XXIV 
INTRODUCTION 
daily, fantastic imaginings should not be offered as serious facts; but such stories as “Raggylugg,” 
“Redruff,” and “Krag,” by Mr. Ernest T. Seton, deserve to live forever. “Mooswa” is a fiction 
story of animals that is one of the best of its kind. 
The most marvellous doings of wild animals are to be found in books and newspapers. Only 
in books do porcupines roll down steep hills in order to gather dead leaves upon their quills, and 
thereby be able to do more wonderful things. Only in books do kingfishers catch fish, carry them 
a mile or less, and place them in a brook in order to give their nestlings object lessons in ichthyology, 
and in the gentle art of angling. You or I may spend years in the forests and fields, observing and 
collecting wild creatures, and see only a very few acts of the wild folk which we can call wonderful. 
But then, somehow, our animals rarely have been as large, or as well educated, as those of some 
other observers. 
Try all questions of animal action and intelligence with the touchstone of common-sense. Be 
not startled by the “discovery” that apes and monkeys have “language”; for their vocabulary 
is not half so varied and extensive as that of barn-yard fowls, whose language many of us know 
very well. Take no stock in the systematic and prolonged “duels” of wild animals who meet 
and fight to the death, under Marquis of Queensberry rules. A fight between two wild animals is 
usually a very brief event, — so say reliable men who have seen them in the wilds, — and unless there 
is an accidental death-lock of antlers, the vanquished party usually shows his heels long before he is 
seriously wounded. 
Animal psychology is a most interesting study, and its pursuit is now engaging the serious 
attention of scientific men. If the general public could know the plain and simple basis on which 
they are proceeding, this warning against the idealization of animals would hardly be necessary. Men 
of science who study the minds of animals do not idealize their subjects, or ascribe to them super- 
human intelligence ; nor are they always on the alert to ascribe to every simple action some astound- 
ingly intelligent and far-fetched motive. In the study of animal intelligence, the legitimate Truth 
is sufficiently wonderful to satisfy all save those who crave the sensational, regardless of facts. 
RULES FOR MEASURING MAMMALS, HORNS, ETC. 
The increasing amount of attention that is being paid to the measurements and weights of 
animals renders necessary the adoption of a uniform system, in qrder that species and individuals 
may be compared on a fair basis. To promote this end the following rules are offered: 
Small Mammals Generally 
1. Record all measurements in feet and inches, and leave the metric scale for those who prefer 
a foreign system. 
2. Measurements of skins are of very slight value; therefore, always measure a specimen 
before skinning it. 
3. Lay every mammal on its side, pull the head straight forward, and measure from the tip 
of the nose to the point where the tail joins the body. This is the “ Length of head and body.” 
4. From the last-mentioned point, measure to the end of the tail vertebrae, not the hair, for 
“ Length of tail. ” If the tail-tuft is important, measure it separately. 
5. Weigh large examples of species that are larger than rats and mice; and in each case, weigh 
the whole of the specimen. 
Large Mammals 
1. The “ Height at the shoulder” is the most important measurement. To obtain this, hold 
the uppermost foreleg as nearly as possible in the position it occupied when supporting the animal. 
Do not measure from the “point of the hoof”; for that means nothing. Hold the hoof with its 
bottom parallel with the body, as when the animal stood upon it; erect there a stick to mark the 
