Even one of the Eared Seals, the _Otariapusilla_, which has
very small ears, draws them backwards, when it makes a savage
rush at the legs of its keeper.
When horses fight together they use their incisors for biting,
and their fore-legs for striking, much more than they do their hind-legs
for kicking backwards. This has been observed when stallions have broken
loose and have fought together, and may likewise be inferred from the kind
of wounds which they inflict on each other. Every one recognizes
the vicious appearance which the drawing back of the ears gives to a horse.
This movement is very different from that of listening to a sound behind.
If an ill-tempered horse in a stall is inclined to kick backwards, his ears
are retracted from habit, though he has no intention or power to bite.
But when a horse throws up both hind-legs in play, as when entering
an open field, or when just touched by the whip, he does not generally
depress his ears, for he does not then feel vicious. Guanacoes fight
savagely with their teeth; and they must do so frequently, for I found
the hides of several which I shot in Patagonia deeply scored. So do camels;
and both these animals, when savage, draw their ears closely backwards.
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