44 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



mauling, if not from death. We were breaking 

 through the jungle on our way to some traps; AH 

 shouted and pushed me to one side, shoving my gun 

 into my hands. I looked up, setting my gun, just as 

 a black leopard sprang. Ali's spear whizzed by my 

 head, I fired, catching the animal in mid-air squarely 

 in the chest with an explosive bullet. Ali's spear hit 

 him in the side. I took it as a good lesson in careful- 

 ness. It was well enough to be on the alert for the 

 animal I was trailing, but it was also important to be 

 on the alert for the animal that might be trailing 

 me. 



A favorite native method of hunting is with bird- 

 lime, which is a mucilage made from the gum of a 

 tree. In catching tigers or leopards, the hunter 

 spreads out the birdlime where they will pass and 

 carefully covers it with leaves. Immediately after 

 a cat animal has put his foot in the stuff, he becomes 

 so enraged and helpless that he is easily captured. 

 It is very much like putting butter on a house cat's 

 paws to keep him busy until he becomes accustomed 

 to a new home. The tiger or leopard that steps in 

 birdlime doesn't step gracefully out of it and run 

 away; he tries to bite the stuff from his feet and 

 then he gets it on his face. When he tries to rub 

 it off, he plasters it over his eyes. Finally, when he 

 is thoroughly covered with it, he is so helpless that 

 without much danger he can be put into a cage; 

 and there he spends weeks in working patiently to 

 remove the gum from his fur. Birds and monkeys 



