322 THE JACKAL 
The common JACKAL, or Konan, as it is termed by the natives, is an inhabitant of 
India, Ceylon, and neighbouring countries, where it is found in very great numbers, forcing 
itself upon the notice of the traveller not only by its bodily presence, but by its noisy 
howling wherewith it vexes the ears of the wearied and sleepy wayfarer, as he endeavours 
in vain to find repose. Nocturnal in their habits, the Jackals are accustomed to conceal 
themselves as inuch as possible during the daytime, and to issue out on their hunting 
expeditions together with the advent of night. Sometimes, a Jackal will prefer a solitary 
life, and is then a most provoking neighbour to the habitations of civilized humanity ; 
for it is so voracious in its appetite that it becomes a terribly destructive foe to 
domesticated animals, and so wily in its nature that it carries on its malpractices with 
impunity until it has worked dire mischief in home or: fold. In these depredations, the 
audacity of the Jackal is as notable as his cunning. He will wait at the very door, 
hiding his time patiently until it be opened and he may slink through the aperture. 
Pigs, lambs, kids, and poultry fall victims to his insatiate appetite, and he has been 
known to steal the sleeping puppies from the side of their mother without detection. 
The larder suffers as severely from his attacks as the henroost, for his accommodating 
palate is equally satisfied with cooked meat as with living prey. 
Always ready to take advantage of every favourable opportunity, the Jackal is a sad 
parasite, and hangs on the skirts of the larger carnivora as they roam the country for 
prey, in the hope of securing some share of the creatures which they destroy or wound. 
On account of this companionship between the large and the small marauders, the Jackal 
has popularly gained the name of the Lion’s Provider. But, in due justice, the title 
ought to be reversed, for the lion is in truth the Jackal's provider, and is often thereby 
deprived of the chance of making a second meal on an animal which he has slain. 
Sometimes, it is said, the Jackal does provide the lion with a meal, by becoming a victim 
to the hungry animal in default of better and more savoury prey. 
There is a very unpleasant odour which arises from this creature, nearly as powerful 
and quite as offensive as that of the fox. In spite, however, of this drawback, the Jackal 
is often used as an article of food among the natives, and is said, by those who have tried 
it, to be pleasant to the palate, and very much superior to tough venison. A hungry hon, 
therefore, may be expected to find but little impediment in the rank odour of a 
slaughtered Jackal. 
In India, the tiger is often followed during his nightly quests by a company of these 
animals, and in most cases by a single old Jackal, called in the native tongue, the Khole, 
or Kholah-balloo, whose expressive cries are well understood by the hunters, whether 
bipedal or quadrupedal. Many a tiger has been discovered and brought to his death by 
the yell of a Jackal, which led the pursuers on his track. When the tiger has killed 
some large animal, such as a buffalo, which he cannot consume at one time, the Jackals 
collect round the carcass at a respectful distance, and wait patiently until the tiger moves 
off and they can venture to approach. 
As soon as the tiger moves away, the Jackals rush from all directions, carousing upon 
the slaughtered buffalo, and each anxious to eat as much as it can contain in the shortest 
time. So eager are they after their prey that they are jealous not only of their com- 
panions, but of the vultures that gather round every dead animal, and snap fiercely at 
them as they wheel round on their broad pinions ; or try to push their beaks among the 
noses of the fighting and struggling Jackals. But although they may snap and snarl, 
they never seem to inflict any real injury. They are so audacious in their hunger that 
they will follow human hunters, and take possession of the dead game in a marvellously 
shameless manner. 
They always keep a sharp watch for wounded animals, and pursue them with such 
relentless vigour that they are said never to permit their weakened prey to escape their 
fangs. One of these wild dogs, as they really seem to be, has been known to leap at the 
throat of a wounded Axis deer, and then to hang with such indomitable pertinacity that 
it resisted all the efforts of its wretched victim to free itself from so terrible a foe. When 
ee by its teeth, it contracted its body into as small a compass as was compatible 
with its size. 
