Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-21
SEA cow BREAKS ALL
RECORDS OF CAPTIVITY
LIVES IN TANK OVER ELEVEN
MONTHS
Grows Fat and Happy on succuIent Eel
Grass and Lettuce and Appears
to Like Its New York
Home

now at the Aquarium at New York has
been kept alive in captivity longer than
any other animal of it's species ever ex-
hibited here. The previous record for
sea COWS was ten months and eleven
days; this sea cow has been here now
about eleven months, having been re-
ceived on September s. 1906, and it is
still in excellent condition.
1t has never missed meal since the
day of it's arrival except on two occasions
when for brief periods food was denied
it for it's own good. 1t eats about half
a bushel of green stuff daily, supplied
to it in two meals, one at a. M and
the other at p. m.
, Eel grass is what it eats principally,
but it eats also ulva, or sea lettuce, and
the ordinary land lettuce. romaine, carrot
tops and celery tops. 1t likes eel grass
best of all, but it is very fond of let
tuce; give it all the lettuce it would cal
just as land COW T. Sht kill itself by
overeating If it got into a cabbage patch
Sea Cow Food
The various green things grown on the
land that are fed to it constitute the
bulk of the sea cows food in winter
when eel grass is untainable on account
of ice; eel grass is the staple of its food
in summer. 1t might seem that it would
be rather expensive to feed the sea COW
in winter on Florida lettuce and Boston
lettuce grown at that season under glass,
but as a matter of fact it is not
The lettuce thus fed is the trimmings,
the ranker outside leaves cut away by
the wholesale produce dealers to give the
heads a sightlter appearance for market,
which trimmings the aquarium buys for
so cents bushel, so that to feed the
sea COW on lettuce or celery in winter
costs really only 25 cents day.
The marine farmer, who keeps the
sea cow supplied with eel grass in sum-
mer has this season so far moved an
area of four acres in spot on the shores
of Gravesand bay; like the land farmer,
he uses scythe in his moving, but un-
like the land farmer he swings his scythe
under water, doing his moving at low
tide when the depth of water on the
grass Is least.
The eel grass grows in a season to be
four or five feet in length. the tops Of 1t
to be seen undulating, with the movement
of the water over it, when the tide is
high; equally familiar is the sight, of
1t as it lies low and all one way. drawn
up SO by the receding tide, when the
tide is low, and it is at that stage of
the tide that the marine farmer gathers
so much of the crop as may be required
for the sea cows needs.
Before the present in cutting eel grass
for the sea COW, it has been cut down
to the roots, but this season in moving
over space, about four inches of the
grass has been left standing. In the
course of two or three weeks the grass
thus left standing adds five or six inches
to it's length by growth, and then this
space is cut over, down to the roots for
second crop, this second crop grass
being found better and tenderer.
When the sea COW was first brought
here from the Florida waters, in which
it was taken, it had in the upper part
of its body just clear of the base of its
tail a deep wound with an opening about
three-uuarters of an inch one way by
one-uuarter of an inch the other, a wound
such as might be made by a spear head,
and which was perhaps inflicted upon
the sea COW in an attempt to capture It,
For six months this wound was treated
daily with an antiseptic solution; it has
since been dressed every other day with
an antiseptic powder; these treatments
being given when the pool is drawn clear
of water to be cleaned and the sea COW
is lying OIL tii0 PVoi iiooh'
Lance Cows Wound
At first the sea COW tapped it's tail
with pain when the treatment was APP
piled, but now it takes 1t very kindly
Twice the wound has closed and pus
formed in it, each time to be lanced and
cleaned and the treatment resumed.
1t might seem that it would be difficult
or impossible to keep powder dry
orafs1 s1.o1 f6of fnV
SO much of the time remains submerged
in water, but this is accomplished easily.
The powder is placed in the wound on
cotton, the orifice of the wound being
then plugged with cheesecloth this max
ing a plug that proves perfectly efficient.
when at the end of the second day, as
now, the dressing is renewed, dry powder
is found ON the dressing removed. Orig
inaily this wound In the sea COW was five
and d half inches in depth; but now II
has healed to within about an inch of
the surface. and there appears no reason
to doubt that it will In due time be
healed completely.