very much to the creatures 

 themselves whether these adventures are few or 

 many. For danger that brings with it action 

 and excitement is nearly always found to be, on 

 the whole, enjoyable instead of the reverse, and 

 must be doubly so when the knowledge and fear 

 of death are lacking. 



When one animal finds itself pursued by an- 

 other more powerful, it naturally puts forth all its 

 energy in order to escape or defend itself; but I 

 am unable to believe from what I have seen that 

 in any case it ever enters its mind that the out- 

 come can possibly prove serious. For it seems 



T4 



