
Working closer to her bid cats than
any other trainer, Evelyn Currie puts them through a roll-over
practice session like a family of kittens. Notice-no chair, no
whip, no gun; she claim's it's all done with love.
Article
by Alan D Haas - June
1960
"YOU CAN'T PAY AN ANIMAL to get up on a perch and perform; only
love can make him do it,: says Evelyn Currie, lion tamer and
owner of a sensational new animal act. To prove her theory,
Evelyn gets in the Cage with her big cats and lies on them, stands
on them, hugs them, and dances with them, all without the usual
boots, gun, and chair. On rare occasions she touches a lazy one,
lightly, with a whip, but for the most part they perform, she
says, because they're mad about her. And although her theory
doesn't always agree with the thinks of most animal psychologists,
Miss Currie's wild-animal act is currently drawing big crowds
along the carnival circuit. The only woman working with big cats,
she has a really unusual act which includes a litter of tigon cubs
born to one of her lionesses by a tiger father. She has been
offered "fabulous" prices for the rare hybrids, but refuses to
part with her '"babies." She handles them like a brood of
kittens and they respond just like domestic pets.

Perhaps the most amazing thing
about the act is that the animals not only work well, but seem to
love it
There are nine bests in the act,
eating 1000 pounds of 50-cent-a-pound beef a week with eggs, milk
and cod liver oil thrown in. The troupe travels in a large
transport truck, and Miss Currie sleeps in the van. Third
generation of her family to work in the ring, she is under
contract to the Hamid-Morton Circus, and recently finished an
engagement at Atlantic City's Steel Pier, where she will return
next year.
Dancing with a tigon cub. Below, it's not all fun |
Lion waves a paw at Miss Currie,
but doesn't really mean it-she must induce them to growl or swing
and
claims they would never harm her
intentionally. If they goof, she simply scolds them-and they
listen
WOMAN WRESTLES WITH WILD CIRCUS CAT;
TRAINER WINS
Wichita, Kas., March 7 (UPI)-A lady and a
tigon grappled in a circus arena Monday-and the
woman won as 50 terrified spectators
watched. The 250 pound beast, a cross between a
tiger and a lion, had bolted from its
cage during a picture taking session for photographers.
Miss Evelyn Currie, 29, a 115 pound animal trainer for the Hamid-Morton
circus, wrestled with the tigon 30 minutes before attendants
slipped a restraining noose around its neck.
Miss Currie suffered a scratch on her shoulder.
Tigers and fire don't ordinarily
mix, but they do in the Currie act without hesitating
"I won't punish or frighten an animal
to make him do a trick," says Miss Currie. It is her belief that
all wild animals want to be friendly to humans, "even if they claw
you a little." She frowns on blank pistols and other gimmicks
used by other trainers, and says she prefers to keep her cats
happy by cooing in their ears. It seems to work-she has never
been clawed except for an accidental scratch or two, though she
works closer to her animals than anyone else in the business
today, and is getting top billing in shows across the country.
in March, 1960, when one of her half grown tigon cubs bolted from
the cage into an area with 50 spectators, Miss Currie insisted
that he wasn't dangerous, then captured the frightened cat
barehanded, wrestling him to submission and holding him for a half
hour until attendants could restrain him with ropes. She came out
of the wrestling match with only a scratch, insisting that her
main concern was for the tigon-she knew he wouldn't hurt her.
:My cats know they can trust me," Evelyn says proudly, "and that
makes them well behaved. Like people, they need lots of attention
to be happy." She and her assistant, Argentinian Robert Frangi,
never leave the cats alone, "so they can't get lonely." What ever
she does, it seems to work. Vive l'amour!
 |
 |
Evelyn's animals will stand
for almost anything from her
Article submitted by Jerry
Willman
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