“It takes years to learn the little dos and don’ts of animal training. Different animals have different temperaments. Some you can train by reprimand. The lion and the tiger react somewhat like a dog. You may even reprimand them with a hit.

“Lions are grumpy,” he explained. “They don’t want to be bothered, especially in the heat of the day. With a tiger you can wrestle all day long. But you start pranking with a lion at high noon and you’ve got a fight on your hands.”

Affection Training

“Our shows were not in zoos or circuses,” Larry explained, “but in the natural setting of Tiger Island. We usually raised the animals from cubs. We let them romp and play, then built a show around their natural behavior. Whatever trait we discovered in an individual animal we reinforced it. That way the animal had about 90 percent of the say-so. If he liked to roll over and play with sticks, he’d learn that every time he rolled over we fed him. If he liked to hold a certain position he would be rewarded for that. The system is called affection training.

“Affection training brings out the best in wild animal nature. The average circus act brings out the worst. You see lions and tigers in circus arenas snarling at the whips and chairs and guns. They are goaded into this show of ferocity. The human performers want to make the animals appear dangerous and deadly to impress the audience.

“Backstage in circuses I’ve seen trainers scream and jab at animals to psych them up. I’ve seen them underfed and starved so that they would put on a good show. If they did, maybe they would be fed.”

Now when the Tituses work with animals it is as independent speciality trainers. The circumstances are more delightful.