Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors: For Young Folks Part 15

Then little Bo-peep at the squirrel did peep: "No harm we are going to do, sir; My sheep are not thieves, and, under the leaves Of the wood, there is room for us too, sir.

"But I wish to be just: so here's a soft crust Of white bread of my mother's own baking; And I'll give you a slice, which you'll find very nice, If you'll join us in our merry-making."

If you saw a goat b.u.t.toned in a coat; If you saw a rat Dressed up in a hat; If you saw a lamb Take a slice of ham; If you saw a bear Combing out its hair; If you saw an ox Opening a box; If you saw a pig Eat a nice new fig; If you saw a mouse Throwing down a house; If you saw a stag Picking up a rag; If you saw a cow Make a pretty bow; If you saw a fly Take its slate and cry-- You would surely say, "What peculiar play!"

Or would surely sing, "What a funny thing!"

LESSON XLI.

_HOW THE MOLE LOOKS._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. Here we have the mole--a very curious animal. It is about the size of a rat, and is covered with a dark brown coat of fine fur. The fur does not lie back, as on the cat, but stands out straight from the body.

2. The legs of the mole are short, and are so formed that it can not stand upon them and raise its body from the ground.

3. The fore legs are large and strong, and each paw has five toes, armed with strong nails. When its toes are together, its fore paw is like a spade; and when they are spread apart, it is like a fork.

4. It has small ears, which are out of sight in the fur; and something like eyes, also deep in the fur, so that it can not see, or at most it can only tell when it is light and when it is dark.

5. Its nose is pointed, and its teeth are all sharp, like those of the cat, but are so small that they look like the points of white needles.

6. What does this little blind animal, that can only creep along, do?

how can he get a living? and how does it get away from enemies?

7. We see that all its limbs are so small and set so close to its body that it can easily creep through small holes. Its hair stands out, so that it can crawl both ways.

8. It has no eyes, because it lives in the dark, and does not need to see to get its food.

9. Its nose is pointed and keen, so that it gets its food by scent instead of sight. By scent, too, it can tell when danger is nigh.

10. Its fur is fine and close, so that it is able to live in very damp places, and the wet does not get through to the skin.

11. Its ears and eyes are deep down in the fur, so that, in crawling through a hole, no dirt or dust can get into them.

12. Its teeth are not chisel-shaped, for gnawing, but are sharp and pointed, like the teeth of animals that live on flesh; but they are so small that they would break in trying to eat the bones of even a mouse.

LESSON XLII.

_HOW THE MOLE WORKS AND LIVES._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. As the mole is not made for the sunlight, it must live below ground. With its strong fore paws it digs into the earth, and it can dig so fast that anywhere in the gra.s.s it will get out of sight in about a minute.

2. When it is above ground and it scents any danger, it does not run or climb, but it digs; and, when once under ground, it can keep out of the way of almost any enemy.

3. As it digs forward, it pushes the dirt backward, and it will go a long way in a little while. Its hind legs drag behind, and, as they have little to do, they are weak.

4. It digs along in the dark when its keen little nose scents a worm or a grub; this it pushes into its mouth with its paw, and eats in an instant.

5. The meat which it finds below ground has no bones; so its small teeth are all that it needs to chew with. In some safe place, nearly always at the foot of a tree, the mole throws up a little mound of dirt, and in the middle of it builds its nest of dried gra.s.s.

6. Then it makes tunnels all around, not any one leading straight up to the nest. In the picture we see the mole's nest and the tunnels leading to it. The mole drinks a great deal, and in its tunnels it digs wells where it can go down and find water.

7. In the summer it keeps near the top of the ground; but in winter it digs down deeper, to find grubs, and because it is warmer.

8. In digging under ground, the mole destroys the roots of gra.s.s and plants, and does some damage; but it does much more good, by destroying the grubs which live on the roots of plants.

LESSON XLIII.

_ABOUT THE PORCUPINE._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. We find in the woods a curious animal called a hedgehog, but which is really a porcupine. The hedgehog is found in Europe, and lives upon insects; the porcupine lives in quite a different way.

2. The porcupine is a little larger than the rabbit. It has short legs, sharp claws, and a short, broad tail. Like the rabbit, it has chisel-teeth for gnawing.

3. It climbs easily; but it moves slowly, both in walking and climbing. Its food is mostly the inside bark of trees. It climbs a tree, and seldom leaves until it has stripped off most of the bark.

4. As it can not run, it has a curious way of defending itself.

Besides a coat of warm, soft fur, its back and sides are covered thick with sharp-pointed quills, from two to three inches long.

5. When the porcupine is feeding or going about, these quills lie back flat, like hair; but when there is any danger, they stand out straight. Upon the approach of an enemy, it folds up its paws, curls its head under its fore legs, and shows itself a bundle of sharp quills.

6. Should a dog or hungry wolf then snap at it, the quills get into his mouth, and stick there. Each quill has barbs like a fish-hook, and many an animal has died from the quills working into its flesh after having tried to bite a porcupine.

7. The porcupine can also throw up its back or strike a heavy blow with its tail, driving the quills into the flesh of its enemies.

8. The quills easily break off at their blunt end, and they grow like the hair; so the porcupine has a plenty for use at all times.

9. When men hunt the porcupine, they take care not to get a blow from the tail, and then they watch their chance, and strike the animal on the nose with a club, which kills it at once.