FIGHTING TIGERS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 January 1921, Page 3

FIGHTING TIGERS

(Bv Vincent J'arrett in “The Daily Mail.”) j SINGAPORE. : Those contemplating a career in the East, if . they be going to India or Malaya, must feel a thrill of excitement at the prospect of some day, perhaps, coming in contact with the tiger, the “lord of the jungle” in a largo tract of Asia. The “roil Bengal tagger” has certainly next to -the lion, provided some of the best sport that a big-game hunter Alan desire, besides suggesting the theme for many a blood-curdling yarn of tropic life. One finds, however, on getting to know more about his home life, that the tiger is possessed of traits which few people would suspect. In the Malaya of twenty years ago, meetings with tigers were an almost everyday occurrence for persons living up-country. As a rule, a healthy tiger, in his prime, is not a man-eater, and likes to get away as soon as possible after an unexpected encounter with a human being. But the tale is a different one when this giant feline grows old or is lamed—

lie then finds that man is the only animal that cannot move quickly, and also, perhaps the beast's epicurean instincts are dulled by the passing of years. It is in a case Tike this that the labour roll of an outlying rubber estate lias an annoying way of showing one less every few days—until the depredator is accounted for. But, after all, a tiger is a coward, lie lias a large number of yellow streaks on lus coat, aud a great yellow streak throughout his being. The old story of the cat tribe not being able to face theHuman gaze is weil known, and the Alalay woodcutters ol some parts of tim country, after several of t lit sir calling had tailed to return from the jungle alter dusk, introduced the plan ol wearing a human mask on the back of the nectc, with the idea of leading the silent stalker to imagine, on coming up in the rear, that lie was observed. The scheme, a good one in theory, has failed as a practical proposition in most cases. • in domestic life the tiger must i.c like any old tomcat. lie sharp ens his claws on a tree-trunk; and then rubs against it and purrs when in a good mood. I 11/l t liri'/ue 11' 11 /.1/ V rl/iit \r 1 .•» 4 a Via.. ii/la i l,>

I he tigress, whose depredations while on the prow! rival those of her mate, is just as attached to her offspring as is the domestic cat of our hearths. Indeed, a tigress in defence of her cubs is one of the most dangerous brutes one can meet The elephant, the sladang (wild cattle) the rhinoceros, the tapir, and (with Tare exceptions) the wild hoar, are the only jungle folk that the tiger will leave alone. He will, however, often link near a drove of wild swine, ever on the alert to pounce on any young pig which may lag behind. He finds the doer his most tasty food. Apart from flesh the tiger favours i certain kind of fruit—the durian. This famous Malayan fruit, with lfX highly odoured, custard-like contents, is a delicacy he dearly loves. It has not to be plucked from the high tree on which it grows, but falls to the ground when ripe. Usually the fall cracks the hard thorny skin] hut in many case the tiger’s sharp claws can easily rip the durian open. One can imagine him having a groat dinner of raw vemson, with durian as dessert, all washed down with clear spring water. Like the domestic cat, the tiger loves warmth and shuns wet as much as possible, though he will not hesitate to take to the water should need arise and swim a mile at a stretch. Old shikaris (hunters) assert that the time to expect tigers to appear in profusion in the plains is during the rainy season

when those beasts which usually sojourn on Hie hillside come (Town to escape the chilly mists of the elevated jungles.