The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-07-14
.CHUMS OF WILD BEASTS
an ANIMAL TRAINER TELLS OF
THE NOTIONS THEY HAVE.

Cats That VIII Perform Only for No-
men-DifheuIties OF Animal Training.
A whistle from the director and
Immediately the band struck up a live
ly air, the doors Of the big arena were
thrown open, and out in front of the
audience tripped some twenty-seven IL
ons followed by one quietiathletic. self
possessed man, and the show was on.
While the audience was marveling at
the skill and daring Of the performance,
away at the front of the balcony by an
open window which overlooked the en-
trance to the animal palace, mon in
clowns costume was explaining the
how of it all. Bobby Mack can speak
with authority on such subjects. be-
cause he has been an animal trainer all
hos life, and to quote his own express
sion, has handled everything from
rat to an elephant
Don't call me a lion-tamer," he be.
gan. for there are none. There never
was one, and don't believe there ever
win be one.
Il am a trainer of animals, wild ami
mails, that's ALL And sometimes
think that's pretty near enough" he
added, refiectively, as he looked at a
dozen or so scars on his arms and
hands.
The one important point with any
wild animal is to make it understand
that you are the master. With that
idea firmly fixed, and its ignorance of
| its own power, you have made a SPLEEN
did start. Then to train them to per-
chop or club sandwich.
Il don't want you to think " he add
ed hastily, that the animals are hans
died brutally. Nothing of the sort is
permitted here, and it would only spoil
the animals If it were allowed.
But just the same the animals when
being trained, are rewarded or pun
ished by their trainer, just as children
in school are. And, indeed, there could
be no better illustration Of the best
methods Of training wild animals than
the kindergarten system Of teaching
children.
First and foremost, of course the
aninals have to be gradually accus-
toned to the presence of their trainer.
He feeds then, attends to them in many
ways, gets them accustomed to having
him near Them outside the cage at
first of course, and then gradually he
gets into closer relationship with them,
goes into their cages. gets to handle
them a little, never showing signs Of
nervousness or fear, and always prompt
~ ;e,Y1 49, af4 III ct,
When he has reached the stage
where he can enter the cage, sit down
IN his chair beside the animal and
Istroke it with his hand without being
ATTACKED, it is about time for the real
training to begin.
You can never tell how big cat, or
la little one, for. that matter, is going to
TACT when he first gets into the arena,
land that is usually a pretty anxious
moment for the trainer. It sometimes
takes days to accustom the beast to the
Iararia.
1T takes usually from ten weeks to
three months to teach the first trick,
and during all this time the trainer is
lstudying his charge, and vice versa,
lpresune. If more than one beast is to
be used in the performances, they are
taught separately, then two together,
then three, and so on, one being added
to the number at time until the whole
4 troupe are in.
You can figure from that, maybe,
how much time and patience and nerve
force, to say nothing Of skin and flesh
Jack Bonavita has employed to get his
twenty -seven lions to work together.
.All the animals that work together
Ialso, have to be taught to get along
4 with each other, and are usually Gagged
together, that is. in a row Of cages
with screens between. SO they get ac,
lcustomed to each other and trifie
friendly, perhaps Otherwise, there
would be mora scraps between them
than a few.
As it is, there are plenty There was
lone lion we had that killed a polar
bear and two Tibet bears, bit a tiger ii
the back and nearly killed 1T; and once
while in the runway, after a perfor.
nance, he grabbed a lioness and car.
ried her into the arena.
Nero, as we called that lion, made {
mistake that time, though, because thu
little lioness turned on him in the are
ma and thrashed him well, hurting
him badly in the fight
"There isn't one OF us in the place
that hasn't been bitten and clawed {
lot, generally, however, unintentionally
This may sound strange, but 1t is true
nevertheless
You see, the big cats don't know
lhow strong they are, and the surveC
claws are like steel hooks, curving in
ward as they do; and once they sink In
something has to come with them. 4
lion can hurt you Just as badly b!
placing his paw easily on your hand O
lleg and simply sinking his claws in anc
contracting them, as though he made ;
y swipe at you and reached you.
And the same is true of all the cats
Lions are the easiest to train as q rule
being less nervous than the others. I
doesn't matter much at what age yol
lhegin to work them, and, as matte
of fact. those direct from the wilds ar
easier to train than those born in cap
tivity
Most Of them are just as notional a
any woman ever thought of being
They take likes and dislikes, and the.
stick to them for good.
''I have a photograph of one of m!
la Ia1,. LIZ aiafe,