THE DINGO 



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The dingo is found in wooded districts throughout Australia, and in many such 

 situations is extremely numerous, although the Government reward for its destruc- 

 tion has in other parts led to a considerable diminution in its numbers. It is a 

 terrible foe to sheep, killing and mangling a far greater number than it eats ; 

 and it is equally destructive to poultry. On account of these depredations, the 

 -colonists wage a war of extermination against it, large numbers being poisoned with 

 strychnine. 



Habits 



THE DINGO. 

 (One-eighth natural size.) 



In mode of life and habits Brehm compares the dingo to the fox 

 rather than the wolf. It is shy and retiring, rarely seen during the 

 daytime, and pursuing its work of devastation during the night. It is but seldom 

 found in large numbers together, parties of from five to six individuals generally 

 consisting of a mother and her cubs being the most common. Occasionally, how- 

 ever, troops of from eighty to one hundred individuals have been seen. Each 

 family is stated to have a strictly defined area, beyond which its members do not 

 venture, and into which those of other families do not intrude. The young are 

 generally born in the hollow trunk of a tree, and vary from six to eight in a litter. 

 JSTaturally dingoes never bark, although, like wolves, they easily learn to do so 

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