The Swiss Family Robinson By J. D. Wyss

Could you imagine riding an ostrich across the horizon while an eagle flies beside you? In The Swiss Family Robinson, by J.D. Wyss, this is what the characters tried to achieve. The family was successful in training both of these animals, yet the training differed in some ways. They chose these two animals to train because they believed that the animals could help them survive on this extraordinary island. One of the first animals they decided to tame on this island was the eagle, because they felt the eagle could help them with hunting and protection. Ernest remembered reading about blowing tobacco smoke “...into the nostrils of the birds of prey and of the parrots they catch, until they are giddy and almost senseless.” When the birds recovered, the birds would be more tame. Fritz used this method, and the eagle “grew tamer and calmer every day.” Once the eagle was tamed, it would protect the family by finding predators and gouging out the eyes. The predator would not attack anyone, and sometimes the family could kill the predator for food.
The family felt they could use the ostrich as a form of transportation around the island and for activities that involved traveling long distances. The father had read that ostriches could be tamed, and they used tobacco smoke as they had done on the eagle. “The natural savageness of the bird disappeared more and more every day…”, and the family started trying other methods to train it. Eventually they were able to ride the ostrich and control it using reins. The father figured out that the reins could be used to control covers over the ostrich’s eyes so that it stopped completely or moved one way or the other depending on which eye was covered. Being able to ride the ostrich helped the family survive by allowing them to travel around the different locations of the island more