The Human Side of Animals

The Human Side of Animals, by
Royal Dixon

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Side of Animals, by
Royal Dixon This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost
and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it
away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Human Side of Animals
Author: Royal Dixon
Release Date: November 17, 2006 [EBook #19850]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
HUMAN SIDE OF ANIMALS ***

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: RECREATION IS AS COMMON AMONG ANIMALS
AS IT IS AMONG CHILDREN.]

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ANIMALS
BY ROYAL DIXON AUTHOR OF "THE HUMAN SIDE OF
PLANTS," "THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES,"

"THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS," ETC.
WITH TWO ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS AND THIRTY-TWO IN
BLACK-AND-WHITE

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1918, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages
MADE IN U. S. A.

TO MARCELLUS E. FOSTER WHO BELIEVED

NOTE
The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to his
fellow-naturalist and friend, Mr. Franklyn Everett Fitch, for carefully
reading the entire manuscript and making many scholarly and valuable
criticisms and corrections.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE

FOREWORD xiii
I ANIMALS THAT PRACTISE CAMOUFLAGE 1
II ANIMAL MUSICIANS 18
III ANIMALS AT PLAY 32
IV ARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS 46
V MINERS AND EXCAVATORS 61
VI ANIMAL MATHEMATICIANS 88
VII THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS 99
VIII IN THEIR BOUDOIRS, HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES 120
IX SELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT 130
X ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, AND HOUSE-BUILDERS 150
XI FOOD CONSERVERS 170
XII TOURISTS AND SIGHT-SEERS 181
XIII ANIMAL SCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS 199
XIV AS THE ALLIES OF MAN 210
XV THE FUTURE LIFE OF ANIMALS 234

ILLUSTRATIONS
Recreation is as common among animals as it is among children (in
Colours) Frontispiece
The Indians claim that the mother bison forced her calf to roll often in a

puddle of red clay, so that it might be indistinguishable against its clay
background 6
The zebra is one of the cleverest of camouflagers. The black-and-white
stripes of his body give the effect of sunlight passing through bushes 7
Monkeys are the most musical of all animals. When they congregate
for "concerts," as some of the tribes do, the air is filled with weird
strains of monkey-music 20
Cats, unlike dogs, are very fond of music. And it has been proved that
their music-sense can be developed to a remarkable degree 21
A happy family of polar bears. The young cubs wrestle and tumble, as
playfully as two puppies. This play has much to do with their physical
and mental development 34
Dryptosaurus. The prehistoric animals, too, undoubtedly had their play
time, with games and "setting up" exercises 35
The mother opossum is never happier than when she has her little ones
playing hide-and-seek over her back 38
This young fox came from his home in the woods daily to play with a
young fox-terrier. He is now resting after a romp 39
Naosaurus and Dimetrodon, two extinct armour-bearers who should
have been well able to protect themselves 50
An armour-bearer of prehistoric times whose shield was an effective
protection against enemy horns 51
To the polar bear the ice and snow of the Far North means warmth and
protection. The mother bear digs herself into a snowbank, where she
lives quite comfortably throughout the winter 84
The sharp claws of the ground squirrel are efficacious tools in digging
his cosy underground burrow 85

The coyote can readily distinguish whether a herd of sheep is guarded
by one or more dogs, and will plan his attack accordingly 94
The zebu, the sacred bull of India, in spite of its domestication, has an
agile body and a quick, alert mind 95
Roosevelt's Colobus. These horse-tailed monkeys chatter together in a
language exclusively their own, yet they seem to have no difficulty in
making themselves understood by other monkey-tribes 112
A tamed deer of Texas, whose constant companion and playmate was a
rabbit dog. Between the two, there developed, necessarily, a common
language 113
Water-loving animals, like the beavers, seemingly take great pride in
their toilets. Their fur is always sleek and clean 122
Great forest pigs of Central Africa. Like the common domesticated
hogs, they will seek a clay bath to heal their wounds 123
The Rocky Mountain goat has many means of defence, not the least of
which is his agility in climbing to inaccessible places 134
Wild boars are among the most ferocious of animals. By means of their
great strength alone they are well able to