Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-08
The Zoo Family Anxious for the
Flowers to Bloom.
THEY PINE FOR THE OUTDOOR LIFE
Dunk and Gold Dust Wonder at
Scarcity Of Peanuts.
THE COLONY IN GENERAL

| HaWa1ianS who are visiting Queen Lii N
her exile, nor the young people who GO
| down the river in the summer, who are
| anxious for the bright days of spring to put
! in appearance. The children of the capital
do not look forward with greater longing to
| the blooming of the crocuses in the White
House yard, the tokens that Easter is near
and spring, therefore, no longer in the dim
distance, than do their four-footed, furrcd
feathered and fanged friends in the ma
| tional reservation out on Rock Creek PARK
| While some Of the animals in the zoo are
delighted with winters chilling blasts and
! all of its Accomplishments, the majority of
! them are anxious for spring to arrive so
that they may have more liberty than can
| be allowed them at present
The Zoo Park presents a desolate ap-
peararce just now. The visitor can no
longer be delighted with watching, as oc-
casionally happens on the perspirng days
| OF summer, Dunk and Gold Dust wallow-
| ing their huge hulks in the cooling waters
or Rock creek. Instead, these gentlemen
| OF the massive frames are safely housed
IN their quarters with nothing but a stove
TOT play thing. There is nothing for
them to do just now but eat Sleep pass
the time of day and watch the thermom-
| eter, which hangs on the wall in their
quarters Nc doubt Dunk and Gold Dust
thlnk that the crop of peanuts is exceed
1rgly small during the winter and that is
the reason, or at least one reason, why
trey wish the summer days to come again
watching the thermometer except the
lockers be Gather bureau officials or there
Is liable to be some extraordinary change
In the mercury. is at all times dull work
ana nobody finds 1t more so than Dunk and
Gold Dust.
Dunk's Plant.
1--WE don't even have a chance to bet a
bunch CT hay or an occasional peanut as
to how the tharmorpatar
ferent times" Dunk confided to a Star re-
porter, who visited him recently THE
goldurn thing is a fake, 1 believe It's
one thing all the time. Strikes me it is a
kind of a dummy"
He was wrong in this respect, for 1t is
the business of Head Keeper Blackburne
to see that the mercury remains at or
about 20 degrees in their house. They
| would be the first to kick if it should 90
very many degrees below shat
Inc ECO Park and the surroundings pre-
sent rather deSolate appearance Just
now When the place was visited day or
SO ago by Star reporter the expanse of
the park was covered with snow and it
was hard to lima CINE; at first signt, except
Tor some animals which were seen stray
ing about Enclosures, that inside those
bounds were animals large and small from
the tropics, to whom exposure in freezint.
weather would mean death in a short time
Such is the case, however. Some of the
occupants of the Zoo are from localities
where snow and ice unknown uuan.i-
TIES and where frost would create more
CONSERVATION than if the earth would ris.
up and pull down huge trees and other OH
1ects into its oapacous nav
One of the first sights which met the eve
Of the visitor. however, was the denuded
tee up near the elephants house. which
was filled with living fruit. The 'coons did
not seem to care whether the air was
chilled and their surroundings snow-cov-
cred or not They were out in full force
rings in their tails usual. They stay
| out all day, too. and only at night do they
go into the straw-filed trunk, wnere they
repose until next morning. They were
about as lively as usual, and did not seem
to care whether ii was summer winter,
| as long as they had plenty to eat.
Young Strangers.
Inside the main animal house are three
creatures of the feline tribe, which have
lately arrived, not only at the Zoo, but in
this world. These are three panthers, which
were born the night of January 81. For
the lives of them, they cannot tell whether
1t is summer or winter, whether they are in
the temperate zone or the tropics. In fact,
they have not gotten their eyes open yet.
and will not for several days. They are
warm and comfortable, and so far they
are concerned the all-around temperature
might be 80 degrees in the shade.
These little spitfires arrived with the
cold wave but they were fully protected
from it, and the mother seems determined
to keep them under cover in every respect.
Head Keeper B!ackburne opened door
on top of the cage in which they are at
present, although the mother objected
strenuously to the proceeding and threat
ened to cause trouble in the household.
The little ones could be seen. however, ly-
Ing partly underneath her body, mewng
and splitting just like cats. They are about
the same size now as ordinary cats They
are spotted something on the order of
ieopards. and have large claws. They will
be ready to leave the side of their mother
in four months, when the summer is near
at hand. They are pretty little creatures
but 1t would hardly do for anybody to I'M
The mother is evidently afraid that under
the circumstances they might be frostbit-
ten.
Pelicnns Hold a Reception.
The creatures in the main animal house
which appeared to be having the best time
were the American pelicans, the white
birds Kept in their inclosura with the tank.
They were holding a sort of reception or
dress parade with themselves and appeared
to heartily enjoy the function. When they
finished with this they ventured into the
tank, and gave an exhibition of the white
squadron on its way to Cuba summoned
by Gen. Lee to protect American interests
The water IN the tanks In the building is
heated to a temperature of about is or 50
degrees. SO that If they had been asked
what WIS the QlHSrence between summer
and winter they could probably have given
TO answer except that winter was indoors
and summer was all outside.
The alligators were soused down into
their tanks, some Of them completely SUBJ
merged; others with only the tips of their
nc ses sticking out. They must have been
alive, however. for. after close scrutiny
for some minutes. a slight ripple was OBJ
served on the surface of the water.
The anaconias were fast asleep. in their
glass-covered compartments, so coiled
among themselves that it must take them
all winter, studying constantly, to discover
how to entangle themselves. This is prob
ably the way they amuse themselves until
summer arrives. The other snakes were in
much the same condition. Several crea-
lures, which are evidently too devilish to
lose any time planning an opportunity for
devilment, are the ella monsters from
Arizona. One of the members of the tribe
licked out its tongue with a horrible sug-
gestiveness. These twelve or fifteen inches
of concentrated venom appear to be ex-
ceedingly alive under all circumstances.
The big cats were also about as usual. 1t