Harness (animal)

“ The defenseless hares and rabbits are bitterly persecuted by the weasel, which springs upon them, and with wonderful instinct knows exactly where to fasten its sharp teeth. The unfortunate hare may scamper away as fast as it can, but its enemy clings to its neck, and the poor little animal must soon fall, faint and dying, from loss of blood. ”

“ A hare was once seen to start from its form at the sound of the hunting horn, run towards a pool of water at a considerable distance, plunge in, and run to some rushes in the middle, where it lay down, and concealed itself. By this ingenious trick, the animal balked its pursuers, and effected its escape. ”

“ I could see the wretched animal, already stained with blood, point to its wound, and again hear its dreadful moan.
"The agony of a hare is harrowing, and I have seen a young sportsman turn pale on hearing it. ”

“ As a result of this energetic friction the soft wood becomes heated at the bottom of the hollow, and ends by catching fire. Success necessitates, it is true, a rapidity of friction and a skill that certainly we should not be able to acquire without a long apprenticeship; but I pass over that difficulty and assume that we have a fire.
“Now for the game. A hare will be a great plenty for us. This animal abounds, and we should be very unskilful if we did not soon find one curling its mustaches with its velvety paw under a tuft of broom. But the hare has quick ears and sharp eyes. ”

“ As the deer or antelope treads on the snare, the foot passes easily through the elastic spikes, but, when the foot is raised, the spikes run into the joint and hold the hoop upon the limb. Terrified by the check and the sudden pang, the animal tries to run away, but, by the united influence of sharp spikes and the heavy log, it is soon forced to halt, and so becomes an easy prey to its pursuers. ”

“ Often the animal falls down so violently that it seems as though the four legs were suddenly struck away from under it, or he squats down like a dog upon his hind quarters, rolls over, lies upon his back for a time, with the legs stretched upward, and generally acts as if frantic. ”

“ The bones of the nose are remarkably thickened and developed into that form which is best adapted to resist a shock—namely, the arch; and by this, not only is the animal able to carry its horn high, but to bear the tremendous resistance with which it meets when it uses that horn. In all but one species the upper lip is prolonged, and capable of such extension that it becomes prehensile; it protrudes this lip, lowers its horn or horns, so as to lean forwards, and rushes at the object of its anger or dislike with almost inconceivable fury. ”

“ May I venture to express the opinion that hunting the hare on foot with 15-inch beagles is real hunting, and real sport, and that the hare has a very good chance of escaping, especially after Christmas? As I dare say you know, a hare is a much more tricky animal to hunt than a fox. ”

“ The greyhound, which is loosed on a hare, has never seen that hare run in exactly that way over that special tract of country. But he has been trained in such situations, and is thus prepared to meet the special problem in its details as they present themselves in the light of the experience he has gained of other like problems. And his skill in pursuit has not only been gained through education in coursing. In a thousand ways, as puppy and dog, he has learnt how to use well those sinewy limbs. ”

“ And there is abundant need for this protective resemblance, as the hare has a host of enemies, against whom it has constantly to be on guard, and from whom its sole hope of escape depends upon its limbs. All the three protective senses, hearing, sight, and smell, are highly developed; the long ears detecting every audible sound, while the full, large, round eyes, with widely distended pupils, catch the smallest rays of light at night, when the hare is most active. ”

“ Fig. 7.—Opening Cuts at Back of Prong-horn Antelope's Head.
The Legs.—If the specimen is of medium size, e.g., not larger than a deer, disjoint the legs at shoulder and hip, and leave all the leg bones attached to the skin, just as with small mammals; but, of course, cutting off the flesh and tendons carefully. If the animal is larger than a deer, the skin would be too heavy and cumbersome to handle if all the leg bones were left attached to it. ”

“ Along with this goes extreme timidity and watchfulness, in which their big ears serve a most useful purpose, rising to the slightest sound, but dropping out of the way as the animal makes off in a series of tremendous leaps; and the hare can make faster time uphill than down, owing to the greater length of the hind legs—a decided advantage. ”

“ A hare intending to mislead its pursuers has been seen spontaneously to quit its seat and to proceed to a pond at the distance of nearly a mile, and having washed itself, push off again through a quantity of rushes. It has, too, been known, when pursued to fatigue by dogs, to thrust another hare from its seat and squat itself down in its place. ”

“ Then the skin of its nose, if worn round the neck, is a decisive preventive against poison; and the ashes of the animal itself, after it has been burnt over a slow tire, will, if taken internally, give all the qualities of the ape, cunning, adroitness, and the powers of imitation. ”

“ At the same time, it is observed that the length of its hind legs causes the hare to run with much greater facility uphill than down, and in fact it is said that in descending steep inclines the animal is obliged to run obliquely in order to escape overbalancing itself. ”

“ When within reach of its prey, we may almost fancy that we see it drawing back its long neck as it depressed its body in the water, until the strength of the muscular apparatus with which this neck was provided, and the 193great additional impetus given by the rapid advance of the animal, would combine to produce a stroke from the pointed head which few living animals could resist. ”

“ Anyhow, there can be no reasonable doubt that the instinct of removing their dead has arisen in rabbits from the necessity of keeping their confined domiciles in a pure state.
Hare.
The hare is a more intelligent animal than the rabbit. Possibly its much greater powers of locomotion may be one cause of its mental superiority to its nearest congener. ”

“ I have never myself observed a hare commit the mistake already mentioned in the case of the rabbit, viz., that of crouching for concealment upon an inappropriately coloured surface. But the best idea of the comparatively high intelligence of the hare will be gained by the following quotations. The first of these is taken from Loudoun's 'Magazine of Natural History' (vol. iv., p. 143) :—
It is especially conscious of the scent left by its feet, and of the danger which threatens it in consequence ”

“ These animals have one horn in the middle of their foreheads; but they hurt no one with this weapon, using only their tongue and knee, for they trample and press any one down with their feet and knees, and their tongue is beset with long sharp prickles, with which they tear a person to pieces. The head is like that of a wild boar, which the animal, carries hanging down to the ground. ”

“ It must not be overlooked that many zoologists and evolutionists estimate the survival of the Hare as due to the protection acquired by their speed, the animals having lived under conditions in which only the swift could escape the attacks of their enemies. Besides this aspect, the animal trusts to its highly developed cunning. ”

“ The only remedy in such a case is to lasso the beast by his legs and horns, and, after having thrown him down, to affix to his neck a heavy iron chain, of sufficient length to trail along the ground. The effect on the animal of this incumbrance is in some instances very remarkable; for, instead of a wild, stubborn, and unbending brute, in a short time he is all docility. Indeed, it not unfrequently happens that he becomes too lazy to be of any use. ”

“ Should the animal be awake, they will creep up from behind, and give a tremendous cut at the back sinew of the hind leg, immediately disabling the monster. It is followed up by a second cut on the remaining leg, when the creature becomes their easy prey. ”

“ The hands and feet are naked, and black. A large space around the greatly developed callosities on the buttocks, as well as the upper part of the insides of the thighs, is naked and of a crimson colour, shading off on the sides to lilac or blue, which, depending upon injection of the superficial blood-vessels, varies in intensity according to the condition of the animal—increasing under excitement, fading during sickness, and disappearing after death. ”

“ One of the most constant symptoms was the loss of power of the hind limbs which would sway and stagger, the femurs turning inward, as if dislocated, and on uneven ground the animal could not walk without falling. ”

“ To enable the claws of a carnivorous animal to seize its prey, a considerable degree of mobility is necessary in their paws and toes, and a considerable strength in the claws themselves. From these circumstances, there necessarily result certain determinate forms in all the bones of their paws, and in the distribution of the muscles and tendons by which they are moved. ”

“ According to Parry (II, p. 517) , 532 the Iglulik harnesses consisted of three bights, one passing over the breast and shoulder and two under the fore legs.
Fig. 487. Ano or dog harness. (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin. IV A 6730.)
It was mentioned at another place (p. 475) that in sealing a dog is taken out of the sledge to lead the hunter to the breathing hole. For this purpose the traces of some harnesses are made of two pieces, which are united by the sadniriaq, a clasp similar to that of the pitu (Figs. 487, 488) . ”

“ As we ran over a rough ploughed field, I have seen a hare, when nearly tired out, thrust another sitting hare out of her “form,” and take her place. The pack of beagles passed over the worn-out hare squatting in the furrow, and rushed forward with a fresh burst of music in their rich deep tones, on the strong scent of the hare just set on foot. I passed the squatting hare, but had not the heart to betray her, feeling that she deserved to reap the reward of her cleverness. When hunted by harriers, hares often “double” on their track, and so throw the hounds out. ”

“ Directions for Fur Collectors and Trappers, to Insure High Prices, Ready Sales, and Save from Losses through Ignorance.—'Cased:' Ermine, fisher, fox, lynx, martin, mink, opossum, otter, skunk, must be 'cased,' that is, not cut open. In skinning, cut at the rump, and turn the skin inside out (like a glove) over the body of the animal, leaving the pelt side out. Then after scraping, cleaning, and drying, turn the skin back again while it is soft and easily managed, leaving the fur side out. ”

“ The neigh of fear is pitched low and is hoarse and short. It seems to be produced chiefly by blowing through [355] the nostrils, and slightly resembles the lion’s roar. The animal’s chief mode of defense, kicking, is sure to accompany it. ”

“ It is not a natural way for the fur on the animal to lay, pitching towards the head of the animal, and especially if there is any grease, blood, or other matter that would dry, causing the fur to stick out like the quills on a fretful porcupine. ”

“ If left alone the animal stands stock still, never moving from the place, or in the worst cases lies down and refuses to rise. If compelled to walk his suffering is shown by hastened breathing, dilated nostrils, anxious, pinched countenance and low plaintive neighing. The affected joint is held semi-flexed, to relieve the tension, the pastern is habitually more upright, and if the foot is lifted and the affected joint bent or extended, the animal winces, or resists, and tries to draw away the limb and groans. ”

“ The fur-seal spends a great deal of time, both at sea and on land, in scratching its hide; for it is annoyed by a species of louse, a pediculus, to just about the same degree and in the same manner that our dogs are by fleas. To scratch, it sits upon its haunches, and scrapes away with the toe-nails of first one and then the other of its hind flippers, by which action it reaches readily all portions of its head, neck, chest and shoulders, and with either one or the other of its fore flippers it rubs down its spinal region back of the shoulders to the tail. ”

“ They judged to a nicety the speed at which a hare should be driven to make a snare effective, and acted accordingly. At night the piercing scream of a netted hare can be heard to a great distance, and no sound sooner puts the keeper on the alert.
Consequently, when "puss" puts her neck into a wire, or madly jumps into a gate-net, the dog is on her in an instant, and quickly stops her piteous squeal. In field-netting rabbits, lurchers are equally quick, seeming quite to appreciate the danger of noise. ”

“ There is weakness and swaying behind, or complete inability to use the limbs, the animal goes down, trembles violently and shows clonic spasms of the extensors of the legs, the neck, the back, the face and the eye. Breathing is accelerated, stertorous and labored, the heart beats violently the mucous membranes are congested, and the mouth is opened with convulsive movements of the jaws and throat. ”

“ The head is small, the mouth destitute of canine teeth, the eyes large, and the ears erect and pointed. The forepart and fore-legs of the animal are small, the latter being divided into five toes armed with strong claws. Those extremities are not used in running, though the animal makes use of them when feeding, and also as weapons of defence, for which they are by no means unavailing, either in striking blows, or in holding and hugging their adversaries, after the manner of a bear. ”