Game Animals of India, etc. 



objections to certain details of the attack as described 

 by Mr. Sanderson. His observations are as follows : 

 — " Tigers, as a rule, always roar when charging or 

 fighting in self-defence, but there are exceptions to the 

 rule. In the latter case it would appear that a very 

 savage tiger, in order to wreak his vengeance without 

 fail on the intruders, lies low and attacks without 

 warning. The well-known feint of an attack, termed 

 by the natives bhagocha^ made by tigers to demoralise 

 a line of beaters, and thus effect an unchallenged 

 retreat, is always accompanied by the loudest roar they 

 can emit. It seems almost impossible to picture a 

 tiger seizing by the neck from below without first 

 closinor with his victim. He must turn his neck 

 round until his open jaws face upwards, in order to 

 grip from below, and this can hardly be accomplished 

 without the purchase of his paws on the shoulders, and 

 this, in my opinion, is what occurs in the generality 

 of cases. There are instances in which you see fang- 

 marks both at the back and in front of the neck, but 

 the former, I take it, is a mere preliminary grip of an 

 obstreperous victim, quickly followed by the fatal 

 clutch below. That the tiger always breaks the neck 

 I do not believe. Let any one open the jaws of the 

 skull of a tiger and then look at the neck of a full-fed 

 buffalo, and he will see this. The expanse of the open 

 jaws would only cover a bunch of the muscles of 

 the neck, and with this grip it seems absurd that the 

 animal could give the fatal wrench that dislocates the 

 neck. In the case of a bull -buffalo, such as are 

 sometimes killed, it seems doubtful whether the neck 

 of the aggressor or of the victim is the tougher. That 

 the necks of animals, especially cows, are often broken, 

 may be due to the fall in the struggle, but the idea 

 that tigers systematically set to wrenching their necks, 

 appears untenable. That tigers approach their victims 

 stealthily and without noise is natural, but in the 

 moment of victory they may roar occasionally to 



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