. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders. Zoology. THE FARMER'S SLY NEIGHBOR. 215 loss of a few bothersome hens, if we will take the trouble to study his marvelously sagacious character. He has little to depend upon in the struggle for ex- istence beyond his wits; he is thoroughly carnivorous, and must catch what he can without risking a fight with creatures more fully equipped with means of de- fense than himself. Consequentlj^ his prey is com- prised of only those animals which can make the least show of resistance. The skunk he will catch un- awares, i
. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders. Zoology. THE FARMER'S SLY NEIGHBOR. 215 loss of a few bothersome hens, if we will take the trouble to study his marvelously sagacious character. He has little to depend upon in the struggle for ex- istence beyond his wits; he is thoroughly carnivorous, and must catch what he can without risking a fight with creatures more fully equipped with means of de- fense than himself. Consequentlj^ his prey is com- prised of only those animals which can make the least show of resistance. The skunk he will catch un- awares, if he can; at most it will only be a coniiict between sharp teeth, if /i_^ Reynard can clinch m with him before JRiWi/ there is a chance for a bombardment. Then, among the ro- dents there are musk- rats, woodchucks, hares, squirrels, and mice. Birds, poultry, and eggs he is, of course, especially addicted to; frogs, and even fish, he does not disdain, and I have known him to make away with the carcass of a horse in the winter season. It is even recorded by more than one au- thority that he is partial to wild grapes and strawber- ries ; but I have no knowledge of his vegetarian pro- chvity, and I doubt whether fruit of any description. Fox asleep (showing the warmth and protection of the bushy tail).. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Mathews, F. Schuyler (Ferdinand Schuyler), 1854-1938; Underwood, William Lyman, 1864-1929, phot. New York, D. Appleton and Company
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Keywords: ., bookauthorma, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
