Tárogató, 1945-1946 (8. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1945-07-01 / 1-2. szám
16 TÁROGATÓ lowed that warning with the statement that even if I did succeed in raising the owl it would prove so vicious that it would not be safe to keep it about the house. The owl, still in the down stage, had been rescued from the boys by a playground instructor in the country, a short distance from Schenectady, N.Y. In the months that were to follow I discovered that kindness can influence even an owl, by its very nature one of the most savage of all birds. For the first few days the owl was in my home, he would strike viciously at anything that was placed near him. He would accept pellets of raw meat but only if they were placed on the floor of his cage. Within a month the owl had learned that no one would harm him and he ceased to peck at the fingers bringing him food. Finally he would accept the meat from my hand. Realizing that the owl would never learn to fly in a small cage, I decided to give him the liberty of a woodshed. He would hop about the floor and on the tables and chairs there. When someone entered with food he would always hop to the door and greet him with a low call that somehow resembled the cluck of a self-satisfied hen. He enjoyed having his feathers stroked and soon learned to take food from between my lips without ever touching them. Before another month had passed, the little owl could fly well. When I entered the room, he would fly to me and perch on my shoulder. He would stay there until he received food, or had his head scratched. If I extended my arm he would run back and forth on it, clucking continuously. About this time the owl struck up a friendship with the family kitten. The two of them would chase each other about the floor in mock battle for hours on end. Rarely did they have any trouble. When they did, the owl’s beak and sharp claws sent the kitten scurrying for cover. By mid-summer the owl was old enough to care for himself, so I released him. He refused to leave the house for more than a few minutes at a time, although the door was always open. During this period, he would perch in trees about my home in the evening and every time I walked by he would swoop down on my shoulder for food or to be scratched. He apparently had no desire to leave his human friends. B1 fall, the owl had taken to staying away all night and once in a while he would remain away for two or three days. But he always came back and he never lost his tameness. MOSQUITO WAR IN FIJI. The Mosquito is Public Enemy Number One in the colony of Fiji. The director of medical services, who recently opened a vampaign for its extermination, pointed out that the mos quitoes in Fiji have for long been convicted of carrying, by their bite, at least three serious diseases. Little could be done, however, until the people themselves would co-operate with the medical services. The change came when the Fijians flocked eagerly to volunteer to fight against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. The volunteers who then had to be rejected at the medical examination, because they had been so much weakened by mosquito-borne diseases were bitterly disappointed and determined to take their revenge on the mosquito. They and their people are now eager to join with the medical services in the new anti-mosquito war. The campaign in Fiji was opened in the village of Cautata. It was welcomed by the Fijian chiefs and villagers with ancient ceremonial rites, and over 100 Fijians came forward to have their blood tested for the presence of disease parasites. This is a preliminary step in the co-operative effort, which in three years should stamp out mosquito- born diseases in the island. The new campaign is also taking into account the counter-attack being launched by the mosquito family. There is a danger that the malaria-carrying anopheles mosquito, hitherto unknown in Fiji may be introduced by air or sea traffic from places where it is widespread. The Fijian soldiers on home leave might bring it from the malaria-infested Islands. So, besides keeping up the usual quarantine barrier, the Fijian Government is working to destroy mosquito-breeding places, first at the airport and seaport arrival points, and then throughout the whole colony. In this Fiji and other British territories in the South Pacific are being helped by a grant of $325,000 specially made by Britain for malaria and mosquito control. .. Canadian Girl. Today is not yesterday: we ourselves change. How can our works and thoughts, if the are always to be fittest, continue always the same? Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful; and if memory has its force and worth, so also has hope. ★ Allerrors spring up in the neighborhood of some truth; they grow round about it, and for the most part derive their strength from being in its vicinity.
