The Afro-American advance., 1900-05-26
CAPTIVE WILD ANIMALS.
known" Accounts for Their
RcstIrHsness.

Ernest Seton Thompson writes in.
cidentally of the restlessness of cap
tive animals in the Century, rs fol
lows:
at is common saying amonR keep
crs that. averaging one animnl with
another, u menageric must be renewed
every three years. Yet know of one
manager who kept most of his AMI
mails, thoseof Woodward Gardens, san
Francisco, alive. healthy aud happy
from the beginning of his time 10 the
tud, 10 years later, when the estnb'
lishment was broken up and the ami
mails were ordered 10 he shot In their
cngcs. The great secret of his success,
he tells me, WAS caring for their minds
~ we'll Ms for their bodies.
"Muny n man shut mp in "A cell has
saved his mind by iuventing somo
iriiling amusement. II h recorded
thai one set dnily watch ON the move
ments uf spider. Another tried how
many times he had 10 toss five pins
before they fen in Just the same way.
Another tried To run ten miles each
day in his narrow limits. Vet another
busted himself iuvrutiug new arrange
mcnts for the two or three articles of
furniture In his cell. Many have paced
mp and down cach day for number 81
hours Aud whatever they did, all
nike were seeking Ia put IN time, TO
while awny She awful trdium Of their
monoionous lives. to respond To- the
natural craving for exercise. md "a
save their minds and bodies from nc
tually wthcrinR from dlsur.
"If instead Of human captivcs' we
read wild animals in all this. wc shah
have ~ very fair portrait Of what we
M ~ see every day in an ordinary me
nngeric Why does the elephant swing
fo and fro forever from his chain pick
~ Why does he gather from the
fpor All the straw he cnn reach. throw
IL over his back and over ihr stable,
80 be- rcgnthered later? Why does the
squirrel enter and work for hours the
nimleks trcadw heel. and the mnrien
lrap listlcssly half day from point 10
point floor, perch. slai. box, hoor
perch. slnt, box again and again, with
monoiouous snmcncsA day after day.
why does the lone ostrich waltz far
more than does bis Wild kinEman that
has many admirinR spectators Of his
own Kind. and why do the fox and The
wol,crenc trot milcs and miles of cage
front every day? Nhy does The bear
roll and tumble ror hours over the
same old wooden bali as II u were q
new found chuIu. or il no ball j. sup
piled. swing back aud forth on pivotal
hind foot for hours each day Why
does the rhiuocrrus keep on forever
uoEing at some projection that his
horn cnu almost fastcn under, en- IL
get more and more elusive through the
smoothing of perpetual use' Why do
wolves aud monkeys pat in hours and
hour, over humble duties that in their
wild state were the work of few
minutes mt most? 10 all. the answer Is
the same "a 10 = be- similar query about
the man prisoner They are putting
IN time. They are responding 20 the
natural craving for exercise They
are rs ing 10 pass lhe tetliDm II fheir
h6peIes. lises. they are doing any
thing, every thing. their poor bfains
ean suggest 10 while away the weary
drag ~ dull pysutiess dafs. fhsIf
bellies are veil cared for. or ai least
are always pleufifuiiy cared for. bot
how few keepers have learned that IN
each animal is mentality. iarRe or
small. that ought 20 be considered. -