The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-07-19
MISCELLANEOUS.
Tanning of Wild Beasts.

Is prODaDly nothing unaJ causes more WON
der than to see the keepers of the lions the
tigers, the leopards, the panthers and other
wild beasts sitting in the cages among
them, patting them on their ugly heads,
Shaping them on their saliva dripping
jowls and fearlessly lashing them with
their whips If necessary. 1t is well enough
to say, ooh, the beasts are trained; they
would not touch anybody"
1t is mistake to suppose that the wild
beasts that one sees in the menagerie are
trained in the sense that they have been
taught not to attack. Trained is hardly the
word Mastered expresses better what has
been accomplished with them. Talking
with Head Keeper Conklin on the subject,
he said to me;
I'VE have n tremendous amount of work
to do with the wild animals in the winter
quarters of which the public knows moth
ing. You see we are getting new wild ami
mails all the time, and as they come to us
there is not u man living who would dare
to go into the cages with them. During
the winter we have to break those beasts so
that we can handle them as you see us han
die them on the road"
"And how do you do itY"
"Well, when they come to us they have
thick leather collars around their necks,
with heavy chains attached. They are more
savage then than they were before capture
their capture only having served to bring
out all that is ugly in them. They will spit
and growl at anybody who gets near their
cage and jump at the bars until they ex-
haust themselves. We begin to teach them
manners the very day we get them, and
they take a lesson in etiquette every day
after that until the show starts out"
"What do you do to themW
MY men catch the end of the chain fas-
tened to the collar around the new beasts
neck and fasten it to the bars in such
manner that the beast can only move a
short distance Then l take good raw
hide whip and stout club and enter the
cage | take a chair and sit down in the
corner"
Feeling perfectly cool, SUPPOSE"
"Yes, so long as | know that chain is
solid and securely fastened. Well, the in
slant get in the beast will give a roar and
spring for me | would be torn to shreds if
were within reach but the chain holds,
and instead of getting at me the lion, tiger,
panther or leopard simply comes to the end
of his rope, as It We're, is brought up with
shock that sends him in a heap to the floor
of the cage, and give him lash with the
rawhide.
1.-The beast is ut me again in an instant,
and again he goes down. and lash him. |
never have used the club on an ANIMAL but
always keep it handy in case it is needed
/ keep drawing my chair u little closer to
him as this goes on until get so close that
they can touch me with their noses, but can
not bite me. Then just sit there and talk
to them, and you would be surprised at the
power the human voice will finally be made
tp ,,-il J,,gt Il
With that Mr.. Conkln went over to
cage in which were three leopards stretched
out side by side on the floor
Dick Niggerl Fanny Get up!"
The three leopards got up at once and
stood glaring at their master with eyes that
looked as though illumined by ncandescent
light.
"Go over to the other endl Go Overt"
Immediately this order was obeyed by
the leopards, who cringed in the farther
corner of the cage.
"Do you think they understand your
words, Mr.. Conklin," asked.
"Well, | don't know" he answered
"You can see they understand something
and do what | tell them to. But to go on
with how l break a wild beast.
while | sit talking to one just out of
reach of his teeth, if he gets ugly and at
tempts to spring at me, give him the raw
hide. | keep this up and after a dozen or
so lessons they get so that they only snarl
and growl at my entrance. AS soon as |
think it safe try the beast without chain.
1t is a little ticklish business at first, but |
have plenty of help ready for the first effort
''If it is a success the first time, you gen
orally have your beast mastered, although
once in awhile "A brute that has been tracta-
BILE enough will break out and go for his
keeper. We had such a case here in the
Garden two years ago, when Joseph Foster,
an experienced lion tanner, was clawed by
a lioness and nearly killed"
"Generally in the course of winter we
can get a beast so that he will not attack
his keeper when he enters the cage" Mr..
'Conklin continued. I'VE not only have to
get them so that they will not attack their
keepers, though, but so that they will not
attack each other, and that is a mighty
hard job. Sometimes we can never do
that. There is an old tiger there, one of
the most savage brutes | ever handled and
l could take you into the cage with him
now without the slightest danger. If |
dared to put him in the same compartment
with that big Bengal there, though,
would have a dead tiger on my hands in
two seconds. Notice the long mark on the
ocily' ludU Is NHeIe lu0 beDBdl ripped
him two years ago, when | tried to put
them together, as they would show better
that way. If the Bengal's claws had not
been clipped, he would have ripped open
the other one and killed him."
Are the claws of all the ferocous ami
mails clipped2"
"Those of the cat species always are. 1t
is an undertaking that requires pretty care
full work and plenty of men too. You have
to get your lion, your tiger, your leopard or
your panther bound in such way that you
can throw him on his side in the bottom of
the cage. Then you have to reach in through
the bars, grasp his paws, pull them out
through the bars and hold them tight
They struggle terribly to free themselves
killed a fine leopard this winter trying to
cut his claws. lie struggled so that he
burst blood vessel and died instantly"
what truth is there in the story of the
power Of the human eye over wild beastss"
at is II pretty thing to say, and that is
about all" Mr.. Conklin replied "A man
who wants to subdue wild beast has got
to be fearless and 90 about it in coura-
geous way, and the eye plays its part. The
man who attgmDtpl Ia hnndlp 81 wild beast