The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-07-23
MOVING A SEA LION.
Lively Work Shifting the Animal from
One Pool to Another.

One Pool to Another.
ia make room for some hair seals
from the coast Of Alaine at the Aquarl.
um Il Was necessary to move the sea
lion. This sen lion weighs about 500
pounds, 4 quick motioued powerful an.
imal with teeth to beware Of They
move him in a shifting box, this being
an item Of equipment used in aquaritims
and menageries.
This shifting box 4 about four feet
long, three feet wide and two feet high
It has in each end a sliding door.
The only trouble about the use Of
shifting box i to got the animal to 90
into IT,
AZ one end Of The pool with an incline
leading mp 10 it is a stone platform to
which the seals climb to rest and sleep,
When the time had come 10 move the
sea lion they drained the pool 81 It's
water So that men could work in T.
Even without the water the sea lion
could move about quickly. He seemed
to know that he was to b moved, for b
climbed up on the platform, looked over
the railing and barked at the shifting
box which be could see.
Then they got the box over the rail.
ing 70 the platform and sliiiced It with
a bucket 81 water to make It slippery
Tor the sea lion to slide into and then
with one Of the sliding doors open they
tried gently to drive him in. Nothing
doing. The zen lion has been moved
twice before here and each time with
out much trouble, but this time be was
perverAe Soon be Sid down the incline
of the platform u The floor Of the pool
and then they carried the shifting box
down after him and Set II again With
one door open for him there and baited
it inside with fish or two, but III
didn't attract him 1T all
Two men standing on the floor IF
the pool with poles tried to shoe him
but he Bit at the poles and sheered on,
and when the men Tried to stop him
he swept past them with rush and
up The incline 10 the platform Then
they shooed him down from there
again, and once more on the floor Of
the pool they worked him over again
toward the shifting box but stin the
sea lion didn't want to 20 in and they
couldn't drive him in
Then the men took step that led
to the sea lions capture They lifted
over into the pool loose screen door
about seven feet long and five feet wide
the screen part Of this door being
stout lattice work Of wire. Holding
this door before them with one of its
lengthwise edges resting on the floor,
four men advanced with ii and co0ped
the sea lion in He threw himself
against It in an effort to break through
it but the four men pressed hard and
there was no way out except through
the open door into the shifting box and
to Tie sea lion that seemed better than
and in he went In an instant
the man who had been standing ont
side holding the top Of the sliding door
dropped IT, Time, thirty minutes.
After that il WIS easy. Four men
lifted the shifting box over the railing
Of this pool into which he was 70 80, and I
there they opened the sliding door and
Just slid the sea lion out into the wa
ter
In this other pool there is at the cen.
tire solid massive table maybe six
feet square and having heavy ponder
Gus legs, its top foot or SO above the
water, forming q platform that the sea
hon can rest upon.
AT first sight this table alarmed him,
but when some ish had been thrown
into the pool for him aud he had pick. \
"a up one from under the table, brush 4
inc, without harm 70 himself, against I
one Of the legs, be ea3med down, and 4
then when a couple of the fishes were
tossed CD top u the table the sea lion,
after few minutes, lifted bis head up
to hook Il them, ana at last he jump.
cd up to get them, and since then he
has made the table platform his own
New York Sun.