The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-09-16
LAssoINc zEeRAs.
Cowboy Methods Of Capturing the
Young to Train Them for Work

IOuHB " 'Tdln IHeW TOT Work
The government of East Africa is
much pleased with the first results
OF its efforts to train zebras TO do
nestle service. Great pains have
been taken for two years with the
education of FIVE spans of these ami
mails and they have finally been
brought to state of perfect docility
and are now making a good record
in the draught service.
1t is believed in East Africa that
the practlcability of making the zebra
do the work of the horse and the OK
has been demonstrated. If 1t were
possible the government would rap
idly push the work of tanning zebras
and breaking them to harness, but
unfortunately men who have the Pc
culiar talent and liking for this work
are few. and so zebra tanning goes on
slowly.
A man named Besser. in the Ger
man service, is a sort of genius in
this line. He has his own ideas as
to the best way to make useful SER
want of the zebra, and the govern
ment let's him follow his bent.
Besser does not agree with Mr..
Won Schellendorf, the pioneer zebra
tanner of the colony, that the best
way to catch them is to run the ami
mails into a corral and keep them
prisoners, gradually eliminating those
that are least promising. Besser
wants nothing to do with any of the
animals, excepting those he propos-
es to tame, and these are the foals
few weeks old. He Is catching
them with lasso in Western cow
boy fashion, and he is the only man
in the big colony who seems able 10
do it.
It is not easy to do. Besser has a
tough, fleet horse that served in the
cavalry during the Boer war and has
been trained to gallop at full speed
over the plains with the bride on his
neck his direction guided by the
swerving of his masters body to the
right or left. This horse is the zebra
chaser.
II Is Besser's practice to get into
the edge of some grove which herds
of zebras are likely to approach
while. grazing, and from this cover
he suddenly rushes on horseback. The
Deutsch Ostafrikanische Zeitung, tel
ling the story, says that the mothers
will not abandon their foals, but col
lecting around them urge them on as
rapidly as possible and retreat with
them in the centre.
Now Besser's troubles begin. 1t
is not easy to lasso one of the young,
because they are much smaller than
any OF the surrounding animals, and
to aggravate the situation the lords
of the herd, enraged by this attack
on its weaker members and perhaps
emboldened by the sight of the big
horse, Ia whom they may impute the
trouble without observing the strange
animal astride him, come back to
bite and kick the horse. lie natur-
ally responds in kind, at some peril
TO his rider. who, intent upon his
game, was once unhorsed by this
proceeding
Besser since that accident has been
ready TO meet the emergency with
shot or two from his revolver, which
scatters the males in wild fight.
Sometimes no fails TO capture
colt, but he is usually successful, and
has now fine herd of young zebras,
whose training begins from he day
of their capture.
He says II does not take very long
to win their entire confidence by
firm but kind treatment and the task
grew easier when he was able to
turn new animals among those whom
he had come to handle and fondle as
he might a dog He succeeds evil
IDENTIFY because he is born animal
trainer. They learn to feed from his
hand or basket, and as their training
advances he leads them by a halter,
bits them. walks them around with
harness on their hacks and finally
gives them little loads to pull. None
of his herd is yet large enough for
actual service.
Besser is not only enthusiastic
over the practicability Of making the
zebra a work animal but he is also
sanguine that the crossing of zebras
and asses. now in the experimental
stage, will result in work animal
whose usefulness will not be confined
to Africa.
Tit for Tat