Wild Beasts and Their Ways by Sir Samuel White Baker (adult books to read txt) 📕

flanks. In Ceylon there are two distinct varieties-the large panther, generally about 7 ft. 6 in. in length, and a smaller leopard, which inhabits the mountains; in that island of misnomers they are both included in the name cheetah.

In India there are several varieties, and the largest is generally distinguished as a panther. There is no animal more commonly distributed in the world than the leopard, and no tropical country is free from this universal pest, unless an island formation has excluded its unwelcome presence.

It is difficult to determine the limit in the gradation of size at which this animal merges from the leopard into the wild cat. The varieties of cats are so numerous that I do not pretend to describe them; some are of sufficient importance to be classed among the smaller leopards, while others are no larger than the ordinary domestic cat. These vary through every shade of feline colouring, from spots to stripes, or to a fulvous brown similar to the tawny coat of a lioness; but, notwithstanding the difference in shades and spots, in cats and in the true leopard or panther the character is the same. They are all cunning, ferocious, and destructive, and I believe that far more cattle and goats are killed by leopards throughout the Indian Empire than by the usually accredited malefactor, the tiger.

The largest and most beautifully marked of the leopards is the jaguar of South America. This is the size of a small tigress, and is more heavily framed than any of the leopards; the head is especially large, and the animal might almost be termed a spotted tiger. The rings are peculiarly marked, and waved instead of being circular.

The cheetah or hunting leopard is a distinct species, and although classed among the leopards, it is altogether different, both in habits and appearance; the claws, although rather long, are not retractile, neither are they curved to the same extent as all others of the genus Felis, but they resemble somewhat the toe-nails of the dog. I shall accordingly separate this animal from the ordinary class of leopards, and give it a separate existence as an object of natural history.

The panther or larger variety of leopard is about 7 ft. 6 in. in length, and has been known to approach closely upon 8 feet, but this would be an unusual size. This animal is exceedingly powerful, with massive neck and strongly developed legs. The weight of a fine specimen would be from about 160 lbs. to 170 lbs. Although heavy, there is no animal more active, except the monkey, and even those wide-awake creatures are sometimes caught, by the ever-watchful panther. Stories are told of accidents that have occurred when the hunter has been pulled out of his tree, from which imaginary security he was watching for his expected game. It is impossible to deny such facts, although they are fortunately rare exceptions to the general rule; but there can be no doubt that a panther or leopard would attack upon many occasions when a tiger would prefer to slink away.

The habits of the leopard are invariably the same, it prowls stealthily about sunset and throughout the night in search of prey. It seizes by the throat and clings with tenacious claws to the animal's neck, until it succeeds either in breaking the spine, or in strangling its victim, should the bone resist its strength. When the animal is dead, the leopard never attacks the hind-quarters first, according to the custom of the tiger, but it tears the belly open, and drags out all the viscera, making its first meal upon the heart, lungs, liver, and the inside generally. It then retreats to some neighbouring hiding-place, and, if undisturbed, it will return to its prey a little after sundown on the following day.

It is far more difficult to circumvent a leopard than a tiger; the latter seldom or never looks upwards to the trees, therefore it does not perceive the hidden danger when the hunter is watching from his elevated post; but the leopard approaches its kill in the most wary and cautious manner, crouching occasionally, and examining every yard of the ground before it, at the same time scanning the overhanging boughs, which it so frequently seeks as a place of refuge. Upon many occasions, when the disappointed watcher imagines that the leopard has forsaken its kill, and that his patience will be unrewarded, the animal may be closely scanning him from the dense bush, under cover of which it was noiselessly approaching. In such a case the leopard would retreat as silently as it had advanced, and the watcher would return home from a fruitless vigil, under the impression that the leopard had never been within a mile of his position. One of the cleverest birds in creation is the ordinary crow of all tropical countries, which lives well by the exercise of its wits; nothing escapes the observation of this bird, and it is the first to discover the body of any animal that may have been killed. Should one or more of these birds be perched in the trees after sunset, near the carcase of an animal, and should it utter a "caw," when at that late hour it should have gone to roost, you may be assured that it has espied an approaching leopard, although it may be invisible to your own sight. The watcher should be careful not to move, but to redouble his vigilance in keeping a bright look-out, as the leopard will be equally upon its guard should it hear the cry of the warning crow.

There is very little sport afforded by this stealthy animal, and it is almost useless to organize a special hunt, as it is impossible to form any correct opinion respecting its locality after it has killed an animal. It may either be asleep in some distant ravine, or among the giant branches of some old tree, or beneath the rocks in some adjacent hill, or retired within a cave, but it has no special character or custom that would guide the hunter in arranging a beat according to the usual rules in the case of tigers. The leopard is merely a nuisance, and as such it should be treated as vermin, and exterminated if possible.

There are various forms of traps adopted by the natives in different countries; the most certain is the old-fashioned fall, similar upon a large scale to the common fall mouse-traps. These should be permanent fixtures in various portions of the jungles, and they should be baited whenever the tracks of a leopard may be discovered in the neighbourhood. The trap is formed by an oblong 10 feet by 3 of very strong and straight palisades, sunk 2 feet deep in the ground, and well pounded in with stones. These should be 5 feet high, with a fall door at one end. The top should be closely secured with heavy cross-pieces of parallel logs, well weighted with big stones.

The rear of this trap should be partitioned with bamboo cross-bars to form a cage, in which either a goat or a village dog should be tied as a living bait. Leopards are particularly fond of dogs, and the advantage of such a bait during the night consists in the certainty that the dog, finding itself alone in a strange place, will howl or bark, and thereby attract the leopard. The partition must be made of sufficient strength to protect the animal from attack. In Africa the natives form a trap by supporting the fallen trunk of a large tree in such a manner that it falls upon the leopard as it passes beneath to reach the bait. This is very effective in crushing the animal, but it is exceedingly dangerous, like all other African traps, as it would kill any person or other creature that should attempt to pass. Newera Ellia, the mountain sanatorium of Ceylon, was always well furnished with leopard-traps upon the permanent system, and the leopards, which were at one time a scourge of the neighbourhood, were considerably reduced. In 1846 I introduced English breeds of cattle and sheep, and started an agricultural settlement at that delightful mountain refuge from tropical heat; but the leopard became our greatest enemy, and although the cattle were well housed at night, and carefully watched when at pasture during the day, our losses were severe. I observed a peculiarity in the attacks by leopards; they seldom appeared upon a bright summer day, but during the rainy season, when the wind was howling across the plain, and driving the cold mist and rain, the cattle were off their guard, and generally turned their tails to the chilly blast. It was invariably during such weather that the leopards attacked. The watchman was probably wrapped in his blanket, wet, and shivering beneath a tree, instead of remaining on the alert, and this auspicious moment was selected by the leopard for a successful stalk upon the unsuspecting herd. I have frequently lost both cows and sheep, that were attacked and killed in broad daylight, and the leopards were generally of sufficient strength to break the neck of a full-grown beast. It should be remembered that the native cattle are much smaller than those of Europe, and I do not think it would be possible for a leopard to dislocate the neck of any English cow. An example occurred when unfortunately a valuable Ayrshire cow was attacked, and the leopard completely failed in the usual dexterous wrench, but the throat was so mangled that the cow died within a few days, although the leopard was driven away by the watchman almost immediately upon its onset.

The wounds from the claws of a leopard are exceedingly dangerous, as the animal is in the habit of feeding upon carcases some days after they have been killed; the flesh is at that time in an incipient stage of decomposition, and the claws, which are used to hold the flesh while it is torn by the teeth and jaws, become tainted and poisoned sufficiently to ensure gangrene by inoculation. The claws of all carnivora are five upon each of the fore feet, including the useful dew-claw, which is used as a thumb, and thoroughly secures the morsel while the animal is pulling and tearing away the muscles from the bones.

A wound from either a tiger or a leopard should be thoroughly syringed with cold water mixed with 1/35th part of carbolic acid, and this syringing process should be continued three times a day whenever the wound is dressed. Nothing should be done but to wrap the wound with linen rag soaked in the same solution, and keep it continually wetted.

The daring of a leopard during night is extraordinary. I have frequently during wet weather discovered in the early morning a regular beaten track in the soft earth, where a leopard has been prowling round and round a cattle-shed containing a herd of animals, vainly seeking for an entrance.

At one time my own blacksmith had a nocturnal adventure with a leopard which afforded a striking example of audacity. A native cow had a calf; this being her first-born, the mother was exceedingly vicious, and it was unsafe for a stranger to approach her, especially as her horns were unusually long, and pointed. The cattle-shed was scarped out of the hillside, and was within a few feet of the blacksmith's house. The roof was thatched. During the night, a leopard, which smelt the presence of the cow and calf, mounted the roof of the shed and proceeded to force an entrance by scratching through the thatch. The cow at the same time had detected the presence of the leopard, and, ever mindful of her calf, she stood ready to receive the intruder, with her sharp horns prepared for its