CHAPTER XXXII 

 THE DINGO 



THE Dingo the native dog of Australia is becoming scarcer year 

 by year. A dog of this breed without any admixture of Collie or 

 other blood is far more difficult to obtain than was the case a few 

 years ago. A pure Dingo, or Warragal, as it is called by the natives, 

 is only now to be met with in the far interior of Australia, although 

 there are a number of crossbred dogs that resemble the native dog 

 so closely as to render it very difficult, in many cases, to tell the 

 difference. 



These dogs are a source of great loss and annoyance to sheep- 

 farmers, not only on account of the number of sheep that they actually 

 kill, but also on account of the number that they injure. A couple 

 of these dogs will kill as many as a dozen sheep in a night, and 

 seriously injure three or four times that number. It is not therefore 

 surprising that strenuous efforts have been made to rid the country 

 of them, large numbers having been poisoned by strychnine ; also 

 other means of destroying them have also been resorted to. 



The Dingo stands about 22in. high, and has abroad, flat forehead, 

 rather large pricked ears, pointed muzzle, and dark eye ; the teeth 

 are level and much larger than is the case in other dogs of greater 

 size ; the tail is bushy and carried low, or slightly elevated when the 

 dog is running.- The colour of full-grown dogs is red, sometimes 

 slightly tinged with black, with white feet and tip to tail ; but the 

 puppies when whelped are black, or very nearly so. They are 

 extremely active dogs, and far more resemble a wild animal than 

 any other kind of dog. 



The domestication of a Dingo brought direct from the bush 

 would be a difficult matter, although it would be possible to a certain 

 extent in the case of puppies bred and reared in this country ; but 

 even under these circumstances it would probably be some genera- 

 tions before their destructive nature could be bred out and they 

 could be trusted about the place loose, more especially in the 

 neighbourhood of poultry. The writer has never known a Dingo to 

 attack any one, but great care should be exercised in handling them, 

 even by those known to them, as they will turn round and snap in 



