Evening star., 1925-08-09
Washington Wild Animal Expert
Has Given Life to Tanning Beasts
Park 33 Ago andSt Capitals Zoo.

calmly movements always win the
plaudlts Of the many spectators who
throng TO the Zoo TO ''see the ele-
phant jump the fence" As a rule
Ma Elephant is a faithful mother
She takes good care of her young and
raises them according to model meth.
DDS. Like the young of the human
family. baby elephants soon learn to
like bread and milk. Henceforward.
this delicacy is their substitute ice
cream cone. The youngsters soon
learn 10 eat grass, clover, hay and
grain. The same old variety of apples
that proved the undoing of Adam in
the Garden of Eden is a prize which
the baby elephant relishes most high
ly. Baby elephants are comparatively
easy to train. If they become sepa-
rated from their mothers during
jungle stampede, native or white
man can often capture one of the big
beasts. Henceforward, after the ele-
phant learns to know his master, he
will follow him like dog
X x
pa" ELEPHANT is the Methuse-
lah of the African jungle. Most
OF the wild beasts do all their growing
the first year or so and rapidly attain
maturity. The same is true of the
| bird families. For example. the av-
erage ostrich grows one foot a month
for the first six months of its life and
then its growing is about finished. The
elephant, huge and ponderous as he
IS, is much more deliberate about this
important business of gaining full
size. Mister Elephant, generally
speaking, is not considered to be get
ting old until he has celebrated more
than 90 birthday anniversaries. Many
elephants live during the period of a
score of presidential campaigns and
elections A few elephants have even
attained the ripe old age of fourscore
and ten before they have shuffied off
this mortal coil.
Playing doctor to the wild animal
fair is one job which the ordinary
graduate veterinarian does not banker
after. 1t takes a lot of clever head
work to fool the wild beasts. They
are particularly wary of strange
smells and odors. If they note an
t,I Unusual smell or taste TO their food
they will reject the rations All OF
winch complexities the matter of get
tlng medicine into the ailing animal.
ABOUT all the animal keepers can do
IS 10 Starve the sick beast until II
reaches the point where it will guIp
down food or water in copious
amounts irrespective of odor, taste on
other abnormalittes. EPSON salts can
usually be used to done" the water
of the animals that are fasted unfiI
they are so hungry and thirsty that
they VIII take anything that is offered
TO them IN the way of food and drink
The wild animal doctor also capi-
tallZeS the habit which the lion. tiger
and other jungle quadrupeds have of
licking their paws and faces If one
OF the animals is sick with Indigestion
the keeper sprays castor oil over the
nose. head and feet of the beast.
Immediately the animal begins TO lick
off the medicine. A queer expedient
this is, but, Notwithstanding. a most
practical one where one is working
with wild beasts which cannot be
handled and which would rend the
keeper flesh from bone if he at
tempted TO force medicine down their
throats.
1t is not so difficult in the case of
animals like the camel. They can be
caught and held like a horse while
one of the attendants using a drench-
ing bottle, pours the medicine down
the throat of the sick beast. NIr
Blackburn has had many interesting
experiences in doctoring sick deer sni
buffalo. They have to be caught and
handled most carefully. Naturally,
they are shy and timid-unless en-
ragged. On several occasions Wash
ington's expert animal trainer has set
the broken legs of deer and buffalo,
supported the repaired limbs in
plaster paris casts, and, subsequently,.
handled the wild beasts so that finally
they gained full use of the damaged
members again. Whenever the need
for so doing arises. he also plays
dentist to the animal fair He has
filed the teeth of some of the beasts
that were bothered with sore mouths, 4
while he has pulled the aching teeth
of other animalS-and some of these
teeth which he extracted were as
large as small lemons.