492 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 26, 1910. 
gether for hours at a time, sliding gracefully 
off the slippery boulders into the water when 
they get hungry and coming back with large 
fish in their jaws, which are shared with the 
young ones that are not yet able to withstand 
the fury of the waves. 
To capture them alive is no easy task, al¬ 
though they can be shot with ease. They are 
difficult to trap, the methods employed being 
either to ensnare them in strong nets or to rope 
them. The former method is, as a rule, the 
quickest and best means of capture. Nets bring 
the best results when used under high rocks 
and cliffs. The sea lions, some of which crawl 
high up on the cliffs, upon the approach of a 
boat, drop off into the water for a distance of 
seventy or eighty feet at a plunge. Long nets 
are stretched to prevent their getting out into 
the ocean, and the sea lions take refuge in the 
big caves and holes in the cliffs. The nets are 
narrowed to prevent their escape, and as they 
are driven out, they are ensnared, locked into 
small wooden cages fastened to long cables and 
left to float upon the surface until they are 
towed to the shore. 
The large ones that often reach a 'weight of 
several hundred pounds are frequently too 
strong for the nets, and tear them to pieces in 
their struggles to escape. The baby sea lions 
are very tame and docile and can often be 
picked up on the rocks without trouble. As 
they grow older, however, they become wild 
and dangerous, biting with the strength and 
fury of a timber wolf. 
Sea lions can be caught by a skillful roper, 
ivho cautiously approaches their resting places 
from the shore and throws the rope over the 
head and fore legs of the lions before being 
observed. As they are a very smooth and 
slippery animal, it is difficult to make the line 
hold unless a lucky throw is made. 
It has been my pleasure to observe a class 
of young sea lions being trained from the time 
they were taken from their natural haunts to 
their introduction under the circus tent. Their 
trainer was M. Alaska, who has beeh identified 
with several of the largest animals of the coun¬ 
try, and has been a teacher of lions, elephants, 
dogs and horses. 
Training quarters were fitted up with sur¬ 
roundings resembling those of a circus, as sea 
lions work better when not attracted by strange 
associations. The class of eight or ten were 
mostly about half grown, the old ones being 
disposed of to museums and pleasure parks, as 
they are very difficult to handle or train. 
The first thing to do was to get the sea lions 
on familiar terms with the trainer—that is, to 
get acquainted. This was done by frequently 
feeding and handling them. They were pro¬ 
vided with a large tank to swim in, and were 
taken out by the trainer and fed fresh sea fish in 
large numbers. They have a tremendous capac¬ 
ity for food, one sea lion being able to devour 
fifty or more small fish in a day. 
Each sea lion is first named, and whenever 
he is handled, his name is repeated frequently, 
so that when he is fed he can be called from 
the water tank by name. Each performer is 
supplied with a stool which is plqced in a cer¬ 
tain position, and upon this stool he is fed 
until he becomes familiar with his proper 
position. Not all sea lions are susceptible to 
training. Out of a class of ten, only six or 
seven are ever perfected, the poor ones being 
disposed of as soon as their inability to learn 
is recognized. 
Only the most simple tricks are taught at 
first, such as wearing a clown’s cap, holding a 
stick in the mouth, catching a ball in the jaws, 
etc. They are constantly called by name and 
upbraided for failures, and whenever a trick is 
well performed, the good pupil is rewarded with 
a raw fish. More difficult tricks are then given, 
such as balancing a ball on the tip of the nose, 
beating a drum or blowing a horn, until the 
circus man has a sea lion instrumental band. 
Sea lions are the most perfect balancers of 
all known animals. Their long and agile necks, 
trained by natural instincts to quick and ac¬ 
curate movements in swimming and catching 
fish under water, are most admirably fitted for 
the careful movements required in balancing. 
The handling and training of sea lions is not 
without its dangers. They are quite treach¬ 
erous at times. I remember visiting trainer 
Alaska one morning after he had been com¬ 
plimenting himself on the friendship of his pets, 
and was surprised to find one of his hands badly 
torn by the teeth of a sea lion, and the op¬ 
posite arm bandaged in heavy linen, where he 
had been bitten in the course of his daily train¬ 
ing work. 
It was gratifying to see the daily progress 
of the training work that within three months’ 
time after the sea lions had been taken from 
the ocean had made them proficient in catch¬ 
ing, balancing and blowing horns. They had 
soon become harmonized to their new mode of 
life, and as I bade them good-bye, each one 
by name, and received a nod of recognition, I 
knew that they would soon be spinning over the 
country in closely confined cars, far from their 
free ocean haunts, and that they would gradu¬ 
ally wear out their existence in daily exhibitions 
before curious, interested spectators. 
W. A. Bartlett. 
Domesticate the Elk. 
Washington, D. C., March 14 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The natural winter range of the 
game in the Yellowstone National Park is cap¬ 
able of supporting a limited number of animals, 
and this limit was reached several years ago. In 
early times and when the country began to settle 
up, all the game wintered outside of the park. 
Since the country has been fenced and settled 
by ranchers, and the open hillsides not suscept¬ 
ible of cultivation fenced for pasturage for do¬ 
mestic animals, this outside range has been cut 
off. Much of the old winter range is therefore 
no longer available. Besides this most of the 
open country in the surrounding timber reserves 
is pastured off by domestic sheep and cattle, so 
that virtually all the winter range for game is 
cut off, yet still the increase in the number of 
the animals in the park goes on. What is the 
result? 
During the past few years a great many elk 
have died of starvation. The elk leave the park 
in great numbers, break down fences and even 
enter the hay corrals, often destroying consider¬ 
able quantities of hay. Still very many of them 
die. Last winter—1908-09—as everybody knows, 
many starved to death in Jackson’s Hole, al¬ 
though the State of Wyoming appropriated $5,000 
and fed and saved many thousands of animals. 
A few years ago Capt. Geo. S. Anderson, then 
superintendent of the park, found one spring 
some thousands of dead elk, and the same year 
W. T. Hall, of Gardiner, counted in one morn¬ 
ing 300 dead carcasses floating down the Yellow¬ 
stone River. The elk that died within reach of 
the morning rise of the river must have been 
very few by comparison with those dying away 
from the stream. 
It is a self evident fact that something should 
be done to preserve the game and to prevent this 
waste of so much valuable food. The animals 
that now die should be made useful in some way 
to the States and to settlers and visitors. The 
surplus should be made available in some form— 
either for food or for purposes of domestication 
—thus keeping down to a proper limit the num¬ 
ber of animals that can be supported in the park 
on the present range. 
Now, as in past years, these animals are starv¬ 
ing to death and serve only to feed the coyotes 
and other destructive animals. Such a waste 
should be put an end to. It is now probable that 
not less than 5,000 elk will die this year. This 
is a very low estimate. 
For several years, since the elk have been com¬ 
ing into the State of Montana, the State has dis¬ 
couraged the capture of these animals for pur¬ 
poses of domestication. I knew of an instance 
where some boys had picked up a calf that had 
become tangled up in a barbed wire fence and 
was badly hurt. They carried it to a corral and 
nursed and fed it. It got well and ran with 
their cows, but the State game warden ordered 
them to turn it loose, saying that they must not 
keep it. This was done, and later the animal 
was killed by some Italians at Electric. 
Elk are easily domesticated and can profitably 
be bred by whomsoever takes the trouble to feed 
and care for them. The meat is really more 
valuable than beef. Of course this would have 
to be done under proper encouragement and 
under proper restrictions. Higher fences are re¬ 
quired to hold elk than any other animal that 
I know of. Any fence over the top of which 
they can reach their feet they will go over or 
smash down. 
By encouraging the domestication of these ani¬ 
mals the surplus increase in the park could be 
made valuable to the States surrounding the 
park—Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. The ani¬ 
mals could be shipped to other States and re¬ 
serves for restocking some of the wilder sec¬ 
tions and for propagation and domestication 
under control. 
The domestication, propagation and profitable 
raising of fur-bearing animals could be encour¬ 
aged by the States in the same bill. As 'it is 
now no encouragement is given in any way. 
Often there are many acres on a ranch that 
could be used for such work—acres that are 
valueless for ordinary farming. T. E. H. 
Bluejay, of Course. 
An accident in the printing office last week 
necessitated a sudden change in the make-up of 
Forest and Stream, and in the resulting con¬ 
fusion the illustration of a bluejay was absurdly 
labeled Canada jay, and the mistake not dis¬ 
covered until the paper came off the press. A 
blunder so obvious could not mislead anyone, 
but is none the less regretted. 
