ANIMAL ANECODOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11684, 13 July 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

ANIMAL ANECODOTES.

QUEER JINKS' IN CAPTIVITY,

(By i'rank C. Bostock.)

Anyqiiq. who lias had much, to do with, wild animals in captivity will often have', come across instances of Strang© behavior or, wonderful perception on the part ~of .his charges.; at any rate, 1 Know -that in my own case 1 could easily till a booK with narratives of this description, a few of which I propose to jot down for the purpose of iliis article. There is such a. tremendous lot to foe learnt about the, different dispositions of different animals, and the dill'erent ways in which they should be handled, that 1 will not attempt to treat of this side of the question here, further than .to remark that animals differ in character quite as much as human beings do, and l require just as intelligent handling as children. On the other hand; it is sometimes impossible, to get at the motives of _an animal's behavior-, and find out just Why-he has acted in a given way. ( This remark applies to the case of a'very fine! Uarbarv lion whichused to exhibit- signs of the greatest misery and anger at a certain time every day. lie had never done so before', 'and: for a Jong time we could nqt make out what an the world possessed him. Then we noticed that his moaning, whining, and roaring always took placo when the orchestra was playing, and, finally, that it was one certain. . tane which appeared to. cause the trouble. The moment this tune started he would begin to moan, and, growl, and gradu- . ally work himself up into a great rage, ! roaring at the top of his voice, which was a strong one for a lion. When j we made quite sure that he objected to the tune in .question I told the orchestra. to take it out of their programme, ®nd .from the day this was dono that lion never showed an angry symptom. Why 'lie should have disliked" just one "tune and-no other lias always been a mystery' to me? hut, whatever the cause, his irritation was a most undoubted fact. Wild animals, as a rule, seem fond of music, and during periormancts it forms their principal cue. So much accustomed do they become to the strains of the' instruments that they are apt to be restless and uneasy should they miss the- familiar sounds. There was an occasion once when the band of a 'travelling circus went oil strike and no music was forthcoming for the, evening performance l in consequence., One -of tiic items on the programme wias a performance by three . trained tigers, and when these beasts^-came on they evidently were quite bewildered at the absence of, the' orchestra, for they, gazed inquiringly at thii spot- where the musicians usually sat, and then slowly settled themselves on their haunches as though waiting.for the band to strike up. The trainer, used his utmost endeavors tp'maki} theiri go through their work, but'they .took not the faintest notice of him, and absolutely refused to do anything at all. In the end, when ho. saw ,it would be dangerous to try and press them further, the man had to allow them to go back to. their cage .without having.done, anything, a. very unfortunate thing,- as most aiiima'is will not perform, again if once let. off like this. In the_ present case, however,, all was well, for.on the next night, by which time some musicians had been procured, the tigers went through their ordinary tricks as though nothing had happened the evening before. I . don't know whether I - ought to mention snakes in an article on animals, but these reptiles are such curious creatures that I think of anecdotes about them may prove, interesting. Snakes , when in captivity will very often starve themselves to death, food having often to be forced' down their throats to save them from this fate. When hungry a snake. becomes very lively, and you can imagine how such signs are welcomed by keepers who do not wish to lose a valuable reptile. I remember oiice we had a couple of shakes in on© cage, a big one 'and a small one, which began to show that they were .hungry orie day. A pig. was tliromi to them, for which they both made, but the smaller snake was the quicker,; and swallowed: the animal first: We soon threw in another pig for the larger snake, which he swallowed, and then a most peculiar thing happened, for lie .. deliberately turned and swallowed' the small snake, pig and all ! For a long/time after that the big snake lay in a state of repletion, but I do not think that his cannibalistic feast .altogether agreed with him. I think that the most remarkable snake story that I have ever heard was in connection with Great Peter, the largest python ever kept in captivity. This snake hadi been .fasting "most of the summer, and we were getting rather anxious about him,, when, towards the end' of September, he became lively, much to onr delight- His keeper -at onos looked about for some food: for him, and procured a young razor-back pig, which he/ placed in the cage. Now, as a rule when an animal is placed in a snake's cage it becomes quite helpless through fear, and stays where, it has been placed as though paralysed, allowing the snake to kill and swallow it without any .resistance. This young pig, however, was made of very different stuff, for directly he entered the cage ho dashed at the great python, screaming shrilly as ho did so, and then fastened his tusks firmly in . the hack of the snake's neck, and shook it as he-would have-done, a rat. In another moment every 32. feet of python were, lashing themselves : round the cage Tike-the thong of a huge whin, but the little pig hung on like a bulldog, without over making a sound. His advantage could' not last with such.odds against him, and soon the great coils came down, and folding, themselves round his body, •- cracked his ribs as though they had l>een faggots. Still the pig hung on, until'the grip of the coils relaxed 1 and dropped from him, then he too fell "back, dead, beside, the dead body of th 6 python. The little animalhad shown most wonderful .pluck, hut he had cost us a. very valuable reptile. - Instances of the keen faculties possessed by wild animals are, of course, very frequently met with during their captivity, and a. good illustration of this was rurnished some years; ago at Ooala,. Florida, whither Mine.- Pinnka had taken Iter lions to perform. Soon after arrival, the animals were turned out into the arena for e.xercise. but, instead of stretching and making themselves generallv at home, the hons showed signs of heme very unsettled, and crr.pt about with their noses on-the ground -and ears laid back. When the time for performing came t-hev absolr utely refused- to - dn anything, while later on. m- the middle of the nisht. the whole, establishment had- to turn out, . because .it was found that, the lions- were digging great holes m the earth— extremely rare thing fqr these animals to do. The whole, matter remained- a profound mystery-for some: time, and'ineanwjiile nothing-could be . done with the animals, who -seemed to have suddenly lr-st all their amiable. I qualities and "to. have become- permanently morose-and-Intractable., At last. ! we happened to mention, what had . happened to "the chief of police.: and. to i one or:two old residents, whenAhe-.true explanatioa"" was* .forthcoming* ; It -.appeared'that our : tent-had-been T pitche<i. over the site of an old graveyard, audi that although most of -the Terrains ha<l benn Temoved, -there was probably,: art-ill : : a. few left,, the .presence of wbich.had; ; been^.detected -by, our::lions. We quickly moved our;quarters, whemthe. animate • at once settled down to theiT old obedience and good nature. .