Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-07-26

suspended for a period of years while the
dwindled stock has a chance to multiply. The
$3.50 to $500 for each bird. depending upon
| the size of the order. Mountain quail are quoted
a little lower, while turkeys of the wild variety
will often cost as much as SIT apiece.
II for any reason a brown or black bear
should be desired, it may be secured on fairly
short notice for about $75. Mountain lions
alive, cost as much as $3.50. The smaller and
commoner wild cat costs only about $50.
For the larger animals, the whole demand
prices for some Of the big beasts range up to
thousands of dollars. A good giraffe will easily
command $4,000. Geological men say that there
are only about twenty now in the United States
the largest group being that owned by one
circus. Few ZOOS can boast the possession Of q
giraffe.
Another animals which is rare in the United
States is the rhinosceros. although it's cousin,
the hippotamus, can be seen in almost any
collection of wild beasts imported from other
climes. The gorilla, of the four great anthra-
poid varieties, is very scarce. the only one In
the United States having died last winter from
pneumonia. Good specimens of either thesrhino
or the gorilla are worth at least $4,000.
Lions Not Greatly in Demand.
Tigers command a better price than lions.
Right now lions are a drug on the market, and
some can be obtained for as little as $3.50 or
$500. Lions in captivity often breed well, and
in this country. Not many years ago the Amerl-
can bison had dwindled to such small numbers
that a good specimen was worth a considerable
sum, but the efforts to preserve the beasts, botn
wild herds and those in captivity, have resulted
in building them up to the point where all
danger of extinction is past. Consequently they
are not so valuable.
Elephants always command a good price. The
last two elephonts purchased for the zoo in
paid for the pair. A full grown elephant would
be worth about this much money. Elephants
rarely breed in captivity. but quite a number
are caught every year in the big elephant drives.
BY the way, animal men say the greatest age
to elephants by fiction writers is a
of their maginatinos, that the average
lenUfh Of an e1pnh1nf'S life iS 6fty to sixty wears.
and that it is rarely indeed that an elephant
reaches 100 years.
1t is not an sight to find black
in ZOOS and circuses. Contrary to gen.
eral belief, this is not a distinct species, but a
occurrence among the big cats. These
are merely melanistic animals, occurring more
among leopards than among the
larger members of the feline family. the AMI.
have in their makeup a large shore OF
pigment, and are just the opposite of albino
types, which completely lack pigment. There
have been cases Of alhino tigers and leopards
There is at least one pelt of a totally black tiger
On the fur of the black leopard, in the proper
light, the outlines of the spots may be seen
easily. This over-supply of pigment In some
other birds and animals is not uncommon, some
varieties of hawks often being much darker
han the ordinary color of their brothers and
sisters.
The offspring of a black leopard might all
be the usual spotted animals, but in some other
Kinds of beasts, by careful selection and breed
ng most of the young ones born Will De pig
to such an extent that all will present
In appearance very different from the original
animal. In one notable instance, the darker
animals have been produced IN commercial
quantities., and excellent specimens command
prices a hundred times as great as the lighter
,olored specimens of the breed.
This case is that of the so-called silver black
This fox is exactly the same fox as the
red one. Occasionally in the United
among a litter Of young foxes a melanis-
vas more common. Sometimes some OF the
,oung ones would be darker on some parts OF
he pelt, and this skin is known commercially
Is the ''cross fox"
Breeding Silver Foxes.
Careful selection of the blacklist of the melan-
site foxes from generation to generation de.
If which are worth $4,000, as compared with
/ price of about $50 which the common red
OK brings.
Fox farms where these beasts are raised for
The fur they bear have become quite common
N the United States and Canada. The Depart
nent Of Agriculture says there are about 400
fox farms in this country, devoted mostly TO
he propagation of silver black foxes. and that
here are more than 5000 such foxes now in
zach year for the fur trade.
In developing the silver black fox, it was
Prince Edward Island, the black fox puppie<
more frequently than in the United
States, and most of the black foxes imported
iere came from Prince Edward Island. Canada,
according to the figures in the possession OF the
of Agriculture, now possesses about
1000 silver black foxes in captivity.
The black fox and the black leopard and a
ew other melanistic forms are common enough
lot to be freaks. and therefore have a legitimate
in ZOOS. Most animal experts contend
hat out and out freaks have not, as they are
lot representative of any breed of animals, but
ire accidents of nature. However, Superin-
endent HOLSTER of the Geological Park in
Washington says he is continually having Of
cred to him fve-legged calves, two-headed SER
'ents, and every other conceivable strange Tor
nation of animal life. Without exception, these
,ffers are refused. The only. beasts approach
ng an unusual type of animal harbored in the
Washington zoo are a cross between a female
ISIS and a zebra, and a cross between a male
and a horse. These, Mr.. HOLSTER pointed
were not freaks, but such economic expert
nents in animal industry as the cross between
he bison and the common COW. |