Stephen Ruffner, age 11, of Youngstown, Ohio, for his question:

WHY DO DOGS BURY BONES?

The ancestors of our tame dogs were wild and hungry meat eaters. They hunted like wolves and other wild members of the dog family  and sometimes food was not plentiful. Some of them started saving leftovers for a later meal. They dragged off the remains and hid them in the bushes or, when no bushes were handy, scooped dirt over the meaty bones. The most successful dogs dug holes and buried the leftovers.

Wild dogs had learned this survival trick long before they were adopted into the human family. Nowadays most tame dogs know that plenty of food can be expected. But they never forget the old lesson their ancestors learned in the wilds. So just in case their human friends run short of dog food, now food, now and then the family dog grabs a bone and buries it in the garden. Chances are he forgets where he hid it, but if he gets really famished he usually remembers and digs up his leftovers.