162 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



half-digested flesh is probably better adapted to the 

 requirements of young cubs. 



When only six weeks old the cubs move from 

 place to place with their mother, but are left at 

 home while she hunts, though she leads them to 

 feast if near when she kills. 



Watching for the return from a kill, or at a pool 

 where they are known to drink, is a method of 

 hunting chiefly practiced by natives. Poison pit- 

 falls and traps are generally brought into play when 

 dealing with a man-eater. There is perhaps no 

 method of shooting tigers so seldom successful as 

 watching for their return to feed on animals they 

 have killed. For my part, I confess to a great liking 

 for the silent and solitary watch, which kind of 

 shooting requires the utmost vigilance and patience. 



In a shady, green-screened platform in some fine 

 tree, watching at the cool of evening, when jungle 

 sounds alone break the stillness and birds and 

 animals seldom seen at other times steal forth and 

 can be watched at leisure, an intense excitement is 

 kept alive by the possibility of the tiger's appearance 

 at any moment. Those without experience at this 

 game do well to pause, but one who knows the beast 

 he has to deal with may kill many dangerous ani- 

 mals on foot without accident or even serious adven- 

 ture. Almost every accident that occurs is directly 

 traceable to ignorance or carelessness; the hunter 

 is a tyro or over-venturesome, or due precautions 

 are not observed when following a wounded beast 



