Omaha daily bee., 1884-07-21
BABY SEALS.
The Attraction at n Pleasure Resort
on the Sound Some Nat
ural HIstoryi
New York Mail and Express,

Inc NUMBER OF DaDy seas, none Oh
them being over two months old attract
much attention as they splash in q shall
low pond at one end of the pleasure re-
sorts on the Sound. They are In charge
of I~oologist J. S. Barnes, from the Cen.
trail Park, who captured them and is now
engaged in bringing them up and teach
ing them such amusing and interesting
tricks as coming out of the water at a
signal from him, shaking hands by extern.
ding their right fippers, climbing In and
out.of his boat, and turning somersault s
at the word of command. The keeper
was feeding his little charges from the
hand when a reporter for tho Mail and
Express engaged him In conversation a
few days ago The little follows were 80
tame that the approach of the reporter
veyed the newcomer out of their express.
sive eyes as they continued their meal of
mackerel, and seemed totally Indifferent
to his close proximity. "A fine lot of
seals, amt they2' remarked the keeper
to the reporter.
"Yes, where did you get them'P
81 captured them ON the northern
coast of Maine a little over a month ago,
and brought them here in boxes packed
with seaweed, which l kept thoroughly
wet during the voyage. l catch a batch
of them every season."
"Whst species of seal are they2"
"They are what is commonly called
the harbor seal, o variety which is 20 be
found along the coast all the way from
Long Island Sound to BAfins's Bay"
GSI1u 10 ,rD, ,o{,h %knn,9p
"We-that is myself and an assistant
first locate the resting place of a whole
school of seals, and while they are out
feeding at f1ood-tide, fix our nets near
the lodges upon which they retire to rest
after gorging themselves. The nets are
quite large and valuable, n of mine
being a 0 0-fathom affair made of linen.
After properly arranging the nets | retire
with my assistant to q point from which
| can watch tho seals return without be-
ing observed by them and wait for night
fall. When darkness has set in we creep
upon the school in . boat with mut1ed
oars, observing great caution until we
get so near that their s~entries
sound the alarms. Then we make q grand
rush and exhaust our lnngs in the effort
to thoroughly demorAlize the creatures
and make their young easier prey for us.
The seals, whose instincts are almost
human, as soon as they are alarmed roll
and drop off the lodges in such dismay
that they are too bewildered to carry off
their young, and below in alarm all the
while. 1t is then hat the little fellows,
having been pushed off tho ledge by their
frantic mothers, become ~sntaugled in our
nets and are captured before the old
folks can carry them off. May Is the
month for catching them, as it is the
breeding season"
"Do you experience much diff Guilty in
taking the young from the nets2"
swell, l should say 30. b gosh that is
the l~iveliest and most dangerous part Of
the sport, for the old ones when they re-
ooverfrom their surprise and realize that
we are stealing their babies return to
the rescue OF their offspring and give US
battle. They exhibit rare intelligence In
trying to free the little ones and In ad-
dition to destroying the nets in their en-
desvors to liberats, they are sometime 80
aggressive that we have to beat them off
with gait. The mothers carry off such as
they can by getting them IN their backs,
and, would you believe 1t, b'gosh, I've
seen them actually kill such rs they
could reach but were unable to rescue,
rather than surrender them to captivity"
GLOW do you get the captives out of
the waterl"
SPY drawing u nets and slipping bags
over the heads of the young rascals."
$50 they resist 2"
"Do they %resistl' repeated tho abduc-
tor of the baby seals. "Well, l rather
imagine they do. As docile as they now
seem they fought like little savages,
b'gosh, and did their prettiest to bite our
hands and legs, while the old ones actu-
ally hung about and encouraged them to
be ugly. They did, b'gosh."
care these all you caught2"
"No, we hauled in twenty-one. Six
OF them were drowned in the nets and
the surf; three wero too young to bring
along; two died on my hands, and there
are the others. Not one of thoEe in the
pond was over three days' old when cap
tured. | weaned them on nourisbing
liquids, about which | cannot talk, as it
would be giving away II of the main
secrets Of the business if | did"
Tears stood In the eyes Of all the seals
as the reporter turned to leave. They
had overheard the conversation, and the
recital of their ruthless abduction had
deeply affected the intelligent little crea-
lures.
The Humorisu or Ia House.
W - h