Evening star., 1923-11-04
by GENE THOMAS.
HUMAN baby arrives and new

puzzle them.
But. at worst. their little darling
can not bite. sting or kick as can
most of the babies which the stork
leaves in care of w. H. Blackburne,
rneadkeeper Of the National Zoologi-
cal Park here in Washington, D. C.
One hundred animals have been
born in the zoo this year. More than
100 were born last year. In. short
during the thirty-three years Black
burne has superintended the Ma
tion1 Zoos inhabitants he has nc.
'cepfed from a generous stork' more
than 5000 baby animals.
They have varied from baby hum
ming bird, weighing less than, a hun
dredth of an ounce, to a hippopota-
mus, which weighed forty-five pounds
at birth.
Each birthday brought a problem
all its own. But the bringing up
of this mammoth menagerie-a task
beside which old Noah's feat pales-
is what has put gray hairs above
Headkeeper Black kburne's father1y
face.
'Sixty-two just-born boa construct
fors, each foot long and as thick as
:. pencil. needed me in hurry once"
Blackburne recalled
THE big brown mother serpent,
which just had increased so greatly
the zoos population, was about to
undo the accomplishment by crushing
her little ones to death. She was
coiling up, with no concern whether
-. -
rolled over them. I quickly pulled
them from the mothers side and
lodged them in a separate glass case.
I'm a week the siXty-two little boas
, were doing nicely, each eating a
mouse a day to prove it,
Serving them their dinner alive was
tried by Blackburne for few days.
But sixtytwo mouths and squirming
bodies soon became tangled in their
pursuit of the nimble mice. To over
come this Blackburne tapped the
mice unconscious and then distributed
them to the little boas. A fresh sup
ply of mice was gathered each morn
ing from traps placed about the zoo.
Most animal parents give their
keeper more cooperation than did
Mother Boa Constructor. Mrs. Brown
Bear is praised by Blackburne as an
example of this.
when the bears entered their
stone dens for the Information period
, last autumn 1 thought the brown
bear would come out accompanied by
cubs.
of,.,i .s..
christmas week I began listening.
at the den entrance for sounds Of the
cubs. January Q 1 heard them. On
days following their faint squeaks
grew to grunts of satisfaction, SO I
knew the little bears were being
nourished and cared for properly.
The mother did not bring them
near enough the door so I could learn
how many cubs she had until four
months after their birth. But when
she did appear, late in April, she
brought along three healthy, frolicking
cubs.
"Once a mother bear neglected her
cubs. 1 could hear their cries for
nourishment becoming weaker and
weaker each day. But there was no
way I could help. To enter the low.
dark den of the cross she-bear would
have been courting death. So the cubs
died"
T IKE Mother Brown Bear, Mother
IL Plains Wolf kept Blackburne
guessing the size of her family when
the stork left quadruplets in her den
last April 9.
She, with her little pups, stayed
HN~<h
Plains Wolf standing guard at the
den entrance.
And for several weeks after the
pups crawled out into the sunlight,
their mother. scooted them inside at
the approach of man. This trait of
Keeping their young secluded is COM
mon among the Zoos bears and
wolves, their keeper said.
Dame Peacock, however, goes them
one better. She surprised the keeper
last June by presenting him with a
flock of youngsters he was not even
expecting.
Allowed the freedom of the 170-
acre park. the bird sauntered of to
secluded nook and made her nest.
Just about the time keepers missed
one of their peacocks. she strutted
into sight, proudly leading ten little
fowl. Fi
Anxious to exhibit her brood to
less fortunate animals, she paraded
them for miles. Her vanity proved
costly, however. The march, much of
1t through wet grass. was SO strenu-
Gus on the little ones that several /
died.
Bears. wolves and pcacocks are only
= few of the babies which have come
to the>Zoo this year. Some other 1923
arrivals, listed in the National Zoo
birth register are: Two lions, two IT,
gers, twenty deer, one buffalo, four
kangaroos. four monkeys, twenty
eight night herrons and other rare
birds and one Rocky Mountain goat.
The larger the baby animal, the
longer 1t clings to- its mothers side
for nourishment and care, Biackburne
has observed.
Small birds leave their nests about
T. week after being Matched. Larger
birds lay in nests. a month. Kangaroo
stay in their mothers pouch the best
part of eight months. Hippopota-
muses require parental nourishment
ana attention for q year after birth. !
Even after young possum leave
their mothers pouch. they cling. by |
tsSth and foot. to the long hairs Of |
thsis parents side and back. Mother
Pbssum for weeks must waddle about |
her sage. weighted down lby a dozen J
little p3ssums. lodged AN over her !
back. @,as...,, I,
Proud Bear Mama howis delighted
Iy to Bear Papa IL their little one |
takes his first step before reaching !
l.