The Courageous Dam
Two examples have come to my knowledge this spring of the courage and warlike capacity of the rabbit, which we all class as one of the hunted, a victim whose only protection is speed or concealment. In one experience the ferreters found that the hole with which they were dealing was a nest, and the ferret came out in pursuit of a baby which it would have killed but the doe followed close behind and made straight for the ferret like a butting goat, knocked it over and fairly routed it. " Thrice armed is he who feels his quarrel just," and the dam who feels her quarrel a good deal more than just is more than thrice armed. From .a victim she rises to the class of an avenger. The pre-eminence of a just conscience is marked in most birds and mammals. It always happens, for example, that the bird which has pegged out a claim for its mate drives off the intruder and wins if it comes to direct conflict.
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