5 12 THE CARNIVORES 



and sick individuals of the larger species, and will also eat the fruit of the 



oil palm. 



In inhabited districts on the West Coast the side-striped jackal frequently enters 

 the native villages, where it interbreeds with the domestic dogs. Its cry, which 

 may be heard night and morning at all seasons of the year, is fully as long drawn 

 and appalling as that of the common jackal. Pechuel-Loesche tells us that these 

 animals can be tamed with facility, and that, when in the Loango district he had 

 several young specimens, one of which attained maturity. They were extremely 

 playful, and would run after and catch almost any animal they saw, including 

 beetles,' grasshoppers, birds, and small Mammals. They would readily eat almost 

 anything that was offered them, such as bread, beans, rice, fish, flesh, bananas, and 

 oil palm nuts. Although gentle and friendly as a rule, to some individuals they 

 took a marked dislike, growling and showing their teeth whenever they approached. 

 One of these tame jackals would answer to its name " Mbulu," and was remarkable 

 for the cleanliness of its habits, being particularly averse to getting its feet wet 

 by rain, seeking during showers the shelter of the huts. As a rule it never sat 

 down on its haunches after the manner of a dog, but would lie at full length, with 

 its nose resting between its fore-paws, and would generally select a sunny spot, 

 where it lay blinking in the sunlight. 



THE DINGO (Canis dingo} 



Were it not for the fact that Australia has so few native Mammals which do 

 not belong to the Marsupial group, the dingo would unhesitatingly have been 

 regarded as an aboriginal inhabitant of the country where it is found ; in which case 

 it would rank as what we may call a natural species. The improbability of Aus- 

 tralia possessing a native placental Mammal of such large size as the dingo is, .how- 

 ever, so great as to induce the belief that the animal was introduced by man, and 

 hence that it originated from some of the dogs of Asia. This supposed introduc- 

 tion must, however, have taken place at so early a date that there has been 

 considerable hesitation among some zoologists in admitting any such origin ; and 

 certainly the recent arguments in favor of its being an indigenous species have very 

 great weight. Be, however, its origin what it may, there can be no doubt that the 

 dingo is the only true dog now found in a wild state. 



The dingo is an animal of smaller size than the wolf, with moderately-tall legs, 

 a long and somewhat bushy tail, a broad and short muzzle, and well-developed ears. 

 In regard to color, Professor Mivart remarks that " the dingo varies in its coloration 

 from red to black. There is a grayish under-fur, but, save in the black variety, the 

 long hairs are generally yellow or whitish. The top of the head and dorsal region 

 generally are of a darker reddish yellow, often intermixed with black. The under 

 parts are paler and may be whitish. The end of the tail is very often white, as are 

 frequently the feet, and sometimes the muzzle, though this is also sometimes black. 

 The animal may be of a uniformly light reddish or yellowish brown, save that it is 

 paler beneath, on the outside of the fore-legs, below the elbow, as well as on the 

 inner side of the limbs and on the cheeks. ' ' 



