The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-07-31
THE RED men At THE zoo
Encounter Of One Of the Braves
With a Buffalo.
STORY OF AN ELASTIC FENCE
Birth of q Baby Lion Which Has to
BE Guarded From the Caresscs uf
Its Too Demonstratiye Mamma "A
BeIligereut Rabbit and a Badly
Frightened Reporter.

s'In the midst OF summer prepare FOR
wInter- This is the adage at the Zoo,
and accordingly the work Of arranging WIN
ter quarters for the animals has begun.
Here and there In many partsof the grounds
houses CT all sizes, shapes and CONDITIONS
are in course of erection. In most cases
.hey arc simple wooden strucmres, Gov
cred over with spruce or heuilock boughs,
and prove to be comfortable homes "hae
is known as the Page wire fence is beihg
nut up to replace the clumsy wooden Ones
and, owing to its elasticity, eonsidefaeie
amusement has been afforded the spec
tators, il not the animals. The FENCE Is
of woven wire, stretched on poles eighteen
fe,. apsrt. ana will yield about six rect
short time ago, soon after the birth OF
a sr1all buffalo, the mother and youngsee'
were transferred to a part of the grounds
provided with this kind of a fence. Ihe
old buffalo Is very stubborn and pugnacious
at all times, but particularly SO while guard
ing her baby. Three Indians, IN reguia
:ion blanket, moccasins and the usuai ac
compartment of feathers, journeyed 70 'he
Zoo 70 gee the sights. and W hen the nutiaio
enclosure was reached they halted with q
grunt OF recognition aud delight. Not
Afraid-of ANY Old Thing seemedtobe Drawer
than the other willy atorigines, and drew
up within atout five feet Of the fence
Then the fun began.
Perceiving an enemy, the buffalo pre-
pared for the affray by backing aoout
forty yards With below OF rage, ne
charged forward full speed directly al
the unsJtspecting brave. The fence yielded
the allotted six feet, and Not "A fraid-of- Any
Old-Thing was stretched out full length
ON his gally colored blanket The other
bucks uttered war whoops Of surprise, and
assisted supt. Blackburn to restore th'
fallen red man to his feet, and without
waiting TO ascertain the cause of such uii
ceremonious welcome, fled.
Some weeks ago two fine specimens oi
West Indian seals were presented 20 the
Zoo. 1t WAS the first time any of these
seals had been In confinement and theil
| diet was q puzzle to the superintendent
All kinds Of fish aud crabs Were tried but
they refused them, and On VI edD essiay the
male died In a spann. A post-morteIn was
held yesterday in order TO ascertain the
cause of its demise and see what can be
done for the other, but in all proba bility it
viii be too late, as the other may die at
ary mGment
On the eleventh of this month a small Wis
itoI appeared at the lions cage and is che
finest specimen ever born In captivity
supt. faackbuIn ia very proud OF the little
fellow and finds II necessary, In order To
save its life, to keep il separated from It's
mother. for she dregs IL around continual '
| fTU m one end OF the cage to the other. The
| baby is about the size of kitten .as fat, and
| just about the color of butter ball
New quarters Just in front of the elephant
| house have bcen provide for the kangaroos,
| aud they were to be moved to them yester-
Day. The peacocks have lost all their mag
| nifiCent pIumage and the ostnch. shorn of
his glory, struts arOundin heart. breaking G
manner.
As the reporter stpoIled out through the
| shady, cecil path workman called at
| tentiou to p find he had Just made. a nest
| containing three miniature rabbits, pre-
| side over by the mother. was the object
| which appeared and upon the workman tr y
/ ing TO secure the young ones the mother
| showed fight. They were finally cap
| tured mother aud all. and taken to the
| superintendent. During the excitement one
| OF the baby rabbits fell to the ground and
| thinking il was q mouse the reporter picked
| up her skirts AM q made tracks for the car,
| where she looked fearfulIy about 20 see II
| she werc pursued.