Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-27

man was here yesterday depict
ing our animal parks gaur herd.
Today he's at the wheel of his
truck, bound for st. Louis. The
ZOO there is scheduled to get the
gaur tomorrow and become the
second United States ZOO to have
any.
Gaur are enormous wild cattle
from India. Zoo Director VIII
liam M. Mann brought a pair Of
youngsters here in 1887 with a
National Geographic Expedition
cargo. Now the third generation
is on display in the Elephant
House.
Harry Overbaugh. Catskill,
N. Y, has a unique job. He
used to haul horses. He switched
to wild game II years ago and Is
so successful at it that ZOOS
everywhere call him in to crate
and ship their animals.
"Gaur are like giraffe" he said
yesterday. They'll both fight
capture to the death"
For this cattle drive, he is
using two strong crates, lined
with plywood. The lining is to
prevent the cattle from getting
their horns through the bars and
breaking the horns. A broken
horned gaur is much less OF an
attraction than a complete one.
For several days, he has been
feeding the gaur in the crates.
Yesterday, accustomed to enter
ing the crates, they found them
selves trapped. Mr.. Overbaugh,
Head Keeper Frank Lowe and a
dozen ZOO attendants manhan-
died the gaur, weighing about q
ton each, onto Mr.. Overbaugh's
truck, and he rolled away toward
st. Louis.
Mr.. Overbaugh said nobody
else in the country specializes In
his line. "And 1t would be a real
good Job for a young fellow" he
said.
Any young fellow who feels In
clined to valet wild brutes around
the countryside better be quick
on his feet.
Have you ever been bitten or
mauled?" a visitor asked the
master.
StOmped by Brahma Bull
Mr.. Overbaugh exhibited his
right shin. A splash of scar tissue
as big as a cruller marred the
leg. "A Brahma bull knocked me
down and stomped me there" he
said. Il was just one second too
slow getting out of the way.
Broke the leg in four places, and
spent a year in the hospital"
That was several years ago.
He says bears are the toughest
transport cases.
They're as smart about escaping
as Houdini," he said. Take a
polar bear. He won't just slam
his weight against the cage. He
braces his paws against it and
then leans on the paws with all
his strength. Polars are stronger
than you'd think possible. They
bite at the cage, too. I've seen
them bite their way out. And
they'll claw a cage until their
fingers bleed.
He said he lines bear moving
cages with metal. But they still
manage to get out" he said.
Deer are awful things to
ship. You have to lasso them
and get them into the cage. Cats
are pretty easy. They're already
Gagged. Snakes aren't so bad"
Thousands of Animals
How many animals has he
carted around?
II don't like to say" he said.
You'd think I was liar. I'll
say I've shipped more than
10000, though. That's low
enough for you to believe"
His home park is the Catskill
Game Farm. But he is on the
road much Of the year, with one
eye cooked toward the truck bed
for signs of a bear on the loose.
He is SO years old and grand
father. Yesterday he vaulted an
elephant house cage like a cham
pion track and field man. He may
be a mite slow for a certain
Brahma bull, but he is still annaz-
ingly agile.
The st. Louis Geological Gar
den director. George P. Vierhel-
Ter, was with him yesterday. Mr.,
Vierheller left last night by air.
plane for his own ZOO.
Shop Talk Snapped
DR.. Mann escorted his old
friend and competitor around