ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1649 



imal is so absolutely docile that a child can 

 fondle it. although its aspect is not reassuring. 

 The wombat possesses great strength, and sharp 

 claws for digging. It constructs burrows, even 

 in stubborn and rocky ground, and leads much 

 the same life, on a magnified scale, as our com- 

 mon ground "hog." 



Animal Weather Prophets. — Our prairie 

 dogs appear to be quite reliable forecasters of 

 the weather, and Ibis has been particularly 

 noted the past spring, when there were numer- 

 ous, heavy rains. On a number of occasions the 

 larger members of the colony were observed to 

 lie loosening the earth around their mounds with 

 their forefeet, then shovelling the soil upward 

 with the hind feet. Other members worked 

 within the burrow throwing out earth to aid in 

 the building process. When the borders of a 

 crater had been considerably raised the animals 

 went to work tamping down the earth with 

 their heads. This is an amusing process. They 

 look like miniature goats, pounding the ground 

 witii tin' tops of their heads. These operations 

 invariably took place before a rain, and the ob- 

 ject was the construction of a circular dyke to 

 prevent water running down the burrow. 



Tame Swallows. — Several swallows have 

 built their nests in the elks' shelter shed, and 

 have become remarkably tame. They fly be- 

 tween and over the members of the herd when 

 the deer are in their shed, and pay no atten- 

 tion to the keeper as he cleans the enclosure. 

 In their constant trips for aerial insect food, 

 they pass so close to the keeper's face that he 

 frequently feels the displaced air from their 

 wings. Their nests are built of mud and plas- 

 tered against the wall. Several of them are so 

 accessible that one mav stand and look into 

 them. This procedure does not greatly disturb 

 the swallows, which for a moment circle away, 

 but immediately return as if nothing unusual 

 had happened. 



A Strange Hat-Trap. — We have found it 

 necessary to watch for the appearance of rats 

 in the prairie dog enclosure. Owing to the con- 

 struction of the fence, with its internal over- 

 hang, this circular enclosure forms a gigantic 

 rat-trap. The prowling rodents are enticed by 

 the food within, and after climbing the fence 

 from the outside, find it impossible to return. 

 We recently noted a large rat killing a young 

 prairie dog. and at once several rat-traps were 

 set. A full dozen of the marauders were cap- 

 tured during the night. 



A Duel in the Bear Bens.— Eor the first time 

 in several vears we had the misfortune to be 



compelled to witness a fight to the death in one 

 of tin larger bear dens. The combat involved 

 a small female Yezo bear, from Japan, and a 

 large hybrid Sloth-Russian bear, born in the 

 Park. The latter animal was the aggressor, and 

 the attack was made without the slightest pre- 

 monitory symptom of hostility. Bears often act 

 that way. 



Everything possible was done by our force of 

 keepers to separate the combatants, but to no 

 avail. The infuriated hybrid bear seemed to be 

 unaware of the energetic use of clubs, bars, 

 streams of water and ammonia fumes. The 

 struggle lasted many minutes, and at its end the 

 Yezo bear was killed and dragged into a shell- 

 ing den. The hybrid became so savage and ag- 

 gressive that for an entire day the keepers were 

 unable to enter the den. Rather than risk an- 

 other tragedy, the murderous animal was mer- 

 cifully destroyed. 



Battling Under Water. — A few days after 

 the combat at the bear dens, there was a trag- 

 edy at the Sea-Lion Pool. A recently .arrived sea- 

 lion hail at first been very friendly with the two 

 others which had amicably occupied the pool. 

 Trouble developed without warning, and the 

 most of the fighting took place under water. 

 Our second best specimen was killed by a sav- 

 age bite through the head. This was our first 

 fatal case of fighting between sea-lions. 



Strange Antics of a Monkey. — There is a 

 large rhesus monkey in the Park that seems to 

 entertain strange hallucinations. Whether or 

 not this animal is actually insane is a problem. 

 From a position of rest be will suddenly glare 

 ahead, then make a frantic reach for an imagi- 

 nary something that seems to be passing near. 

 The motion appears like an effort to grasp a 

 passing fly. At times the endeavor is with both 

 hands, as if the object were large and formid- 

 able. Often be will spring several feet in the 

 effort. These antics take place only if the 

 keeper is near, and sometimes considerable en- 

 ergy is consumed. The animal is in splendid 

 physical condition. 



Cjaiif Otters. — For the past six months the 

 Zoological Society has been in long-distance 

 possession of three giant otters, in the hinter- 

 land of French Guiana, — bought and paid for. 

 but undelivered because of a lack of ships to 

 bring them. "It is the war!" We never yet 

 have exhibited that remarkable species, and it 

 is rather sailing to at last be so near to de-facto 

 possession, and yet so far. Apparently those 

 giants are destined to live and die in their own 

 countrv. 



