.Strange Friendships Among Animals
When the lion lies down with the lamb—or maybe this cat and mouse really are on friendly terms and Pussy has no idea of following her natural bent. It’s a fact that surprising intimacies do spring up between animals born to be enemies and of course this may be a case of that kind. Still the mouse better watch his step and take no chances.
.ACE TO THE RESCUE
THE old habit, in vogue when mother was a bathing beauty, of going to the beach to be rescued by a handsome lifeguard, is now out-of-date. Today’s pretty swimmer—at least, in California—trains the dog to do her rescuing.
Here you see Ace, a year-old Alsatian shepherd dog, who was trained to do all kinds of stunts for the movies, but who excels at pulling lovely young things out of the drink. All you have to do is scream for help—and Ace will do the rest.
Ace was trained by Earl Johnson, whose dogs have been famous for their movie manners, and it took him only two months to learn his life-saving duties. His father, however, was the famous movie canine, Lightning.
.our business is GOING TO THE DOGS
By Bob Swaner
I never realized until I joined the Navy what a problem it could be to keep a big dog supplied with good, nourishing food.
What has the Navy got to do with it? Well, I was an officer in the Shipbuilding Division of the Bureau of Ships, and my job kept me traveling a great deal. Of course I brought my family with me, including Tigue, our German Shepherd. He’s a real dog, tough and with the appetite of a lion. And there was my problem… feeding the critter.
When the cats takeover, remember, this is where it started.
I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords.
.Fighting Rats With Special Cats
AT a cat farm in Le Havre, France, scientists are attempting to breed new kinds of cats which will pursue and eat rats so eagerly that they can be used to help rid ships and cities of the hordes of rats which now infest them.
The modern cat has been ruined by centuries of ease and dependence on mankind. Thus the natural instinct of rat catching has been so weakened that the average cat now is not worth, as a rat fighter, cost of keeping the cat alive.
It is believed that this weakened instinct is still dormant in the cat race and that by breeding cats for this special purpose and by keeping alive out of each generation of kittens only those that show good rat-catching powers, a race of rat-catchers can be produced which will surpass anything now known.
.From Jungle to Zoo on the Wild Animal Trail
as told by FRANK BUCK
Famous Animal CollectorOne of the most thrilling jobs in the world is that of Frank Buck, who captures wild animals for zoos all over the globe. He tells of some of his perilous experiences in this article. With Edward Anthony, he is author of “Bring ‘em Back Alive,” a fascinating book of his animal collecting adventures.
FOR eighteen exciting years I have been gathering live animals, reptiles and birds for the zoos, the circuses and dealers. I have brought back to America thousands of specimens. I have had more than my share of thrills, including narrow escapes from the fangs of venomous serpents and the claws of man-eating tigers.
.HAIRLESS MICE MAY GIVE CLEW TO BALDNESS CURE
Just arrived in this country, a shipment of African “rhinoceros mice” may help scientists to find the cause of baldness and develop a cure. Although the strange rodents have whiskers like other mice, their bodies are devoid of hair. Experiments to determine the cause of this unusual characteristic are planned by Dr. Alexis Carrel of the Rockefeller Institute and Dr. W. E. Cassell of Harvard University. If the experimenters should succeed in growing hair on the mice, as reports indicate they may attempt, it is hoped that a similar treatment may be worked out which will cure baldness in human beings. Two of the mice are seen in the picture above.
.TRAIN YOUR DOG TO RUN ERRANDS
It’s old stuff to Buck, famous movie dog shown above and below, but he is willing to pose so other dogs may learn. Below, training a dog to bark when a stranger approaches. As door opens, the dog is led forward and told to speak. “Guard duty” is the dog’s most fundamental job.
If your dog has learned to obey such commands as “Sit “Come” and “Speak,” he can be taught to perform many useful tasks, according to Carl Spitz, Hollywood trainer of movie dogs.
.An Improved Squirrel House
Most children enjoy having pets such as rabbits and squirrels. A house that will accommodate several squirrels, and will permit them to climb a tree without danger of escape, has been found to be a great improvement upon the small wooden houses generally used.
The main house should be about ft. square, with a roof slanting down from the front, and supported on posts 3 ft. high. The front side should face the south; it should be as open as possible, and covered with 1-in. poultry mesh.
.New Mexico’s Reptile Wrangler
Launching a curio shop with two baby boas as a come-on, an ex-GI and his wife found snakes a profitable business.
By Weldon D. Woodson
ON May 1, 1946, 26-year-old Texas-born ex-GI Herman Atkinson and his 24-year-old wife Phyllis opened a small curio shop on tourist-packed U. S. Highway 66, a mile and a half west of the pint-size village of Grants, New Mexico.
For bait to lure motorists, they had caged two baby boa constrictors. A gargantuan sign blazened to the world their Lilliputian “den of death.” Despite the limitations of their improvised menagerie, they observed that visitors showed more wide-eyed interest in the duet of boas than the curios.
.The Mechanics of Lion Taming
by CLYDE R. BEATTY
Famous Animal TrainerWhy is the gun used by lion tamers loaded with blank cartridges — and why are trainers careful never to strike their charges with their whips? A famous animal trainer tells you all about it in this stirring article.
ACCREDITED as the originator of exhibiting mixed groups of wild animals before the public, Clyde R. Beatty, shown in the photo at the right, has the honor of being the youngest lion and tiger trainer in the profession. Running away from home in 1921 to become an animal attendant, his big chance came when an accident took the regular trainer away. He took over the job, and today is one of the most popular men in the profession.
