Buckles Blog: St. Louis Zoo #19

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

St. Louis Zoo-19, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

“A Well Balanced Pair”

Jim A. said...: This is "Cubby the comedy cat". She did several behaviors but probably best known for the free-rolling globe. (Yes, it was on a nice level concrete floor.) She was one of the cats that went to Paul Kelly's with Jules in 1956. I never saw her perform but have heard she was a handful to work.

In my early days of training I heard, "your best animals are often sickly or mean as hell."; 20 October, 2010 08:17
Wade G. Burck said...: Jim,
Cubby is an awful big female, it would appear. I would assume the ball roll came after the "pyramid", and it was rolled up to her. Classic, what I call, "block training" or as others refer to it the "European style." She can't go left(lioness block) or right(lioness block) or up(lion block). The only option to escape is on the object(ball block) with moves away, unlike the lioness and lion blocks. If you really study old pictures/footage you will discover that the "bring them to you training" or "American style" that is so touted by "experts" is nothing more then one behavior, the bounce. There most definitely were not, and are not two different training styles, just differing presentation styles.
Wade Burck; 20 October, 2010 09:24
Circus Photos said...: I have some great photos taking in the kelly cat barn.; 20 October, 2010 17:21

Buckles Blog