NATURAL HISTORY. 



DO DOES LEAD? 



Oberlin, O. 

 Editor Recreation: 



In a lecture given by Ernest Seton- 

 Thompson in this city last November, he 

 said that among elk, deer, antelope, etc., 

 each band is led by a female, except in 

 case of danger, real or imaginary, when 

 the males rush to the front for the de- 

 fense of the band. The statement sur- 

 prised me, for I had long believed that 

 among all grazing animals each band is 

 habitually led by a male, who -not only 

 selects the route of travel and the feed- 

 ing ground for the band, but is constantly 

 on the lookout for danger, and ready to 

 join the other males of the band in efforts 

 to protect the females and the young. 



Personally, I have had little opportun- 

 ity to observe the habits of wild animals, 

 but on a few occasions I have seen bands 

 of deer, and of antelope, moving over the 

 billowy country bordering the Missouri 

 river. In each case the band was not 

 only led by one or more males, but the 

 rear was also guarded by other males. 

 When alarmed, the males took position 

 between the cause of fear and the females, 

 while the latter escaped, by retreat, and 

 were soon joined by the males. No shoot- 

 ing was indulged on any of these occa- 

 sions. 



In a conversation with Mr. Seton- 

 Thompson, the day after the lecture re- 

 ferred to, he stated that most of his ob- 

 servations had been made among the par- 

 tially domesticated cattle of our Western 

 plains, and he also admitted that, pos- 

 sibly, his observations had been largely 

 made among those bands or bunches that 

 were moving away from what they may 

 have regarded as enemies,, their herders. 



Would it not be of real interest to your 

 readers to find on the pages of Recrea- 

 tion the testimony of several persons 

 who have made careful, if not extensive, 

 observations of the habits of wild ani- 

 mals in the matter of leadership and de- 

 fense? 



Being anxious to gather facts in this 

 line, I wrote to Rev. C. L. Hall, of Elbow 

 Woods, N. D., who has lived among the 

 Indians of the Fort Berthold reservation 

 during the past 24 years, asking him to 

 question the old hunters among the Aric- 

 karee, Gros Ventre and Mandan tribes re- 

 garding the points in question. I did not 

 state my opinions for the verdict of the 

 Indians, but asked for their knowledge in 

 the case. Mr. Hall replied promptly, as 

 follows: "I found 4 old hunters together 

 immediately after the receipt of your 



letter, and propounded your questions. 

 They replied as follows: 'With deer, elk 

 and antelope the male is on the lookout 

 and gives warning of danger; also giving 

 the does and the young a chance to get 

 away.' All agreed to this. But it was not 

 so clear that a doe never leads the way 

 when there is no alarm. Of course, that 

 would be a harder matter to determine. 

 I once surprised a dozen antelope close at 

 hand, as I drove up a rise of ground and 

 saw down on the other side. They ran in 

 a circle, from left to right, in front of me. 

 The stag held back till the rest had run 

 far off, and then quickly caught up with 

 them. 



"In the case of buffalo, one of the older 

 Indians said the herd was sometimes led 

 by an old cow, and sometimes by an old 

 bull. In times of danger they stampeded 

 without regard to leadership. Concerning 

 wolves, these Indians had no opinion." 



During the past 3 months I have con- 

 sulted several careful observers and get no 

 evidence that females habitually, or even 

 frequently, take the leadership when there 

 are males in the herd. 



What do the readers of Recreation 

 know on this subject? Guess work, sus- 

 picions and opinions are worthless. What 

 is certain? 



Lyman B. Sperry. 



SUMMER FRIENDS. 



New York City. 

 Editor Recreation: 



Some years ago, while spending the 

 summer in the Alleghany mountains, at 

 Cresson Springs, Pa., I met several chip- 

 munks and squirrels and became intimate- 

 ly acquainted with them. Large and beau- 

 tiful grounds surrounded the hotel, and 

 the woods near afforded first class accom- 

 modations for all kinds of birds, butter- 

 flies and insects. Red and gray squirrels 

 swarmed all over the place. The pretty- 

 to-look-at-only skunks also made their 

 homes there, and it is with gratitude I can 

 truly say they gave me no cause for com- 

 plaint during my stay. In the grass and 

 on the walks small holes showed the en- 

 trances to the apartments of chipmunks, 

 and I often saw the little animals sitting 

 in front of their homes taking a view of 

 the surrounding country. 



After dinner I usually left the table with 

 my pocket full of nuts and made a beeline 

 to a corner of the piazza where my friends 

 would- come as soon as I chirped to them, 

 if they were not already waiting for me. 



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