Leader (animal)

“ In a running flock of sheep does any one animal act as leader? Is the leader a ram or a ewe? Is it a lamb or an old animal? Do the rest of the flock imitate the actions of the leader, and, for example, leap over a wall at the same place in single file? Have you ever noticed that if one animal jumps at a certain place, all the following sheep jump at the same place? Have you ever seen sheep fighting? ”

“ But once in awhile there arises an animal who is stronger or wiser than his fellow, who becomes a great leader, who is, as we would say, a genius, and if he is bigger, or has some mark by which men can know him, he soon becomes famous in his country, and shows us that the life of a wild animal may be far more interesting and exciting than that of many human beings. ”

“ They appear not even to feel the inconveniences of their situation; they remain obstinately where they are exposed to the rain or snow. In order to oblige them to change their situation and take a certain road, a leader is necessary, whose movements they follow at every step. This leader would himself remain motionless with the rest of the flock, if he were not driven by the Shepherd or excited by the Sheep-dog, which knows well how to defend, direct, separate, reassemble them, and communicate to them all necessary movements. ”

“ Then another great deer gives a snort and dashes off, and they all follow him as the new leader. They are now so frightened that, under his leadership, they will generally run a great many miles ere they stop. ”

“ In the actual practice of herd leadership in species of ruminant animals, the largest and most spectacular bull elk or bison is not always the leader. Frequently it has been observed that a wise old cow is the actual leader and director of the herd, and that "what she says, goes." ”

“ Like the men they, too, would have a tree of their very own. But how to do it?
Then the lion called a meeting of all the creatures, wild and tame, for you know the lion is king of [10] beasts and when he calls they all must come. You know, too, that before and during and after these animal congresses, there is a royal peace. The lamb can come to the meeting and sit down by the wolf, and the wolf dare not touch him; the dove may perch on the bough between the hawk and the owl and neither will harm him, when the great king of beasts has summoned them all together to take counsel. ”

“ Thus the leader of a herd of buffaloes coming on the track of hunters or in sight of a grizzly bear is terrified by the danger and starts off on a run in another direction. The stiffened tail, erected ears, glaring eyes, expanded nostrils, impetuous plunge, communicate the instinctive intelligence and feeling through these signs from the nearest members of the herd to those farther off, with extreme rapidity, and soon the entire multitude is in one sympathetic state of alarm and flight. The perception of danger by the leader awakened the feeling of fear and led to the movement of escape. ”

“ Wild horses when travelling always have a leader as well as several sentinels for each herd. By some unknown code this leader makes known his wishes and directs the movements of the herd. No human army could have greater order or more perfect obedience to commands; and under him there is absolute unity by means of which the carnivorous animals, such as the wolf, the jaguar, and the puma, are repelled. Wild deer invariably have a leader, and while we do not know how he obtains his position, nor how he directs his followers, we do know he is highly successful in his efforts. ”

“ When a party of lions are together, perhaps on their way to drink after a meal, one of them will halt and breathe out from its expanded lungs a full-toned note, which rolls afar across the silent wilderness. As it draws in its breath for another effort, a second member of the party emulates the leader, and then a third, a fourth, and a fifth perhaps will join in, and all of them then seem to vie with one another as to which can produce the greatest volume of sound, and it is a fact that at the climax of the roaring of a troop of lions the whole air seems to vibrate and tremble. ”

“ But, although provided with these instruments of war, if the leader be not competent, a brooding hen might as well strike a badger, or a dog with young challenge the tiger: the spirit of encounter may be present, but there is no end but death. ”

“ And he called on each to make the choice. And the birds said "Grain and seeds and worms," and the Squirrel said "Nuts," and the Fox said "Chickens," and the cat said "Milk," and the dog said "Meat and bones," and the weasel said "Eggs," and the wolf said "Lambs," and the bear said "Fish from the frozen sea," and so on until each animal was called upon and declared his liking. And the Chief said, "It shall be as you have chosen." But the Chief had purposely neglected to summon poor Rabbit to the council, and Rabbit was absent on a long journey. ”

“ An old and tried dog is placed as the leader, who, in their simple journeys, and when the chase is the object, steadily obeys the voice of the driver sitting in front of the sledge, with a whip long enough to reach the leader. ”

“ Let them go to the stable and look at a poor, thin, emaciated animal, lashing his sunken sides with his restless tail, sniffing with terror and contempt at the fodder that is put before him, his eyes always turned toward the door, pawing the empty place beside him, smelling the yoke and chains his companion wore, and calling him incessantly with a pitiful bellow. ”

“ Only one young wolf, a brother of the one their leader had recently killed, strutted about independently and gnashed his teeth, conscious of his strength and agility. In the pride of his youthful vigour he had conceived the ambition to make himself the leader ”

“ Horse number two, apparently after asking leave, hoisted his own bag even higher still, and, balancing it on his friend's head, fed in comfort. The pair munched peacefully on, and next day I saw them doing the same thing again.
All animals have a language of sound and sign, which they use as intelligently as deaf and dumb men use the means of expressing thought invented for them. Creatures that live in troops are always under the control of a leader, who manages them by word of mouth or by gestures. ”

“ It is, of course, needless to say that the leader will do his best to have the hands raised when other animals are mentioned as well as flying ones, in order that a good number of forfeits may be collected. ”

“ So, if the largest elephant walks first, in front of the line of elephants, he can force a way through the thick jungle that will be big enough for all the other elephants who come behind him.
So usually the largest and strongest bull elephant is the leader of the herd—if he also [4] has the other qualities of a president, which I shall presently describe more fully. To have all the qualities of a president, he must not only be strong, but also wise and clever. Why? Because even in merely going through the jungle a wise leader avoids many difficulties. ”

“ The leading dog is particularly attentive to the master’s word: he turns to the right, left, or goes straight ahead, [228] increases or slackens speed, and the others govern themselves accordingly. Every time an order is given, the leader turns its head without stopping and looks at the master, as if to say, ‘I understand.’ If the route has been already traveled the driver has nothing to do: the leader follows the trail even when it is invisible to man. ”

“ The leader must then take his post at the door of his establishment, and in an emphatic manner extol the beauty and value of the animals he has on view, while his partisans, crouched behind the curtain and out of sight, must, in the meantime, imitate loudly the cries of different wild animals, aiming to make the hee-haw of the donkey more conspicuous than any other sound. ”

“ Yet still the great backboned division is not exhausted; on the contrary, the most powerful if not the most numerous group is still to come; that group which contains the kangaroos and opossums, the dreamy sloths, the night-loving moles and hedgehogs, the gentle lemurs and the chattering monkeys, the whales, seals, and walruses for the water; the herds of wild cattle and antelopes, of noble elephants and fleet horses, for the forests, mountains, and plains; and the ferocious beasts of prey, which make these gentler animals their food ”

“ THE “King of Beasts” must, of course, be placed at the head of our list of beasts of prey, for although he is excelled in size and ferocity by the Tiger, in elegance of form by the Leopard and Jaguar, and in beauty of colouring by most of the great Cats, yet it would be useless, even if it were advisable, to depose him from the throne he has, by the universal consent of mankind, so long occupied. ”

“ Do they not look as if they were taking advice of one another? The white horse, with his erect neck and head, seems to be the leader, or chief. He is willing to hear what the others may have to say; but he means that they shall follow him, after all. ”

“ When the leader thinks it the surest way of succeeding against the enemy, he sends a few of the best runners to form an ambuscade near their towns: there, they sometimes fix the broad hoofs of buffalos, and bear’s paws upon their feet, to delude the enemy: and they will for miles together, make all the windings of these beasts with the greatest art. ”

“ Tame partridges tread wild birds, pecket their heads, and treat them with every possible outrage. The leader of the wild birds, with a counter-note of challenge, pushes forward to attack the decoy-bird, and after he has been netted, another advances with a similar note. ”

“ The strongest and most spirited dog has the longest trace and is allowed to run a few feet in advance of the rest as a leader; its sex is indifferent, the choice being made chiefly with regard to strength. ”

“ Only temporarily, on the occasion of common undertakings, such as the hunting of large animals, which requires a considerable measure of strength, or when new hunting-grounds are being sought, is a leader appointed from among the older men. ”

“ Is that active little fellow, who, with race-horse coat and full flanks, moves under his rider with the light step and the action of a pony—is he the same animal as that starved and head-bowed object of the North, subject for all pity and cruelty, and clothed with rags and insult? ”

“ The Leader was called to perform the usual sacred rites observed before the serving of food; and all the warriors gathered around the fire, each one eager for his portion of the meal. At a signal from the Leader every man bowed his head, and there was silence. Not a breath of air was stirring. Now and then could be heard the far-off dismal howl of the grey wolf or the cry of a strange bird startled from its nest by a coyote. ”

“ The leadership of a herd was attained only by hard struggles for the place; once reached, however, the victor was immediately recognized, and kept his authority until some new aspirant overcame him, or he became superannuated and was driven out of the herd to meet his inevitable fate, a prey to those ghouls of the desert, the gray wolves. ”

“ At last a bird of prey, called in their country Liber, appears, and hovers over the person destined to be king, crying and making a great noise without quitting his station. By this means the person destined to be elected is found, surrounded, as is reported, by tigers, lions, panthers, and suchlike wild beasts. ”

“ So that, for example, though there were fierce animals of prey, none had yet the formidable teeth of the tiger nor the muscular strength of the lion, neither had the vegetarians the fleetness of the horse, the horns of the deer, nor the large brain of the elephant.
This had all to come with time, and from that day to this their descendants have been spreading over the earth. Some, large and powerful, have conquered by strength; some, by superior intelligence, have learned to herd together and protect each other in the battle of life ”

“ The animal to be admired is not that which runs in herds, the gentle browsing deer or foolish sheep thinking only as a fraction of the flock, incapable of personal independent direction. It's the lonely prowling lion or the big black leopard with the whole world for his private field that is worth looking at. ”

“ All members of the deer family that I know follow the same natural law in regard to supremacy. Indeed, this is true of nearly all animals. Leadership is not always maintained by the largest and strongest member of a herd, but very often by the most pugnacious. Sometimes a herd of elk is completely tyrannized by an old doe, who makes the young bucks fly from her in terror, when one prod of their sharp antlers would quickly send her to the rear. ”

“ The leaders are safe enough from lions, because their flanks and rear are guarded by their followers; but each of those who graze apart, and who represent the superabundant supply of self-reliant animals, have one flank and the rear exposed, and it is precisely these whom the lions take. ”

“ That animals should prey upon one another is a means of preserving a due balance in the world of nature, and in many ways these beasts of prey are also useful to man. What beautiful and warm furs are procured by hunters just in those countries where no other covering would defend the inhabitants from the wintery cold!—as, for instance, the skins of bears, wolverines, and arctic foxes, wild cats, and many others."
"The skin of the seal, or sea dog, is also valuable," said Ernest. ”

“ The leader is, usually, from eighteen to twenty feet from the fore part of the sledge and the hindmost dog about half that distance, so that, when ten or twelve are running together several are nearly abreast of each other. ”

“ The chief answered that he would not kill them, but only cast a spell over them, by which their heads and bodies should remain as they were, but their arms and legs should change into those of a bear, so that they would go on all fours for the rest of [Pg 138] their lives. And, stooping over a spring of water, he dipped a handful of moss in it and rubbed it over the arms and legs of the boys. In an instant the transformation took place, and two creatures, neither beast nor human, stood before the chief. ”