VI HYi^NA HELD BY DOGS 109 



iron spikes which projected from the jaws of the 

 trap must have gone right through the leg that 

 had been caught, as it was broken off and there 

 was a lot of blood on the trap. When the hyaena 

 was caught he made no noise, at least no one 

 heard anything, but just dragged the trap with 

 the heavy chain attached for a distance of about 

 a hundred yards away from the waggon road and 

 then broke it up. One jaw of the trap had been 

 wrenched off, and the solid iron tongue which 

 supports the plate when such a trap is set, had 

 been twisted right round. The trap, which would 

 probably have held a lion, was of course destroyed 

 and the hyaena gone. 



I have killed many hyaenas both near native 

 villages and in wild uninhabited parts of the 

 country by setting guns for them, usually baited 

 with a lump of meat tied over the muzzle, and 

 attached with a string to a lever rigged on to the 

 trigger, so that a straight pull exploded the charge. 

 Of course, one arranged the trap in such a way, 

 with the help of a few thorn bushes, that the hyaena 

 was obliged to take the meat from in front ; but I 

 never knew these animals show any hesitation in 

 doing so, with the result that they received the charge 

 full in the mouth and were killed instantly. I have 

 no doubt, however, that if a constant practice were 

 made of setting guns for hyaenas in a certain district, 

 they would become wary and suspicious after a few 

 of their number had been killed. 



On one occasion rtiy own dogs held a large old 

 bitch hyaena until the Kafirs came up and speared 

 her, but this animal had, we afterwards discovered, 

 been shot some time previously through the lower 

 jaw, the end of which, with both the lower canine 

 teeth, was gone, so that she could not bite. This 

 hyaena was, however, very fat, and the wound she 

 had received had long since healed up after all 



