HOW SEALS ARE TRAINED.

Temuka Leader, Issue 7330, 7 June 1913, Page 8

HOW SEALS ARE TRAINED.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE YEARS OE PATIENCE THAT ARE NEEDED. THE METHODS ADOPTED BY CAPTAIN TIEBOR, WHO IS IN SYDNEY WITH HIS TROUPE. . regular aquarium has been establ.smd at the Tivoli Theatre, says a Sj..i.ioy paper The alleyway resounds wi lh strange barking sounds, and tho saudl of fish. Captain Tiebor’s seals, are installed there, and they are never quiet for two minutes at a time. A representative found Captain Tiebor with a bucket of newly-cleaned, fresh fish, feeding his pets. That they are Ids pets was proved by tho way ho adr dressed them, and tho way they responded to every call. “Hero you are, Dolly,” ho would say quietly, and Dolly would Hap her way up to the wire enclosure and swallow tho fish handed her. When the meal was ever. Captain Tiebor was induced to talk about seals. “My seals came from tho west coast of tho States,” ho said. It’s almost an industry there catching them. You see they get into oaves and holes in tho rocks —they go there to sleep, There is one particular cave where tho seal hunters are always tolerably certain to find a good congregation. “It’s a simple sort of process, because a wild seal is TIMID AND FOOLISH.

It is only when ho is tamed that ho becomes sensible. The hunters got a strong net and set it in the sea right along m front of the cave. When cvervtiling is ready, the hunters raise pandemomum. They hang tins, fire off cannon, and generally lot things loose, ilic seals hear all this strange row. Guess, they think it’s a volcano, or an earthquake. Anyhow, they figure out that it s safer in the sea than back in tho cave. They flop out as fast as they can, and dive straight into the sea—and into the net.

.Every seal caught is not suitable for training. They are all sorted off. The big ones are sold to acqunriums and zoological gardens. The little ones are Kept lor training. There are not very many trainers in the world; as a matte! or fact, there are only three in the business now. The average life of a seal in bis natural conditions is about 70 ~ Tn captivity ho seldom lives longer than 2o years, and most of them only last about twenty. Then they die off suddenly and for no apparent rcason I had three seals die in one night uithin a month of sailing for Australia 1 left a fourth-one ot the best m the combination— died J ust as suddenly. u I leckon that the best -trainer of seals in the world is my father who is aso Ca,plain Tiebor. Our homo’ town is Tonawanda, m New York e . S . to Buffalo. The™ Jo L* ster tank, and a sort of aquarium. We nluays have about twenty to twentvfiyo seals there, and my father spencls his time teaching and training them.

METHOD OF TRAINING IS LONG AND TIRESOME,

a vcl 'y patient man would hope for any success. , the wild seal ]ias to be lameu. that takes months. You can't a'fino°sot ‘one 011 a s'' ild scaL He has a nno set of long, sharp teeth and ho is quick as a flash. Oh! yes! a trainer gets bitten quite often, but he takes ” t ° 1 He’s o ‘i,.S C “w not - get macl it. He s just got to grm and bear it Ho coaxes and talks to the seal W aftm hour, and day after day, feeds him always himself, gives him a name and always calls him :bv it, and has & sound of t h b lln lyhil °, he feeds him. Iho sound of the voice has a lot to do nith it. At hrst it scares the seal all voico tS ’l bUt ° nC ° 10 comes to kn ow the voice he grows more teachable, and It’f iust' il-o T 1 t t hl ’ m ' self be Pitted, it s just like breaking in a colt or taming a u del dog. Once the seal has overn'l fe Ti of , ? lan ’ 80 that the trainbegins. ' and ° Jnnij the trick Caching That isn’t an easy job, either Tbo fss t vr *O l tvefj tniiig. He has to make a seal of himself, get down and show by his acwants ‘lh C i m T C / n T ts i ust ml,at he latter W Sea r to , d ?- As soon «s the fast Of 1 tend /, ho advances fairly fast Of course, there are stupid seals and bright, intelligent ones, just as there are stupid men and clever ones. show K !t - yery of , ton happens in the 0 ' bu smess, the tricks that look most simple aro often the most difficult to teach them. There aro three females and four males in my lot. Two regalia? 1 a™ understudies, and live are ot° is ' the pct of the Babe U i” Wl r a , ; tt! .° “no called i abe. That s she hollering now. Do coui n s rido c i one by its hoiicr? ° f

fisb F tW ? ' W l hy ’ - iust fish - Tl >e best J " t i lcy bo given is herring. But ? 011 baven t got any out here. I brought enough across in the refrigoi°n i boar . d , slll P to last mo till Last Wednesday A seal will oat any old [A,'' ’ Cu h ° “ hungry, but we know hlv Jot %°° d J or them, and see that they get it. My seven get about 701 b. OF FISH A DAY. I feed them three times—that is three regular meals—but they are fed durmg tho performance, too. A fish is the >onard for good work done on the stage. “I am really fond of my seals. So would you bo if you knew them. A seal once bo gets to know you and like vou! is as faithful as a dog. He will follow you anywhere, and whenever you appear will flap the floor just like -a flow iarka for joy. They make the finest nets m tho world.”