"To bathe in the water, when it is hot," you may say.
That is quite true; the buffaloes do enjoy a good bath. In fact, they like to remain in the water for a long time, when the sun is very hot.
Then they lie down in the shallow part, and remain neck deep in the water. And every now and again they dip their heads in the water to keep them cool.
But even when the sun is not at all hot, when the sky is cloudy, the buffaloes like to go into a stream or a pond. Why?
"Of course to wash themselves, and make themselves clean," you may say.
_Buffaloes Cover Body with Mud against Flies_
No, my dear, you are wrong this time! Like some little boys, buffaloes do not _want_ to make themselves clean! In fact, the buffaloes go into the stream or the pond to _cover themselves with mud_! To _wallow_, as it is called. They do that by rolling in the mud where the water is shallow.
And why do they want to cover themselves with mud? Because of the tormenting flies! Buffaloes of this kind do not have long hair on their necks, like the American buffaloes. In fact, they do not have much hair anywhere on their bodies--just like the ordinary cows which you have seen near your home. So they are very much tormented by the flies.
I have told you that an elephant can "swat" the flies with a bough which he holds in his trunk. But the buffalo has no trunk, and his tail can whisk off the flies for only a yard around. So, what can the buffalo do to guard other parts of his body from the flies?
The only thing he can do is to go down into the mud, roll about, and cover himself with the mud. Then he does not feel the flies at all, even if they swarm all over him. And he need not trouble to work his tail at all, as he is protected all over by the mud.
And when he comes out to feed again, if the sun happens to be very hot at that time, he does not mind it. Why? Because the mud on his body keeps off the sun. So, you see, the mud is useful to the buffalo in two ways.
But now come with me into the jungle while I show you all that the buffaloes do.
You must _imagine_ that I am taking you quietly through the jungle, where the buffalo herd is grazing right ahead of us. We are following them from behind. You must be careful not to make a sound. If you should tread on a rotten twig, the buffaloes would hear the sound as far away as a quarter of a mile.
In another book I shall tell you why all animals that keep their _ears close to the ground_ while they are feeding can _hear a sound a long way off_.
But now let us hide behind this bush for a minute, and watch the herd.
They are eating the gra.s.s as they walk along. But do you see the wonderful way in which they are arranged? It is just like the shape of the moon when it is new, that is, something like the letter C, and which we call a crescent.
You saw at the midnight pool that, when the buffaloes drink or march, they are in rows close together, like soldiers. But when they are eating gra.s.s, they could not be in rows; because then they would be too close together to pick out the best bits of gra.s.s. So, how could they have enough to eat, and yet guard themselves from danger? To do this they thought of arranging themselves in the form of a crescent.
_How Buffaloes Guard against Tiger while Feeding_
It is a big crescent, as there are so many buffaloes that make it up.
The ends of the crescent bend in toward each other, just as if the two tips of the letter C were to close up a little, leaving only a small opening between the tips.
The buffaloes have their faces toward the _outside_ of the crescent.
So, as we are following the buffaloes from behind, we are looking at them through the gap between the tips.
There are only bulls in the line making up the crescent; the cows and the calves come behind them, so that they are _inside_ the crescent.
So you see, while the buffaloes are grazing and moving along, if they meet any danger, the Papa buffaloes will face the danger. And as the Mammas and the children are inside the crescent, they are quite safe.
This is the way the buffaloes feed and move along:
The Papas on the outside of the crescent tear off a mouthful of gra.s.s, with one or two bites, and walk on a step or two while they are munching the mouthful. Then, with another bite or two, they take a fresh mouthful and walk on a step or two while they are munching that.
In this way they leave enough gra.s.s for the Mammas and the young buffaloes that are following them.
But now let us come out of this thicket, and go after the herd very quietly from behind. We shall see some wonderful things.
You notice at once that the Mammas and the children do not show any fear at all, as they graze along; they are quite sure that the Papas are taking good care of them all the time. The little ones even play about here and there.
See that very young calf! He is playing about near the middle of the s.p.a.ce. He is only a few weeks old, and not much bigger than the calf of the ordinary cow. Watch and see how playful he is! He is just like any other calf. His Mamma is grazing along quietly, and he is now standing still for a minute, looking at nothing. A calf and a baby can do that quite well--just stare, and yet look at nothing.
But now this buffalo calf rushes to his Mamma very suddenly, and has a mouthful of milk. He does not seem to want more than a mouthful at a time. So he looks up suddenly, and stares. Then just as suddenly he plunges into a frantic race over the ground, all by himself.
The race also ends suddenly--after going only ten yards. Then he stops there for a minute, stares, and trots back to his Mamma for another mouthful of milk. After that he looks up again for a minute, stares at nothing, and plunges into another mad gallop all by himself.
So you see that he spends his time doing two things--having a mouthful of milk, and then a mad gallop. And he does both very suddenly. He likes to have his joys suddenly.
A kitten or a puppy dog is different, and is nearly always doing something. It tumbles head over heels, or chases its own tail, or keeps frisking about in some way or other most of the time. But the buffalo calf is not like this; and when you see him standing quite still, staring at nothing, you can never tell whether he is going to be hungry for a mouthful of milk the next minute, or whether he is going to break into a frantic race.
But, you may ask, while he and all the other calves are playing about like that, is there no danger?
No, there is no danger, for the Papas are taking good care of the Mammas and the children, as I have told you before.
But, you may say, the Papas do not seem to be doing anything; they are just feeding and moving along. Then how are they taking care of the Mammas and the children?
Yes, but look carefully! See how close the horn of one Papa is to the horn of the next one! Why, there is not more than a couple of yards between the two! If there were any sudden danger, it would not take more than two or three steps for them to close up, and stand horn to horn.
_How Buffaloes Know Danger is Coming--Three Ways_
"But how could they _know_ if any danger were coming?" you may still ask.
They could know it in three ways: they could _smell_ the danger, or _hear_ it, or _see_ it. I shall tell you how they do all that.
First, if the danger came from the direction in which the wind was blowing, they would sniff the air, and so _smell_ the danger. If the danger were a tiger, the buffaloes could smell him half a mile off; that is about as far as ten blocks in a city. And if the wind were not blowing that way, the buffaloes could still smell the tiger five blocks away. They could smell the tiger, or any other danger, even if it came from behind.
The second way of finding out the danger is to _hear_ it. As I said a little while ago, if you should put your foot on a rotten twig, the buffaloes could hear the sound of it as far off as five blocks. And even if the danger came from behind, or from the side, or from anywhere, they could still hear it coming, if it made the least bit of sound that you and I could not hear.
The third way of finding out the danger is to _see_ it. The buffaloes do that by keeping a lookout nearly all the time. I shall show you how.
Just watch for a minute the buffalo in the middle of the crescent; he is the leader of the herd. We can see him only from the back; but as he is the biggest and tallest buffalo there, we can make him out quite easily. He is grazing quietly, and then moving along.
But see, what is he doing now? Why, he is looking up, straight ahead of him! No, he sees no danger there. So he gives a glance to his right, and then to his left. No, there is no danger there either. So he puts down his head, and starts feeding again.
Thus, you see, every now and again he looks to see that no danger is coming from anywhere in _front_ of the herd.
But what if any danger came from the _side_ of the herd,--right near the end of the crescent,--or even from the _back_ of the herd?
_Buffalo Sentinels_
Let us see what the two buffaloes at the two ends of the crescent are doing. They are the watchers, or _sentinels_, as they are sometimes called. They keep a lookout nearly all the time.
Do you see the one on our left? After every two or three mouthfuls he stops, and takes a look around; he even looks right to the back. Then he takes four or five strides to catch up with the herd, and starts grazing again. Then in a minute or two he takes another look around in the same way.