Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1891-06-05
THE COST OF A MENAGERIE.
SORTS OF WILD BEASTS THAT
THRIVE BEHIND BARS.
The Gao Tribes, Pachyderms. Bears
and Kangaroos are Profitable
MONKEYS are Delicate.

The Gao Tribes, Pachyderms. Bears
and Kangaroos are Profitable
Monkeys are Delicate.
"Animals of the cat tribe" said Mr..
Bailey, partner of the late p T. Bar
mum, "are always splendid stock. They
are invariably hardy and long lived, and,
considering that most of them come
from tropical countries, they stand hard
ship and exposure to the vagaries of our
climate remarkably we'll. They all live
a dozen years in captivity, and often
much longer. know of lions now in
cages in this country which have been
here from twenty-five to thirty years.
Tigers are just about as long lived, and
lcopards and panthers are not far be-
hind. Lions aud tigers, if well grown
and healthy, are worth from $500 to
$1,000 apiece. A good pair of lions or
tigers is an excellent investment. 1t
sosts pile to feed them, of course, but
they reproduce so frequently that they
pay well. A good tigress will produce
two litters of cubs year, four in each
litter, of which at least half may be sue
cessfully raised. Leopards and panthers
generally eat their young, or at least kill
them.
s'But you must be very careful with
your lions, tigers and leopards, though
they are hardy. Their great danger lies
in pneumonia, which they are apt to
catch on the slightest provocation in
ways difficult to trace. Draughts kill by
far the most of those who die prema-
turely. Their lungs were made for
tropical air, and they catch cold easily.
We have had great success with all the
Dig cats. Our winter quarters are per-
feet and our cages are draught proof.
Beside, we always feed them the best
beef that can be had in the market.
Zoos generally use horse meat, but I be-
lieve 1t pays to buy the best beef. With
the best of treatment, though, they oc-
casionally nope and lose appetite. Then
we give them little fresh blood, still
hot, to drink, and if that doesn't tone
them up we drop few live turkeys,
chickens or rabbits into their cages and
let them do their own slaughtering. That
always brings them into condition.
elephants are even better stock than
the cats, SO far as sturdiness and longev-
ity are concerned. They don't pay divi-
dends, though, for they almost never re-
produce in captivity. As far as have
ever learned, the baby elephant that was
born :; MIR. Barnum's show some years
ago was the only one born in captivity.
But elephants will stand nearly anything.
They require comparatively little care
and are very useful, too, around the
show. They pull and push and haul
whenever needed and save no end of
trouble and costly power. The time was
few years ago when elephants were
tremendous attractions, and shows were
popularly rated by the number of ele-
plants they carried with them. Now,
however, they are drug on the market
at least in America. The country's
full of them, and was very glad of the
chance to sell ten of our herd to Europe
several years ago and pack them off in a
freight steamer. A good elephant here
is worth from $500 to $4,000, according
to his age, size, temper, and intelligence.
In Europe good elephant is worth from
$4,000 to $4,000. Few elephants dio
natural deaths. Is they don't meet with
some accident, they get savage and dan
gerous eventually, and have to be
killed"
"How about monkeys2"
"Oh, monkeys are very poor stock,
but then they are so cheap we hardly
take any account of them. Monkeys are
weak -lunged, and keel over to pneu-
monia at any time. We expect that So
long as we stay in winter quarters, where
there is an absolutely equable tempera-
ture, they do very well, but when we
get on the road they die off almost daily.
The slightest draught may kill them, or
a wet night or sudden fall in the tenn
perature may suddenly almost deplete
our stock. Besides that they are ex-
tremely subject to digestive disorders.
We generally feed them carrots, potatoes,
and the like, but they often take sick
unaccountably. People that feed them
all sorts of trash in spite of the keepers,
help the monkeys to their death very
materially.
''Perhaps the most delicate animal is
the giraffe. 1t is unfortunate, for there
Is no more striking an animal for show
purposes. I have one now, but only
keep him with the greatest care. A
good giraffe is well worth from $500 to
$4,000. The Gland is another exceeding
ly delicate animal. In this he is an 'ex-
ceetion to all the other antelopes, which
are splendid stock, hardy, long-lived
and requiring next to no care. My Gland
is pining away. He requires grazing and
I left him in Bridgeport, hoping that it
will restore him to health to turn him
out this summer. But the Gland is too
delicate for show purposes, any way. AS
for other antelopes, the horned horse
will live and grow fat till he gets knock
kneed of old age, and the ibex will about
match him. These autelopes cost some
thing on account of the difficulty of cap
turing them, but their sturdy longevity
tends much to cheaper them.
"Perhaps the hardest animal to keep
successfully is the hardest of the birds,
namely the ostrich. 1t is extremely sus-
captihla fo cn16c on6 -fomocb TROUBLES IN,