chicken tribe I ever noted, was that of 
a young bird that grew up with a flock 
of young turkeys. We noticed it 
among the turkeys when they were 
quite small. The prairie chicken must 
have been considerably older than the 
turkeys, as at first it was larger 
than they were, but they rapidly gained 
on it and were soon much the largest. 
However, the little wildling clung to 
its adopted family and in the fall, when 
the turkeys came and roosted in the 
plum trees near the buildings, it came 
too and after a time lost most of its 
shyness and, strangest of all, adopted 
the turkeys' mode of roosting in the 
trees. Later on, however, it disap- 
peared, probably joining a flock of its 
own kind. 
The common striped ground-squir- 
rel is very easily tamed if taken while 
young and will soon learn to come if 
called by name, and will learn many 
little tricks. The gray«squirrels, though 
much prettier than the striped ones, are 
naturally shyer and harder to tame. 
Rabbits of the several species inhabit- 
ing the United States are capable of 
domestication in a degree, though of 
all I ever owned but one would return 
at my call when allowed its liberty 
out-of-doors. Western jack-rabbits 
when young make most interesting and 
beautiful pets, and, while confined, 
seem to lose all fear. Notwithstand- 
ing their prettiness and their soft cud- 
dling ways, they are stupid little 
things, all their knowledge seeming 
to come through the calls of their 
appetites. 
Minks and weasels have too fierce a 
nature to accept domestication, and, so 
far as I have observed, show not the 
slightest degree of affection for the 
one who feeds them. That odorous 
animal, the skunk, however, is very 
susceptible to kindness, and will 
become as tame and tractable as a pet 
dog. One of the most interesting pets 
I ever had was a skunk taken when 
very young. It was allowed its full 
freedom and would follow me around, 
come at my call, do many little tricks 
at command, and was as playful as a 
kitten. Being thoroughly tamed it did 
not make use of its objectionable 
means of offense and defense, though 
when frightened it often "threatened" 
to. As in the case of the prairie 
chicken, my pet skunk also disappeared 
when it was nearly grown, thinking, 
perhaps, that it could make a better 
living for itself than I could furnish it. 
Its favorite food was insects such as 
May-beetles and their larvse, grass- 
hoppers, and almost every kind of 
bug, worm, or beetle; even hairy cat- 
erpillars were devoured after being 
rolled or moulded with its paws to rub 
off most of the hairs. This little pet 
of mine was never troubled with dys- 
pepsia or indigestion and crammed its 
capacious stomach with a vast amount 
of food — mostly insects — though small 
mammals, eggs, birds, and once a 
young chicken were devoured with 
relish. Mice of many species can be 
tamed to some extent though I have 
found one of the shyest species when 
in a wild state to be the most readily 
and thoroughly tamable. I refer to 
the deer mice. They are pretty, yel- 
lowish brown creatures, white under- 
neath, and have large, dark, brilliant 
eyes and erect ears giving them a 
very handsome expression. Their 
hind legs are much longer and stronger 
than those of the ordinary mouse and 
they are capable of making extraordi- 
nary leaps like the animals from which 
they get their common name. 
When tamed they will learn little 
easy tricks such as sitting erect and 
"begging" for food, coming when called 
by name, etc., and are not so ready to 
use their teeth on the slightest provo- 
cation, as are their cousins, the blue 
field mice. 
By making pets of wild animals 
much can be learned of their habits, 
dispositions, and characteristics. Es- 
pecially their food habits, which, in the 
wild state, exert so much influence in 
the economy of nature as checks to 
the undue increase of other species of 
animals, insects, or plants. 
