The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-11-21
TRAINING WILD eeASTS.
The strange Effect of Colors on Some An
iINaIS.

The Orange Effect of Col0rs on Some An
inals.
wild animals are much more pro-
nounced in their likes and dislikes of
colors than men are, said Edward
Darling, the lion tanner, the other
day. ITO get the BEST results from
animals when giving performances
you must surround them with the
colorS which are not obnoxious to
them. Now, take Mr.. Mehrmann, for
instance He has two leopards in his
group Of animals which be has train
ed that have to be kept chained con-
tinually while they are not perform
ing. The reason for this is that leop-
ard has an aversion for spots of any
kind Mr.. Mehrmann has the misfor-
tune of possessing two dogs very
much spotted, and whenever his
leopards get good opportunity they
make for those dogs. Their lives
would not bo worth much if it was
not for the vigilance Of their master.
1t is strange too for the other dogs,
which are of solid color, get along
splendidly with the animals. They
play with them like kittens, but let
one Of the spotted dogs come about,
and Immediately the leopards as
sumo "a warlike position. This aver
sion to spots seems to be general
through the animal kingdom. The
only time l have ever known a lion
to attack dog was when a spotted
one was placed in his cage and he
3vor ceased until he had finished
m.
"In training animals there arc
many little points which are of great
Importance that would be overlooked
by the ordinary person. So a trainer
must be Observing. Once 1 had
lion that utterly refused to sit upon
pedestal which was provided for
it. | beat the animal time and again
for refusing to get upon it, but with
no effect
Il vas about to give the beast up
as ono impossible to train-as an I'M
balanced animal mind-when one
day, by accident, the pedestals had
been using We're misplaced, and l
could not find them. | had to substi-
tutc others. Imagine my surprise
when my balky lion, when command
ed to mount to his place, obeyed with
out hesitation. | thought l had con-
quered at last and felt much elatCd.
The next day my own pedestals were
found, and when l ordered tho lion
to mount one he showed the same OBJ
stinacy. Nothing l could do would
make him get up He growled and
purrod, showing the utmost displeas-
ure. began to reason about the
matter and finally came to the con-
clusion that it was the color Of tn
pedestal that the animal objectedt
The pedestal was painted a brillif
red, while the other one l had u.s.
on the day l was successful was
blue. put my theory to practical
test and discovered l was right. The
lion would do the trick without the
least protestation when l used the
blue pedestal, but would refuse to
even touch the red one. had Just
had a lot of things, such as stands,
seesaws, wagons, etc, made for my
performance, and as result of the
discovery of this lions peculiar aver
sion to red | had to have the entire
lot reprinted blue. That lion up to
the time he died was the most clever
animal artist l ever had But no
amount of training would make him
endure red of any shade. So you can
appreciate tho humorous little neces-
sary points which an animal trainer
must look after We meet with little
examples Of this color mania in ami
mails every now and then, but the
instances l have given you will suf-
flee to show how troublesome it
sometimes becomes "-Pittsburg
Dispatch.