IN THE JUNGLE

Hokitika Guardian, 26 June 1929, Page 7

IN THE JUNGLE

MAN’S FIERCEST FOES. (By T. A. GLOVER, tiic explorer who is now in the remote inlerior of Equatorial Africa.) BERBER ATI, Afoyan Logan, Equatorial Africa, .May 3. While the lion, because of his regal appearance, is the accepted king of the forest and plain, he has many rivals (for the laurels of fierceness and wanton cruelty. Left alone he seldom proves dangerous to man, and in normal health ard strength he avoids man’s, haunts. When he hunts man there is usually a reason for it.

The man-eaters of Tsarvo were hard hit to find food—so much game had 'een shot to feed the labourers working on the Uganda Railway—that necessity drove them to include man in their daily menu. Rut for sheer wilful destruction the lion must give first place to the leopard and that much rarer but vicious killer rhe cheetah, whose ravages arc nearly always laid at the door,of the former.

The cheetah is one of the most wanton slayers in the bush, and his deeds rarely recoil on his own head. He inhabits the less-frequented spots, and only at night does one hear his whistle near the habitations of man.

He kills swiftly and silently by strangulation, and 1 have seen a kraal of goats killed m a night by two of these marauders. All natives have a name for him hut few ever see him—lie is far too wily. He is always the mysterious animal that the natives refer to as a cross between a lion and a leopard—a circumstance that has led so many travellers to describe him as a new species.

He is the fleetest of all game animals, and on the open plains secures his prey with a wonderful combination if speed and marvellous stalking ability.

Rut even the cheetah Las neighbours that refuse to give him passage. The rod African lynx is one of these. He is a true fighter who seeks battle at the slightest provocation. His long, lithe body, his needle-sharp 'fangs, and his wickedly hooked claws make him an opponent few care to tackle. He is always a killer, no matter how well tamed, with an insatiable desire to rip and tear. He gives path to no man and is well named by the Bushman the “Red Devil.”

But these bush bullies cannot always be distinguished by weight and size. Take that plucky little fellow the \frican rntcl; lie fears nothing, not even man. Disturb him and his mate —lie is a great family man is Air Ratel and always promenades in the company of his lady love—and he will come fo: you on liis awkward little legs utteiing his curious rattle-like cry, bent on death and destruction to the disturber of his peace. He does not move fast and therefore is easily avoided, buL lie does his level best to cover the retreat of his mate like a true gentleman of the wilds. Time and again lie will return to the ittaek, crying shrilly in His wrath at not being able to drive home his razorsharp teeth. He lias little need t< light for food, for his shovel claws wil dig down with amazing swiftness and unearth mice and toads. And when the season is right he has an alternative diet of nice hycious slugs. Rut like all small people, he feel* liable to be overlooked, so be puffs out his chest and valiantly goes in se.ucl of trouble.

. But long teeth and sharp fangs arc not the only equipment necessary t< win battles. The greatest of all assets is strategy; therefore we must not puss over these battles without mentioning the skunk. Here we have a fine strategic fighter Ho keeps himself to himself and has one desire—to be left alone in his search of food.

l-'.ut fail to treat him with respect, ppose his progress, and lie has no leai or mercy. After giving a fair warning that has passed unheeded, up goes his tail and he ejects his nauseous fluid over man or boast. The denizens of the wild respect him, for not only is i + practically impossible to eradicate the iwlul smell from their fur but his venomous fluid can cause blindness.