Abington High School - Oracle Yearbook (Abington, PA)

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BETTY STADELMEIER, '51 ik 144 UMW See W4 It all started so suddenly. They had been happy and peaceful for such a long time, but now look at them! They're terrorized. Some of them have been wounded and others killed so that they don 't dare come out during the day at all. But it 's only recently that it all began. Just such a short time ago they had noth- ing to Worry about except obtaining food, and even that wasn't much of a problem because the food was there aplenty during the fall. The days seemed sunny and time went rapidly when suddenly-it came! It was very early on the morning of November iirst. One of them had gotten up and gone out for a look around. As he glanced down, he spied a hideous monster clutching something long and shiny. This creature apparently didn't see him, so he sat there, terror stricken, and Watched the giant as it lumbered along. After a little While, this monster turned around and started for him. Then it was looking right at him. It was too late to rung therefore the only thing to do was freeze and hope the monster Wouldn't see him. The creature suddenly stopped and raised the long shiny object it carried. There was a thunderous explosion, fol- lowed by a hush as some leaves spattered down. A hot, piercing pain shot through the one who Was hiding. He staggered. No, he couldnit fall, he must get back home. Painfully he made his Way back, crawled through the door, and fell sense- less to the iioor. When he came to, darkness had settled down, and With it the monster had ap- parently-left. He wondered just how soon the terror would return. Well, at least there was one compensation, those big creatures Wouldn 't be able to climb up to his house. He licked his wounded shoulder and shuddered with fright. It 's terrible to be a squirrel during hunting season. ANDRE BOISSEVAIN, '51

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.fam sv2.m,,1aam .1 1'4 Pray that you never feel the terror of PURSUIT The crystalline snow sifted down to the forest below. It covered familiar spots with sheets of white, lying thick under the stark branches of the leafless trees, jumping up wherever there was even a hint of a spot where a drift might be formed. It burden- ed the pines with heavy loads, which oc- casionally fell to the floor underneath. All that night and the next day it snowed. On the evening of the second day the storm ceased. The pale moon which rose that night seemed cold and remote to a com- pletely changed world. A black spot, contrasting sharply with the alabaster mound at the base of the hemlock, quivered as a snowshoe rabbit tested the wind. Suddenly his Whole body tensed, for the wind which swept his back trail carried the taint of a weasel. The rab- bit choked back a feeling of panic, he knew as surely as he lived that even now a killer was stalking him. With a convulsive Spring he shook off the snow and leaped away. He' jumped high every now and then to look back but was soon lost to sight among the blackpillars of trees. Presently an elusive shadow slipped after him. After a few hundred yards the hare stopped to test the wind again. Still came the dreaded killer's scent, stronger now and more terrifying. He spurted on, side- jumping and back-tracking frantically. Farther back, the weasel still hung grim- ly to the spoor of his prey, his lithe whip- cord body undulating as he followed. His beady eyes were shot with blood and lust and excitement of the kill. The rabbit was tiring rapidly now, and the weasel began to gain. The rabbit glanced behind, and, seeing the slinking form coming faster, made a last hysterical effort to escape, but to no avail. Swiftly forward bounded his pursuer. As the vicious looking, diamond- shaped head darted in with a lightning feint to avoid the lunging back-teeth of the rodent, the merciful snow hushed a death scream while the weasel's teeth met in the throat of his victim. About a hundred feet distant the top of a tall stump took wings and glided silently toward the strangled sound. Great yellow eyes distinguished a sinuous animal tear- ing at a still form lying in the snow. Soft feathers gave no warning when the eagle dropped. Hunting was good that night. RICHARD WEPPNER, '52 L? THELMA KALEN, '51

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Four Little Stinkers Most of our friends are ready to run when they see our pet skunks, but we find them the most affectionate of little animals. One day last summer we were riding down the pike when we noticed a group of Electric Company men looking at some objects. As we came closer, we saw four little kitties sitting huddled together at the curb. Their mother lay dead in the road, where an auto had just hit her. As the men said they didn't Want the babies, we packed them into the car and took them to the veterinarian. After his deodorizing treatment, we brought them home and named them Tweed, Abientot, Shanghai, and Confetti-and called them our Lentheric Package. We fed them warm milk several times a day. They grew and soon took meat and table foods. Two of the kitties we took to the home of the vet, the other two we kept. One kitty got into a fight and died of blood poisoning, but the other one grew fat and tame. The last one left, Tweed, we take on walks on a leash. He likes to climb steps. His favorite food is eggs.. When we put a whole unbroken egg into his cage, he tries to get it into his paws and bite it. Very much disgusted and very angry when he canit get his teeth around the egg, Tweed stamps his feet and hisses. When he finally gets his teeth into the egg, he makes a hole and sucks the egg through the shell. He is affectionate with me and curls up into my lap, sticking his little head under my belt, wrapping his paws around my hand, and holding tight. When he sleeps at night, he digs a hole in the straw and rolls up into a ball. Besides Tweed, we also have an older Hkittyn named Gardenia. Both Gardenia and Tweed are domesticated, but at night they have been known to have friends from the woods visit them, who are not nice kitties like our pet skunks! JEANNE BLAETZ, '52 BETTE RILEY, '51