August 14, 1875. 
293 
1 ^ 
A HISTORY OF MY PETS. 
BY W. W. ABNOI.D. 
[Concluded.] 
After a longer silence than I anticipated, when I 
wrote the preceding chapter of this history of mj' pets, 
1 again take up the thread of my narrative, but will say 
that what I now write will be more for the amusement 
of the youthful readers than the edification of the grown- 
up folks. 
During the ten years following, after the death of the 
crows, I was possessor of a score or more of pets, of all 
kinds and conditions, from a blind mouse to a musk-rat, 
but none were possessed of sufficient remarkable traits 
to merit direct mention in this history until we come to 
a magnificent henhawk, which I prized very highly. 
She was very large and attractive in appearance, and 
after a time became perfectly tame and tractable. For 
several seasons she would build a nest and lay two eggs 
and sit upon them until seemingly satisfied they would 
not hatch, and then deliberately desert her nest, and pay 
no more attention to it until the next spring, when the 
same programme would be enacted. Once I removed her 
own eggs and substituted in their place three hen-eggs, 
from which, in due time, three hearty chicks issued forth. 
Then what rejoicing the savage mother evinced, and 
how she sought out every device imaginable to induce 
the chicks to feed from her beak, but all in vain, for 
tbeir was no instinct in their natures that prompted 
them to open their mouths to receive food. "Whilst 
these chicks were with the hawk, I think she was the 
fiercest animal I ever saw, and the least intimation of 
danger to the chickens would be met by her with the 
wildest screams and most furious demonstrations, and 
no one dared venture into the enclosure where she was 
confined. Being very busy at the time I could not feed 
and attend to the chicks whilst with their unnatural 
mother, so I put them with a hen, but during their short 
stay with the hawk they had become imbued with het 
wild nature, and would not stay with the hen, but 
strayed off and died. I was sorry I did not get to raise 
the chickens with her, for I had an anxiety to know 
how she would have treated them when grown, and 
what their actions would have been being nurtured by 
so wild a mother. 
AVhen this hawk fell into my possession I had two red 
foxes, about three months old, which I was trying to 
tame, but never succeeded fully, for they would always 
bite and fight when I undertook to handle them. The 
way I came by the hawk was amusing to any one except 
the captor. I had a colored boy working for me, and 
one morning he espied a hawk sitting on the top of a 
large poplar tree, half a mile from the house, and he 
was certain he could kill it if I would let him have my 
shot-gun, so I gave him the gun, and he disappeared in 
finest of his game. A quarter of an hour later the re- 
port of the gUn was heard, and the hawk was seen 
falling earthward, and a minute after the air was filled 
with a succession of wild j'ells and screams that would 
have done honor to an Indian. M}’ brother was work- 
ing in a field near by, and hearing the report of the gun 
and the terrible screams immediately after, concluded 
the boj' had shot himself; so he rushed to his assistance, 
and Upon nearing the object of his anxiety found tha 
the programme had been suddenly reversed and the 
hawk had captured the bo\' in place of the boy taking 
the hawk prisoner. The shot had only broken the tip 
of the hawk’s wing, and soon as it touched the earth the 
boy rushed upon it, filled with delight at his success as 
a hunter, and with never a thought of the fearful claws 
and beak, caught it up in his arms with a shout of 
triumph, but the next instant was prancing about like a 
madman, filling the air with frightful yells. This 
sudden change from joy to fear was soon discovered. 
No sooner had he raised the crippled bird from the 
ground than it instantly imbedded one set of claws in the 
boy’s right wrist and the other set in his abdomen, and 
it was using its beak with fearful vengeance upon the 
boy’s unprotected person. The would-be mighty hunter 
was nearly frightened out of his senses, and implored 
brother to release him from his enemy, which he did 
with a great deal of difficult}’. They then brought the 
captive savage to the house, and threw it into.the pen 
where I kept the foxes, for a feast for them. Hardly had 
the hawk touched the floor before one of the fo.xes 
made a grab for it, and next instant found itself 
bestrode by the enraged bird, who, with talons 
imbedded deep in the fox’s .flesh, made it howl 
with pain and fear, and dart around the pen 
like mad, finally dismounting its rabid rider and sneak- 
ing into a corner, completely cowed and beaten. The 
other fox had been anxiously watching the proceedings, 
and as its companion hied away into seclusion, conclud- 
ed to try its luck. Making a quick dash at the hawk 
it nearly nabbed it, but received in return for its pains 
a double set of claws on its head and nose, and then 
what jumping and racing and screaming that deluded 
fox went through, and when the hawk finally let go her 
hold the fox was willing enough to .seek the same dark 
corner that its forlorn companion occupied. From that 
time on, as long as the hawk and fo.xes remained to- 
gether — which was several months — the hawk ruled the 
ranch, and those valiant reynards denied most emphati- 
cally, by their actions, that they had lost any hawks. 
Whenever I would put feed in for these queer pets, the 
foxes would crouch in one corner until the brave hawk 
had dined, and then sneak up and devour what she had 
left. The hawk would perch upon my arm and eat from 
my hand, but her sharp claws frequently made ugly 
scratches on my hands and arms, so I gradually refrain- 
ed from handling her. Her broken wing .soon united 
and became sound as the other. She would always an- 
swer when I called to her, but when she saw me ap- 
proaching with a bird or small animal she would salute 
me with loud screams and flap her wings with gladness. 
I frequently caught rats in a box trap, and would take 
the trap into her pen, when she would pounce down in 
front of the trap and anxiously watch the raising of the 
trap-lid, and as the rat would rush out in imagined free- 
dom, she would put forth one foot so deftly and grace- 
fully and take the rat in from the troubles of the world 
as though it was the easiest little trick imaginable. She 
was not very particular about what she ate, so it was 
fresh animal food. Rats, mice, cats, snakes, hawks, 
owls, and nearly everything else that runs or flies served 
alike to satisfy her hunger. She evinced an unconquer- 
able hatred toward dogs, and would make known her 
displeasure of their society by angrily ruffling her feath- 
ers and uttering piercing screams and a hoarse, clucking 
noise. I kept this pet for near six years, when she, like 
all the rest of my cherished pets, died. With proper 
training I believe she could have easily been taught to 
hunt as falcons did in olden times. 
The red foxes I have mentioned I kept for several 
months, when one of them came to a tragic end, and 
the other was generously given to a friend. They were 
ever in mischief, and evinced no disposition of becom- 
ing domesticated, so they were not considered very de- 
sirable pets. Besides, they emitted such disagreeable 
odors, a la skunk, that their presence within a mile of 
the house was almost unbearable. There seems to be 
a difference between the gray and red fox in this par- 
ticular respect, for I had a gray fox for a year or so, 
and never was annoyed in the least by rank perfumes. 
I finally took the foxes from the pen and chained them 
in the j'ard, and then they dug holes in the ground and 
secreted themselves until some unsuspicious chicken 
would come up to see if it couldn’t find a few worms in 
the fresh-disturbed earth, and then that sly varmint 
would save that chicken any further trouble about seek- 
ing for something to eat. And at night they would bark 
sharp, startling barks, and utter doleful bowlings that 
would make one’s flesh creep, and render sleep almost 
impossible. Early one morning as I peered out of the 
window I beheld one of the red rascals tripping through 
the dewy grass with a chicken in its mouth, and it 
seemed just as happy as a fox could be; but when I went 
out to the chicken-coops and found that that murderous 
wretch had killed some fifty young chickens — just the 
right age and S'ze for frying — I didn't feel a bit inclined 
to be happy, but, on the contrary, felt so indignant that 
I seized my gun and immediatelj’ ended the murderer’s 
existence. From that day to this I have firmly declined 
all offers of presents of pet foxes from good friends. 
Last summer a relative made me a present of a young 
woodchuck, or what we commonly call a ground-hog, 
and capturing a young fox squirrel the same day, I con- 
cluded to start a “happy family;” so I put them to- 
gether in a large wire cage, and they growled and snap- 
ped at each other in anything but a happy manner for 
a day or two, and after that became as loving as so 
many kittens. In the upper part of the cage I had a 
small open-topped box for them to sleep in, and I found 
that it was a good idea to have no place for them to 
hide themselves in, thus being continually under obser- 
vafion. They soon lost their fear of surrounding ob- 
jects, and in a day or so became so tame they would 
take nuts and other articles of food out of my hand. 
At first the ground-hog would eat nothing but green 
vegetable food, but directly began imitating the squir- 
rel in its selection of edibles, and finally would eat any- 
thing the squirrel would. After having these rodents 
for a few w’eeks I captured three ground squirrels and 
put in with them for companions. Poor little things, 
at first they were nearly frightened to death, deprived 
of their freedom and imprisoned with their great un- 
gainly cousins, but gradually became less shy, and find- 
ing their cousins, the fox squirrel and ground-hog, were 
peaceable and sociable fellows, they mounted into their 
sleeping quarters and became bed-fellows, and ever after 
were the very best of friends. 
The ground-hog’s sense of hearing was wonderfully 
acute, and he tvas ever on the alert for danger, and at 
the least intimation of trouble he would mount into 
his nest, giving vent to his suspicions by a shrill whistle, 
which would make a strange dog rush up to the cage in 
anticipation of fun or a fight. It was a strange sight 
to see the five companions all nestled close together in 
one little nest, so cozy and friendly. 
Late in the summer I got a gray squirrel, and put in 
with my other pets, and it caused trouble in the happy 
family at once, for he was deemed by the former in- 
habitants an intruder, and 5Ir. Gray had peculiar notions 
of his own lordliness, and held himself aloof from the 
others, and if any friendly advances were made toward 
him he would growl and chatter in a most unsociable 
way, which would immediately excite the ground-hog’s 
ire, and cause him to stick up his tail, drawback his 
lips, showing his great white teeth, and marching up to 
the squirrel cause that Individual to take to hasty fiight. 
Not long after the gray squirrel’s advent m the happy 
family an accident occurred to the cage, which gave 
the fox-squirrel and two of the ground-squirrels their 
liberty, and what became of them after their escape I 
can hardly tell; but surmise they came to a violent end, 
as there were some blood-thirsty dogs about the prem- 
ises; at any rate they never returned to join the “ happy 
family ” (?) again. The ground-hog missed his gay com- 
panions badly, and tried to make friends with the gray 
squirrel, but the little scamp only growled and chattered, 
and utterly refused all advances of friendship. This 
condition of things continued until cold weather came 
on, and then I changed my pets to a smaller cage, which 
I could take into the house for better protection of the 
inmates from the cold; but the ground hog and squirrel 
quarreled continually, so I bad to make separate sleep- 
ing quarters for each. The remaining ground-squirrel 
continued a firm friend [of the ground-hog, and slept 
with him. About the 1st of November the ground-hog 
ceased to come out of his nest to feed, and seemed in- 
clined to sleep most of hft time, and continued in this 
semi-dormant condition, entirely abstaining from food, 
until the 24th of March, when he evinced the first symp- 
toms of being hungry. When he went into his hiber- 
nation he was fat and sleek, but when he came out and 
announced' that his nap was over with he was a mere 
skeleton — but a shadow of his former self. Some time 
during the winter the squirrel and ground-hog became 
reconciled, and remained the most devoted of friends 
ever after until the death of the ground-hog. Just how 
the reconciliation occurred I cannot say, but one day I 
heard a fearful uproar among them, and going to the 
cage found the squirrel with about half of his beautiful 
bushy tail bit ott’, and, oh, but he was chattering and 
scolding in the greatest fury. Peeping into the ground- 
hogs nest I discovered him gnashing his great teeth, and 
looking anything but in a good humor. After a while 
they cooled down, and, strange to relate, the squirrel 
crept into the ground-hog’s quarters, and, they there- 
upon became friends. After the first bright days of 
spring came these new-made friends would have the 
jolliest romps, and cut up the queerest capers, rolling 
and tumbling and wrestling, and hugging for hours at a 
time; but their merry .sport was of short duration. The 
few w’arm days that came as delusive harbingers of 
spring caused me to put the pets into their summer 
quarters, and I hardly had them fully established there- 
in before a fearful storm of ice and snow came down out 
of the north, and chilled the poor ground-hog so badly 
that he died ; and so my happy family grew unhappily 
smaller and smaller, until but two members remained. 
The two squirrels missed their queer companion sorel}', 
and for a long time seemed discouten’ted, and anxious 
to go in search of him. A few weeks ago I added two 
fox-squirrels and two ground-squirrels to my happy 
family, and a short time after that my old ground- 
squirrel got out, and the dog killed it, and another one 
got away to the woods, and the gray squirrel will not 
associate with the new squirrels, and there is wrangling 
and fussing going on, and 1 have come to the conclusion 
that my happy family is very similar to families of all 
kinds, not as happy as it might be. And so the story 
of my pets is about told, although I might chat away at 
considerable length about my three great horned owls, 
and large hawk, and a couple of wild geese, and tell a 
good many things about them interesting to the reader, 
but will not this time, but may, perhaps, at some leisure 
time in the future. 
