1366 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



BRANCHES REMOVED FROM THE BEAVER DAM SPILLWAY 



This pile represents aljovit twelve months labor by the beavers in filling the opening- of the spillway. 



were horrified to find that he had so demora- 

 lized the mesh with his teeth that numerous 

 wires stuck out in all directions like porcupine 

 quills, and precisely on a level with his eyes. 

 Fortunately his eyes were not injured; and 

 then the column top was covered with heavy 

 sheet-metal. We anticipate further and varied 

 developments, at any time. 



The Self-Made Troubles of a Deer. — In the 

 gentle art of getting into trouble one of our 

 specimens of Hangul deer rivals the giraffe. 

 During the last three years scarcely a month 

 has passed wherein this powerful and savage 

 animal has not made it necessary to call keep- 

 ers to extricate him from awkward situations 

 of his own creating, or summon the wire-work- 

 ers to make repairs. Though in a spacious yard 

 with a number of trees, and with every oppor- 

 tunity to take exercise, this animal's favorite 

 pastime is to lunge at the fence in an endeavor 

 to break the vertical wires. We have twice 

 noosed him in order to remove portions of tree 

 boxes which he viciousty charged and tightly 

 wedged upon his antlers. Once after a storm, 

 during which telej^hone wires were blown down, 

 he managed by diligent worrying of a wire to 

 wrap about twenty-five feet of it tightly about 

 his head and antlers. It was necessarv to tie 



him to the fence in order to cut away the tan- 

 gle. He afterwards repeated the wire exploit 

 by tearing out a mesh partition. Recently, by 

 thrusting his muzzle between two gate posts he 

 managed to run a gate hook through his upper 

 lip. The hook was attached to a chain, but 

 fortunately the latter came loose without tear- 

 ing the animal's mouth. A squad of keepers 

 drove the maddened deer to a corner of the cor- 

 ral, where a lasso over his horns brought him 

 to the fence. The hook was removed with dif- 

 ficulty, and the injur}^ quickly healed. In ad- 

 joining yards, of quite similar construction and 

 condition, our large elk herd, containing several 

 vigorous bucks, has lived for sixteen years with- 

 out an}^ of the troubles that so often have been 

 invented by the Hangul deer. 



The Animal Hospital. — The interior fittings 

 of the new animal hospital and pathological lab- 

 oratory are rapidly being completed, and the 

 building will be ready for use this spring. This 

 building is an important addition to Dr. Blair's 

 department. It contains a number of large and 

 small cages, quarantine facilities, exceptionally 

 well-lighted operating and dissecting rooms, 

 and is fitted throughout with the latest type of 

 electrically operated ventilators. A full de- 

 scription of it will appear later on. R. L. D. 



