Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-13

Inc rarest creature in the Zoo Is
being kept alive by three baths each
week In a bucket of milk.
| 1t Is the wierd South America n
hHard' received about three weeks
ago by DR.. William NJ Mann. super
lntendent OF the park. and pronounced
! by National Museum experts as the
/ only specimen of it's race in captivity.
/ with the single exception of it's ma to
now In the Bronx Zoo in New York
| The lizard lives both in the water
| and in trees. When first relea sed in
| the Zoo cage it crawled at once to
! large pan of water and completely
| Immersed itself
Keeper Blackburn soon found that
| the creature would not eat. The
/ daintiest of lizard tidbits were placed
! before it and We're spurned. AS it
grew weaker heroic measures We're
necessary to save II. The water was
! removed and the milk substituted. cit
! fooled the lizard. who tumbled into
the milk as readily as it had into the
| water. evidently satisfied so long as
! il was wet.
Must Suck in Milk.
The theory on which Mr.. Blackburn
| is working Is that in the process of
| these baths it cannot help sucking in
some of the milk and thus taking
| nourishment in spite of itself. Later
! on II may get so accustomed TO its
surroundings that il will deign to
eat bananas. the customary zoo fare
for stubborn lizards.
The creature is particularly priced
because of it's ancient appearance
looking as it does much like a minia- :
ture of some of the great reptiles
which roamed the world in prehis-
t2ric days and which now are pre-
served only in museum fossil collec-
tons.
The Zoo during the past week has
received some particularly valuable
additions. DR.. Mann announced yester-
day. Among these is the Arizona
banded RATHER. "A very rare form Of
rattlesnake, sent TO DR.. Mann by
George Hoffner, an employee of the
Department of Agriculture stationed
in Arizona. Mr.. Hoffner has taken
particular interest in securing for the
Zoo the rarest of the strange crea-
lures found in the desert country of
the Southwest. With the RATHER Mr..
Hoffner sent what is probably the
most beautiful of the lizard family,
the Arizona collared lizard. a small
delicately colored reptile now seldom
seen. Its most notable feature Is the
fineness of it's tail. which when curled
has ali the appearance of a delicate
watch spring.
Pair of Fighting Fish.
DIR. Mann also received 4 pair Of
Siamese fighting fish. the first in the
zoo here These fish are trained to
fight in Siam much as dogs. cocks or
bulls are made into fighters in other
countries. At one time fish fights
were licensed by the King of Siam
and the returns therefrom constituted
"A considerable part of the royal In
come.
The pair received here are a male
and female and will doubtless live
together without quarreling. The
method of inducing the fish to fight
followed in Siam is TO place two males
and one female in the same cage
Then one of the males is almost GER
tain TO tear the other to pieces.
Green Edged With Red.
The fighting fish is, when full
grown about zig inches long, a very
rich green in color. with the cages
Of fms tipped red. and with long, sharp
teeth. proportionate to its size. 1t
is probably the fiercest in disposition
of all the smaller fish.
From Mrs. George Schirch of Ches-
tertown, Md, DIR. Mann received a
buck Guatemala deer of rare spe
cies. Mrs. Schirch had kept the deer
as a pet for nearly a year and be-
came attached to II. 1t developed
fierce disposition, however, and she
was forced to dispose OF 1t when 1t
nearly killed two women with it's
horns.
From Wilson Popenoe. formerly of
the Department of Agriculture, DR..
Mann received a Rossignon's swapping
turtle from Central America. a rare
species of reptile, but very similar in
appearance to the common American