2 88 READINGS IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 



Having killed, the big cats do not proceed to eat the entire carcass im- 

 mediately. They eat a little starting from the rear, and return later. A car- 

 cass left for 24 hours in the jungle is likely to become carrion. And carrion 

 is what the big cats like. 



Now and then a big cat rushes his prey and misses. In this event he is 

 usually disinclined to give chase. Racing through the jungle or across the 

 open plain is not to his taste. If he bides his time he will find something 

 later with less effort. 



Offhand one would think that the habit of leaving game for the morrow's 

 meal would result in thefts and hence lead to fights among the big cats 

 themselves. But the instinct of these animals is usually to eat their own 

 kills and let the property of others alone, and they usually lie up near their 

 kills. 



THE VULTURE "GRAPEVINE" 



When the beasts have consumed their prey, the vultures take their turn. 

 It has taken a great deal of observation to discover the secret spying methods 

 of these birds. At the moment a beast makes a kill, the human eye is often 

 unable to discover a single vulture either in the sky or in the surrounding 

 trees. Yet within a few minutes, scores, sometimes a hundred birds, come 

 wheeling down from the sky, to fall on their game — what is left of the 

 animal. 



Their system is simple. Spaced far apart in the sky beyond the range of 

 binoculars, they are able to survey a wide stretch of territory. If one de- 

 tects something promising, he swoops lower to have a look. One bird sees 

 another swooping down, and curiosity moves him to follow. The signal 

 spreads for miles around. The sky patrol, too high for human vision, oper- 

 ates very efficiently. 



With possibly the single exception of the leopard, big cats are not in the 

 habit of killing more than they can eat. This acts as a sort of safeguard for 

 the lesser animals, for all can tell the difference between a hungry cat and a 

 sated one. Once when I was in a machan (a high platform in the trees from 

 which one observes game), I heard a sambar deer get near enough to a tiger 

 to bell at him. The tiger in the neighborhood of his latest kill seemed in 

 no hurry to start feeding. This reassured the deer, who kept up his belHng 

 for quite some time and then moved off. 



In discussing life in the jungle I have said that the danger for a man is vastly 

 exaggerated. Others have said this before me, and some have gone far 

 enough to say they preferred a jungle, from a safety standpoint, to Fifth 

 Avenue, New York, in the rush hour. I wouldn't go that far. 



If there were no other reason to fear most jungles, there would be ma- 

 laria. There are also scorpions, centipedes, stinging ants, and wild bees. 



In Kohima, Assam, a swarm of wild bees once appeared on a tennis court 



