The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals | Page 8

irreconcilable and dangerous.
The snow leopard is sanguine, optimistic and peace-loving. The puma
is sanguine, good natured, quiet and peaceful.
The wolves are sanguine, crafty, dangerous and cruel.
The foxes are hysterical, timid and full of senseless fear.
The lynxes are sanguine, philosophic, and peaceful.
The mustelines are either nervous or hysterical, courageous, savage,
and even murderous.
The bears are so very interesting that it is well worth while to consider
the leading species separately. Possibly our conclusions will reveal
some unsuspected conditions.
BEAR TEMPERAMENTS, BY SPECIES. The polar bears are
sanguine, but in captivity they are courageous, treacherous and
dangerous.
The Alaskan brown bears in captivity are sanguine, courageous,
peaceful and reliable, but in the wilds they are aggressive and
dangerous.
The grizzlies are nervous, keen, cautious, and seldom wantonly
aggressive.

The European brown bears are sanguine, optimistic and good- natured.
The American black bears are sanguine and quiet, but very treacherous.
The sloth bears of India are nervous or hysterical, and uncertain.
The Malay sun bears are hysterical, aggressive and evil-tempered.
The Japanese black bears are nervous, cowardly and aggressive.
To those who form and maintain large collections of bears, involving
much companionship in dens, it is necessary to keep a watchful eye on
the temperament chart.
THE DEER. In our Zoological Park establishment there is no collection
in which both the collective and the individual equation is more
troublesome than the deer family. In their management, as with apes,
monkeys and bears, it is necessary to take into account the
temperament not only of the species, but also of each animal; and there
are times when this necessity bears hard upon human nerves. The
proneness of captive deer to maim and to kill themselves and each
other calls for the utmost vigilance, and for heroic endurance on the
part of the deer keeper.
Even when a deer species has a fairly good record for common sense,
an individual may "go crazy" the instant a slightly new situation arises.
We have seen barasingha deer penned up between shock-absorbing
bales of hay seriously try to jump straight up through a roof skylight
nine feet from the floor. We have seen park-bred axis deer break their
own necks against wire fences, with 100 per cent of stupidity.
CHARACTERS OF DEER SPECIES
The white-tailed deer is sanguine, but in the fall the bucks are very
aggressive and dangerous, and to be carefully avoided. The mule deer
is sanguine, reasonable and not particularly dangerous.
The elk is steady of nerve, and sanguine in temperament, but in the

rutting season the herd-masters are dangerous.
The fallow deer species has been toned down by a hundred generations
of park life, and it is very quiet, save when it is to be captured and
crated.
The axis deer is nervous, flighty, and difficult to handle.
The barasingha deer is hysterical and unaccountable.
The Indian and Malay sambar deer are lymphatic, confident, tractable
and easily handled.
Never keep a deer as a "pet" any longer than is necessary to place it in a
good home. All "pet deer" are dangerous, and should be confined all
the time. Never go into the range or corral of a deer herd unless
accompanied by the deer-keeper; and in the rutting season do not go in
at all.
The only thoroughly safe deer is a dead one; for even does can do
mischief. A SAMPLE OF NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT. As an
example of temperament in small carnivores, we will cite the coati
mundi of South America. It is one of the most nervous and restless
animals we know. An individual of sanguine temperament rarely is
seen. Out of about forty specimens with which we have been well
acquainted, I do not recall one that was as quiet and phlegmatic as the
raccoon, the nearest relative of Nasua. With a disposition so restless
and enterprising, and with such vigor of body and mind, I count it
strange that the genus Nasua has not spread all over our south-eastern
states, where it is surely fitted to exist in a state of nature even more
successfully than the raccoon or opossum.
The temper of the coati mundi is essentially quarrelsome and
aggressive. While young, they are reasonably peaceful, but when they
reach adult age, they become aggressive, and quarrels are frequent.
Separations then are very necessary, and it is rare indeed that more than
two adult individuals can be caged together. Even when two only are
kept together, quarrels and shrill squealings are frequent. But they

seldom hurt each other. The coati is not a treacherous animal, it is not
given to lying in wait to make a covert attack from ambush, and being
almost constantly on the move, it is a good show animal.
THE STRANGE COMBATIVE TEMPERAMENT OF THE
GUANACO. In appearance the guanaco is