HYAENA STRIATA. 119 



Length of one, 3 feet 6 inches to root of tail ; tail 1 7 inches. 



The Hyaena is common over the greater part of India, most rare in the 

 forest districts, and abundant in open country, especially where low hills 

 and ravines offer convenient spots for the holes and .caverns it frequents. 

 It is not enumerated by Kelaart from Ceylon. It is quite nocturnal, 

 sallying forth after dark and hunting for carcasses, the bones of which it 

 gnaws, occasionally catching some prowling dog, or stray sheep as a 

 " bonne bouche." Adams says that it is "very destructive to poultry." 

 This I have not heard noticed elsewhere. Now and then one will be 

 found in the early morning making its way back to its den, but in general 

 it is safe in its lair long before sunrise. I have more than once turned 

 one out of a sugar-cane field when looking for jackals, and it very 

 commonly lurks among ruins ; but in general its den is in a hole dug by 

 itself on the side of a hill or ravine, or a cave in a rock. The call of the 

 Hyaena is a very disagreeable unearthly cry, and dogs are often tempted 

 out by it when near, and fall a victim to the stealthy marauder. On 

 one occasion a small dog belonging to an officer of the Madras 33rd 

 N. I., was taken off by a hyaena very early in the morning. The den 

 of this beast was known to be not far off in some sandstone cliffs (at 

 Dumoh, near Saugor), and some sepoys of the detachment went after it, 

 entered the cave, killed the hyaena, and recovered the dog alive, and with 

 but little damage done to it ! 



A hyaena, though it does not appear to move very fast, gets over rough 

 ground in a wonderful manner, and it takes a good long run to overtake 

 it on horseback unless in most favourable ground. A stray hyaena is 

 now and then met with by a party of sportsmen, followed and speared ; 

 but sometimes not till after a run of three or four miles if the ground is 

 broken by ravines. It is a cowardly animal, and shows but little fight 

 when brought to bay. The young are very tameable, and show great 

 signs of attachment to their owner, in spite of all that has been written 

 about the untameable ferocity of the Hyaena. 



Other species of hyaena are H. crocata, the Spotted Hyaena, and 

 H. brunnea, the Woolly Hyaena, both from Southern Africa. The Proteles 

 Lalandii, Is. Geoffroy, also an African animal, most resembles a hyaena 

 in outward appearance, but has an anomalous form of dentition. The 

 canines are moderately large, there are three false molars, and one small 

 tuberculous back molar \ and all are small and separated by intervals. 

 It has five toes before and four behind. 



