LEOPARDS AND CHEETAHS 



then turned around, lifted up the door with his paw, and 

 disappeared with his prey. 



Many white people trap leopards, and even lions, by 

 making a strong and high circle of thorn branches, in the 

 center of which a kid or some other small live animal is 

 tied. The only opening to this little circle is a narrow 

 " alley " between the thorn branches, about six or eight 

 feet long. In this narrow passageway one or two steel 

 traps are placed with a small ridge of thorn twigs on either 

 side of them. In attempting to avoid the thorns, the big 

 cat steps right into the trap and is caught. The best way 

 is to have the trap fastened to a strong chain, the other end 

 of which should be tied to a good-sized log or big branch, 

 so that the leopard is able to move away a little, otherwise 

 he may tear himself free or even bite off his own leg in his 

 attempts to escape. 



Great care should be taken in approaching a trapped 

 leopard or lion, for, seeing their pursuer approach, they 

 may free themselves at the last moment by a supreme 

 effort, and woe to the man who is not then ready for such 

 an emergency ! An El-Moran, or warrior, to whom I had 

 given a steel trap in 1906, and who had caught a number 

 of leopards in it, selling the skins for his living, once ap- 

 proached a trapped leopard rather carelessly. In an in- 

 stant the big feline, which had been caught by one of the 

 hind paws, made a wild dash for him, freed himself from 

 the trap at the cost of half the paw, and badly mauled the 

 young warrior before he finally succeeded in killing the 

 brute with his " panga," a long, swordlike, double-edged 

 knife. 



Leopards are sometimes caught by placing a piece of 



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