Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1875-11-25
How Wild Animals are Trained.

= A reporter Of the New York
0 Mercury has obtained from "the
Q Q great lion-tamcr and wild-beast
king, Charley White" the fol-
Q lowing information respecting
= the subduing and training of
. wild animals:
0 Animals taken fulI-grown
D from the woods and jungles are
, generally much more easily
: trained than those that have
} been born in captivity and
brought up by the human hand
J or by their mother in the cage.
} These latter or "pet" animals
nearly always acquire many
tricks and manners which they
have TO unlearn before they can
! be properly taught. Then, too,
their constant familiarity from
early cubhood with mankind
tends greatly to divest them of
that fear Of the human animal
which is the first essential in
their education to proper sub
lection. On the other hand,
those beasts that are brought
up so as 20 know no sentiment
but fear soon learn that their
.ill-temper will not be tolerated
for a moment and that a fit OF.
skulks only brings heavy pun
ishment.
The first great agent in ta-
ming wild beasts just taken
from their native forests is par
tial starvation. They are kept
without food until they are both
weakened in strength and sub
dued in temper and ticrccness
Food is then given them by de-
grees, always by the same per-
son, until they learn to recog-
nize the man. As soon as ex-
pedient their claws are cut SO
closely that their power Of mis-
chief is nearly destroyed from
those weapons they are then
imuzzled, and having been suffi-
ciently accustomed to the pres
ence of their keeper they are
then exercised in a cage one at
a time. The slightest sign Of
viciousness is Immediately pun
ishcd with a sharp blow until
the animal learns TO know the
whip and to understand the
word Of command.
The same routine Is pursued
in the case Of Ions, tigers, pam
tthers, leopards and all other an
imals Of the cat kind, which
must ever be controlled by fear,
and must be constantly watch
ed lest their treacherous nature
break out.
To teach an animal to jump
through a hoop, a piece of meat
is so suspended as to be only
accessible by a leap through a
ring - after a few repetitiOns
the animal soon learns to con-
meet the ideas OF food and the
ring and the act Of leaping, and
will soon make the leap and be
content to wait fer the reward.
1t will be noticed that cage of
performing animals is always
fed during or Immediately after
the exhibition.
The nose is the most vulner-
able spot. A sharp blow on
the nose with a whip will give
a lion or tiger exquisite pain,
when a hit with a sledge ham
mer between the eyes he would
not mind at all. Next to the
nose the paws are the most sem
sitive portions Of the frame.
1t is often asserted that red
hot irons are used in training
animals for public performan-
ces. This is all a mistake. -
Hot irons are only used when a
keeper has been seized and is in
imminent danger, and hot irons
chance to be near. Sometimes
they are used to separate two
large lions or tigers which are
fighting and cannot be driven
apart in any other way. Long
bars of iron or steel, heated to
red heat in a forge, are pressed
against the jaws and teeth OF
two fighting brutes. For time
each imagines that the unwont-
ed pain comes from his adverse
ry; but few moments serve to
convince both that a more po-
tent power is at work, and they
quickly return to milder du-
ties. a lesson Of hot irons sell
dom. has to be repeated more
than once year.
Of those animals seen in an or
dinary performing cage, the hard
est to train is the Flack leopard.
This animal is treachercus and
always liable to break out into
open insubordination.