Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1910-12-30
UNCLE SANS SEALS
TWO @FUR-7EARINo ORPHANS
ARE HIS ESPECIAL WARDS.
they Thrive and Show Way to Con-
serve Rich Pelts In the Waters
OF AIaska-Pups Induced
to Eat Fish.


boys call a "fipfop;" Ennatha
perched high on the smooth rock in
the center of the tank, tapped first
her right Ripper down and then left,
making a sound not unlike that of a
whack of barrel stave on stone
pavement, and then dove of the
rock into the water, going through
the same performance her young
mate had just completed.
Atagh and Ennatha are two pup
fur-seals, the only fur-seals in cap
tivity, and are quartered at the
United States bureau of fisheries in
Washington. Atagh is a male and
Ennatha is female. Both were born
in July, 1909.
In the same month of the same
year, James Judge, an assistant agent
Of the seal fisheries, division of
the bureau of fisheries, was on the
Island Of st. Paul, of the Pribilof
group in tho Behring sea, numerating
the seals in Uncle Sans fur-seal pos
sessions. At the same time the
! United States revenue cutter Bear
was doing patrol duty in the waters
In the vicinity of Alaska Among the
crew of the Bear was boatswain.
Judson Thurber, quaint, quiet Yam
kee, with a reputatic1 for observing
much and saying little.
Many Seals Starving.
About this time Mr.. Judge and
others of the seal fisheries were en-
deavoring to find a means of saving
the lives of thousands of seal pups
who were starving to death. They
were orphaned seals, having lost
their mothers through the zeal and
craftsmanship Of Japanese poachers.
In desperation, Mr.. Judge decided
upon an oft-tried measure, that of
feeding the Pup seals milk from a
bottle. In October, 1909, while the
Bear was at the Island of st. Paul,
Mr.. Judge went to the largest rock
cry on the island and selected two of
the best looking three-months-old
pups, male and female Doctor Car
roll of the public health and marine
hospital service-surgeon on the
Bear, was selected by Mr. Judge to
make the experiment and feed the
pups.
Doctor Fox was unsuccessful, but in
his efforts to make the pups suck
a nipple he broke the fraenum or
skin which keeps the tongue of an
infant seal fast to the mouth, at
the gum. Boatswain Thurber had
been an interested spectator during
tho nYnariuoapH o0d uybau naoEa- NJ.
gave up in despair Thurber adopted
the pups for pets, never dreaming
that they would live any great while
or that he would ultimately solve
the problem of feeding pup seals. One
afternoon with the pups aboard ship,
he noticed that their tongues would
occasionally hang from their mouths
like a dogs and unlike any other
seal pup he had ever seen. His
curiosity was aroused and he
watched the pups more attentively.
1t suddenly flashed across his mind
that the faenum Of both seals had
either been broken or cut, and he
Immediately began to figure out
how these pups could feed them
selves.
Main Diet Is Fish.
The diet of the seal is fish, which
they catch while swimming about
the waters in the vicinity of their
rookery. Thurber bore this in mind
and procured large fish. He then
cut 1t into strips and tied these
strips on the end of a long piece of
Irvine. Next he carried the pups
back to the Island of st. Paul and
had them put in a tank of water
there. The pups began swimming
about the tank and Thurber knew
then that they were capable of help
Ing themselves to a certain extent.
While the seals were swimming
about, Thurber would drag the
pieces of fish through the water in
front of them.
At first the pups paid no atten-
ton to them, but Thurber was pa
tient and stuck to his task. After
almost three days of fish-dragging
the male pup finally took notice
of the fish and grabbed it. Thurber
for fear the pup would let go. cut the
Irvine holding the piece of fish and
the pup Immediately swallowed II.
He evidently enjoyed the morsel, for
as soon as Thurber began trailing |
the second piece of fish through the
water in front of the female pup the
young male grabbed fish, string and |
all and swallowed that Thurber
then had the pups put in separate
tanks and after two-days' trial sue
ceeded in making the young female
eat. After this he fed them by hand
and It was only few days before
the pups began to look for his COMING
and the strips of fish. Little did
Thurber realize that he had hit upon
the only feasible method of SAVING
the lives of thousands of pun seals
and ultimately thousands of pelts for
the market.
Boatswain Thurber's success eIatad
Mr.. Judge, and the latter Immediate
ly communicated the discovery m HE
chief, commissioner of fisber,es
George M. Bowers. The latter wirod
Mr.. Judge to have Mr.. Thurber brino
the seals to Washington. In the