64 FELID.I:. 



can turn round." It is probable that. with smaller animals the tiger 

 does not always take the trouble to break the neck, and in the case 

 of large beasts such as buffaloes and gaur, which he is unable to 

 overthrow, he occasionally hamstrings them, I think by a blow with 

 his claws, but am not sure. I have twice known instances in 

 which buffaloes were left hamstrung by tigers. Tigers sometimes 

 undoubtedly kill or disable by the fearful blows they can give with 

 their paws, but the above is, I believe, their usual plan of killing oxen. 



Sterndale confirms Sanderson's account, and also points out that 

 a tiger very rarely springs upon his prey ; he probably takes advan- 

 tage of the momemtary paralysis produced by his appearance to 

 make a short rush and to seize the animal he intends to devour. 

 He generally stalks as near as he can, but he has been seen to 

 gallop after animals for some distance before seizing one of them. 



I quite agree with Sanderson, who regards " the venerable belief 

 io tigers sucking the blood of their victims" as one of the numerous 

 myths that have collected around beasts of prey in the course of ages. 



If an animal is struck down in the daytime, the body may 

 be dragged some distance, but is usually left untouched till even- 

 ing. At or soon after nightfall, or occasionally in quiet places 

 before sundown, the tiger returns to the kill (known as f/liara or 

 mara), and, if the spot is open or otherwise unsuited for his repast, 

 drags the body to a more -convenient place. The enormous mus- 

 cular power of the tiger is shown by the way in which he can 

 transport large carcases of oxen or buffaloes over rough ground, up 

 and down steep banks and through thick bushes. He sometimes 

 lifts the body completely off the ground ; Sanderson mentions an 

 instance in which a bullock, weighing about 400 Ibs., was thus 

 carried for 300 yards. He almost always commences by eating 

 the intestines and hindquarters. As a rule he remains near the 

 kill, sometimes rushing out upon any intruder and driving away 

 jackals, vultures, and other carrion-feeders ; but more often he 

 hides the carcase under bushes or leaves, and retires to a neigh- 

 bouring thicket beside water. If very hungry, a tiger will devour 

 both hindquarters the first night. If undisturbed, he generally re- 

 mains about three days near the carcase, feeding at intervals. In one 

 case, so far as I could learn, a large ox was completely devoured in 

 48 hours, only a few fragments of bones and the contents of the 

 stomach being left. Forsyth says that a tiger which lives entirely on 

 cattle kills an ox about once in five days, and passes about two days 

 after finishing his last victim without looking about for food, though 

 he will strike down another quarry if it comes near him. Young 

 tigers are more destructive than older animals, and when one gets 

 amongst a herd of cattle, he frequently kills several, apparently in 

 pure wantonness. A tigress with cubs, too, is frequently very 

 destructive, partly, it is said, in order to teach the young tigers to 

 kill their own prey. An animal that has been fired at, especially 

 if he has been wounded, when returning to the kill, will frequently 

 never again return to the body of his prey, but kill afresh when 

 hungry. 



