The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-02-01
HOW THEY WOO SLUMBER.

"A Noc1"f""I TOUR through the Zoo Re-
ve;ils Many Queer Facts.
Night is by no means the only time
that the animals and birds in the Zoo do
their sleeping, says the New York World.
With the lions, tigers, pumas, lcopards
and all the cat tribe night is the time
when they are most alert. The visitor,
of the Central Park Zoo, will find that
as soon, as the door of the lion house is
opened by Night Waterman Donogllue a
large number of eyes stand out like fire.
balls from the different cages around the
room, and as one walks up the aisle the
animals snarl savagely.
1t IS Just after the meal hour. = p. H.,
that the lion-house is wrapped in SUM.
Der. AS each animal finishes its portic1
OF raw meat it either stretches out ut
full length on the straw which covers
the bottom of the cage or, like the puma,
climbs up on the shelves and, utterly
regardless of the visitors, arc soon fast
asleep.
In the antelope house all is quiet at
night, but the light and the sound of
walking on the stone floor arouse instant
~ the different deer, and silently they
gaze mt tho Waterman making his rounds
Only the female camel, that has a pen
in the house, raises her head from the
bedding and gives vent to the saddest
moan imaginable. This is what tho
camel usually does when aroused by it's
driver in the desert. 1t is a protest
against another days work. The bears
so in for fair square sleep, and are
not easily disturbed. During the pres
cnt cold spell they huddle together for
warmth in the cavern in their pit, but
usually will be found scattered all about
the rock.
The monkeys set up great chattcring
irh sc A,l,x s,,Ao H.. 4.
dark and blink their rosuish eyes at
the lantern. They, as a rule, huddle to-
gethcr, both for safety and warmth.
The spider monkeys and marmosets are
large and small bundles of monkey flesh,
with arms and tails circling all about
their bodies in most bewildering man
ner. A porcupinc that has temporary
abode in the monkey house is not nice
fellow to awaken, for he ut once shoots
out his quilts. OF these the rats are I'M
commonly fond, and, though the animal
sheds many of them, the keeper, Jake
Cook, very seldom finds one in the cage.
1t is at night, when the animals are
asleep and there are no keepers around.
that the rats come out by thousands.
Ihey eat up everything: even biting the
elephants toes and while the rhinoceros
is lying down asleep will bite holes in
their thick hide. TO protect these ami
mails there are fox-terrier dogs put into
the Enclosures and in the morning they
have generally accounted for good many
rats. A few nights ago q terrier was M,
into the house with the zebus, or lndia's
sacred cattle, and next morning phil"
Holmes, when he opened up, found no
less than forty-one dead rats. Some
times two hundred of these small pests are
killed in the Zoo in week, but there
seems to be no diminution in their num-
bers.
The birds are certainly the most help
less of things created when asleep. They
all seem to awake dazed when one enters
the places where they are Most of them
lie balanced on their perches. balls Of
variegated colored feathers. The quails
roost on the ground, their heads tucked
away among the wing feathers while the
scarlet ibis and crane balance safely on
one leg the other one hidden away among
the body feathers.
Tc tropical eagles and vutures are
kept in part of the ground floor of the
pigeOn-hOuse, Which is wired off from
the remainder, and they enjoy themselves
here, for adjoining their winter home is
the room where "Pete" Schneider keeps
the meat with which he feeds the ami
nla!s. and as this is not always too fresh.
the birds are reminded. by the odor, of
the dead horse in Argentina, the COW in
India and the hard-workcd mule in the
West Indies. They sleep peacefully nj
any rate, and the smell of all around per-
haps even makes captured vulture
dream happilY.