Life — June 18, 1925 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Maternal Instinct" This comic strip depicts a hen and her chicks at a golf course, showing the mother bird protecting her offspring from the hazards of the game. The sequence progresses from the hen discovering a golf hole, through various attempts to shield her chicks from flying golf balls and approaching golfers, culminating in her herding them away to safety near water. The humor relies on anthropomorphizing the hen's "maternal instinct"—treating her protective behavior toward genuine dangers (golf balls, clubs, human interference) as a relatable parental concern. The joke works by elevating animal behavior to mirror human parental vigilance, with the golf course serving as an absurdly dangerous environment for a barnyard family. The satire gently mocks both protective parenthood and the intrusive nature of recreational golf.