The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-27
WOMAN GETSL
BY CATCHING SEALS
Maine Woman Carries On
Unusual Business
HOW TO CATCH THEM
Stock Disposed of to Various Museums
Throughout the Country-Train-
er Uses Human Methods.
Supply Small
HOW TO CATCH THEM

Women who have been obliged to sup
port themselves have entered into almos
every line of industry. and have usually
had the benefit of the advice OF Others
who were engaged in the same pursuit.
There is, however one woman in the
United States who is alone in her chosen
vocation, and whose vocation will prob
ably die with her. Mrs Janet MacDen.
aid of Bayville, Me-, who is IL years oi
age and is as active and energetic as
many women of 40, is the one in question
and her peculiar vocation is that of catch
ing live seals, states an exchange.
Her husband, Capt. Angus Macdonald
was asked by a Boston man to try Z
catch a seal alive, the Bostonian desiring
1t for a pet. The captain succeeded. and
Mrs. Macdonald then decided to so into
the business as a regular occupation
Since her husbands death she has car
ried It on without assistance for a period
of IL years.
For a quarter OF a century, all told
she has been intimately acquainted witt
seals and their ways, and has trained
them, made pets of them, caught and solo
them, but never has she consented to the
killing of one, and she regards raising
them for their fur. as sacrilege.
After mastering the art of catching
them she started for New York city with
half dozen seals packed in crates and
this, the first such shipment on record
was disposed of to museums within a
week.
How the Seals Are Shared
Her method of catching them is notable
for its gentleness and the difference be-
tween her ideas and those of most per-
sons engaged in capturing wild creatures.
She spreads huge nets over the rocks
of the islands at low tide and as the
seals crawl out of the water TO bask in
the sunshine on the rocks they become
entangled in the meshes At once they
will start for the ocean, but before they
can reach it, hampered as they are, Mrs
MacDonald's men, who have been waiting
near by, jump out of their boat and gather
up the seals, net and all.
Then the captive is carried to the farm
pen where he is kept until he has become
used TO captivity and feels at home. Part
, of his training consists in cultivating lis
liking for the sort of food which he will
be required to eat thereafter. In the nat
ural state the seal likes live fish and Mrs
Macdonald attributes the many and early
deaths of aquarium seals to the fact that
they are not properly weaned from this
diet She feeds live fish until she has
W he acquaiutaine of her captives
l come good friends with them, ane
title by little. persaudes them tc
rs N dead fish instead.
liner Uses Human Methods
ft e time Mr. Seal has become useo
hill nf ba ia ready IN ht
.Flt ueU to the city where he will be 6
e1rfc= of entertainment and instruction
f5 asands of people. She has sent hel
stvcn as far as Chicago and st. Louis
and has never lost one In transit through
sickness.
Some of the inmates of her farm are o!
docile as domestic animals within a few
weeks time They will follow her abou
liks dogs, and beg for candy and pieces
of sugar. of which they are very fond
and which are given them as a treat ant
reward of merit
In removing them from the pen on th'
farm her method is as humane as whei
capturing them. No force is allowed to b,
used. The big net is again brought int,
use, slipped carefully under the seal Will,
he is in the water. and he is lifted on
into the crate in which he is to make hi
journey. Then the net is quietly Olsen
tangled from his flippers and he is pettet
until he feels calm and is in state o
mind quiet enough to stand his long an'
strange trip.
Supply Steadily Diminishing
The destruction wrought by those wh'
seek the seals for their skin has so re
duced the supply that Mrs. Macdonald
estimates that none will be found alon.
the coast of Maine in about 10 years from
now, if they remain that long. Hence sh
contemplates retiring from business abou
the same time, although she would hav
no thought of quitting were it not TO
that probability.
Although Bayville has a summer popu
1ation of 250 to 300 persons, Mrs. MacDon
aid is the sole resident during the winter
When one considers that the snow is Otter
three feet deep on the level and drift
much higher at times one can realize hoy
sturdy is the Spirit of this Remarkable
woman. She gets her supplies during tn
winter by means of a stage from Bentol
Harbor. which she can reach by telephon
in case of need.