Senn High School - Forum Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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THE FORUM Eleven right idea, and he uses a dirty trick. He throws dirt on him until the porcu- pine rolls all his quills out, then the hear slips his paw under the body and hurls him again and again against a tree until he is all played out. Unk Wunk seemingly knows so little that it is a question whether or not he was ever taught hy his parents. It is the cause of some debate, whether he rolls up in a ball by instinct or by slow learn- ing. It is also a question whether his stupidity, which brings him out of hun- dreds of difliculties where his wits would fail, is like tl1e possum's idiocy, only a mask for his deep wisdom. A thousand generations of fat porcupines have taught him the folly of rush and worry, and so he lives a peaceful life. If you have one question when you nrst meet him, you will have twenty after a lesson or two. His whole paragraph begins and ends with a question mark, and leaves a dash for what is left unsaid. The porcupine has a great love of fuzi and amusement, however. The same man that I mentioned before saw a very amusing incident that shows this. I will quote his story. He had an idea in hie head this time, and was looking for something. A breeze had come down tree-tops above him. He would look steadily up at the tossing branches, and then hurry on to survey the next little tree he met, with paws raised against the trunk and chill eyes following the mo- tion overhead. At last he iound what he wanted, two small trees growing close together. He climbed one of these clum- sily, higher and higher until the slender top bent under his weight towards the other. Then he reached out to grasp the second tree with his forepaws, hooked his hind feet tirmly around the tirst, and lay there binding the treetops together, while the wind rose and began to rock his strange cradle. l.Yider and wider he swung, stretching out like a rubber band. His only note, meanwhile was an occa- sional squeal ot' satisfaction after a par- ticularly good stretch. XVhere did Unk XX'unk learn all this? Perhaps, since most ot' what animals know, according to my way of thinking, is a matter of learning, not instinct-his mother taught him some things which we have not seen. If so, Unk XVunk has more in his sleepy head than we give him credit for, and there is a very inter- esting lesson awaiting him who tirst linds and enters the Porcupine School. john R. Green, from the mountains and was swaying the Room 260. u , 5 THE ' f - 1 - 5,4 ' 4 - .2 ,f . V . Y,,..,s A, .YY, ,

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i -iilgiluqlllllllujllul Illwll lllll :pin ii mmm il ll ' Lv iTi,z ! Q ' 'shag ' in :Eff Milt -r opp y l iillllllllllll ma- es.. as J- ERHAPS the porcupine is thought of most commonly as an animal which furnishes decorations for Indian moccasins or as an exponet of a new kind of armor. In reality the struc- ture of the beast is quite simple. Very effective hollow quills cover all exposed places except a black, ugly face and a pink shirt front. Almost everyone has his or her hobby. The porcnpine's hob- by is salt. He immediately loses all of his laziness when anyone is within smell- ing distance. This is a strong statement too, for he is extremely lazy. Why shouldn't he be? Nature has done her best for himg in the spring and summer he eats buds and leaves, especially those from the birch tree: while in winter, when every other animal in the woods is starving, the porcupine tears off the out- er bark and eats the soft inner layer. Last summer a fat and pompous por- cupine waddled onto the beach before our cottage in northern Vvisconsin and after some deliberation climbed into a birch tree and out onto very small branches, that seemed as though they would not hold his weight at all. There he lay all afternoon, half asleep, while occasionally he would pull in a leaf with his'paw and eat it. The porcupine, instead of the pig, should be called the height of obstinacy. Attempt to drive him in one direction and he will come straight for your legs and slap his tail with good effect. The only way to drive him in one direction is to try forcing him in the opposite one, and the porcupine will invariably lie at the other end of the trail when you get there. The porky has another inter- esting quality alsog he has no fear of 10 man as all the other wild things have. This is shown by an experience of a friend of mine who woke up one morn- ing, while camping near Porcupine Motmtain, with seven quills sticking into him as souvenirs of a nocturnal visit. The porcupine may be timid one day, and if you are caught without a club, drive you under the rear Hap of your tent the next. The game laws of nearly all states pro- tect porcupines for the entire year, be- cause it is asserted that they are the only animals which are able to be killed eas- ily by a person lost in the woods, an easy tap on the nose being enough to finish one. This is the only use which has been found to disprove that he is a mistake, and he barely got by at that. An ex- perienced woodsman has said: Once, to test the law, I added porcupine to my bill of fare-a vile, maloderous suffix that might delight a lover of strong cheese. It is undoubtably a good law: but I cannot imagine anyone being grate- ful for it unless the stern alternative were death or porcupine. The wild an- imals would gladly eat Unk XVunk, which is the Indian name for Porcupine. fNow your curiosity is satisfiedj, but he simply rolls up in a ball and could not be touched without harm except by an iron hand. Often, after a very hard winter, a lynx or weasel, wiser but ter- ribly hungry, works its nose under the body to the soft throat. One taste of blood and it is the end of both animals. For Unk XVunk swings his tail with a vicious sweep and his enemy is filled with quills, barbed like a harpoon, which every moment sends deeper into the body until they reach the heart or brain. The bear is the only animal that has the

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Aquarium Eliiaheu Among the pets familiar in our zool- ogy laboratories and homes, not the least attractive is the little gold fish. They require little space and are easily cared for, thriving under a variety of conditions. The glint of gold color among the plants is fascinatingg and their response to attention, although much slower and less intelligent than in many animals, adds much to their at- tractiveness. Among the inexpensive varieties are the pure gold, silver, black and oriole- while to the more ambitious aquarist the very beautiful fan-tails, with great, double, tilmy tail tins, the similar comet fish, the telescope, very short wide lit- tle creatures with protruding eyes, and thelion heads, with large roughened heads and with no dorsal or back lin, are fam- iliar. Few observers know the origin of gold fish. For this we must look to the Orient. Native to the streams of China is the carp, a very hardy fish, black and with large scales. These, although of only fair food value, because of their hardihood, were introduced into the streams of Germany, and later into the United States. Known as German carp, they have been alternately protected as of economic value, and condemned as de- the eggs of more valuable structive to fishes. The young carp show sides bur- nished with gold, and from this charac- patient Chinese and japan- teristic, the ese by selective breeding have produced the gold tish. It is interesting to note that the little fry when first hatched re- vert to the original type, always being black in color. YVith fanciers small tropical fishes are becoming more popular than gold Fish. These vary greatly in form and color, one specimen often combining many bril- liant hues. 4 They lack the hardihood of gold fish, and so require much more care. The aquarium must be stocked with growing water plants to insure a constant supply of oxygen. The temperature of the waa ter must be kept even and very high, and the quality and variety of food must be carefully considered. One group of these fancy fishes is known as labyrinth fishes, so called because of a rosette for- mation arising from the top of the gill arches. This is used as a breathing or- gan, and filled through the mouth at the surface. Thus they are able to travel overland in search of other streams. A second group are distinguished as mouth breeders, because after the eggs are laid, the mother gathers them into her mouth where she keeps them constantly rolling during the ten days of incubation. This necessitates a period of comparitive fast- ing for the mother. Occasionally, how- ever, she blows the eggs from the mouth, seizes something to eat, and then quickly regathers the eggs. Even after hatch- ing, the young when frightened take re- fuge in the mouth of the mother. In still a third species a nest is made of bubbles blown to the surface by the male. After the female has deposited the eggs in this nest the male drives her away, and guards his little family until they are old enough to care for themselves. In many other species the young are born alive, not hatched from eggs. A. E. Maddock. Note: If the weather continues warm enough, I expect to transfer some of these fishes which were given me by the mem- bers of the Chicago Aquarium Society, to gloom 309 where all are welcome to see em. 'Ld B tw