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The Living Animals of the World 



Photo ly A. S. Rudland & Sons. 



CAPE HUNTING-DOG. 



This animal hunts in packs. It is very active and most destructive to large game 

 of many kinds. 



wild dog in "West Central Siberia. 

 These dogs killed nearly all the 

 deer in the large forests near Omsk 

 some years ago. Across the Himalaya 

 there are several species, one of 

 them as far east as Burma ; but the 

 most famous are the RED DOGS OF 

 THE DECCAN. They frequent both 

 the jungles and the hills ; but their 

 favourite haunt is the uplands of the 

 Indian Ghats. They are larger than 

 a jackal, much stronger, and hunt 

 in packs. They have only ten teeth 

 on each side, instead of eleven, as 

 in the other dogs and foxes. There 

 is no doubt that these fierce hunting- 

 dogs actually take prey from the 

 tiger's jaws, and probably attack the 



tiger itself. They will beset a tiger at any time, and the latter seems to have learnt from 

 them an instinctive fear of dogs. Not so the. leopard, which, being able to climb, has nothing 

 to fear even from the "dhole." A coffee-planter, inspecting his grounds, heard a curious noise 

 in the forest bordering his estate. On going round the corner of a thick bush, he almost trod 

 on the tail of a tiger standing with his back towards him. He silently retreated, but as he did 

 so he saw that there was a pack of wild dogs a few paces in front of the tiger, yelping at him, 

 and making the peculiar noise which had previously attracted his attention. Having procured 

 a rifle, he returned with some of his men to the spot. The tiger was gone, but they disturbed 

 a large pack of wild dogs feeding on the body of a stag. This, on examination, proved to 

 have been killed by the tiger, for there were the marks of the teeth in its neck. The dogs 

 had clearly driven the tiger from his prey and appropriated it. The dread of the tiger for 

 these wild dogs was discovered by the sportsmen of the Nilgiri Hills, and put to a good 

 use. They used to collect scratch packs and hunt up tigers in the woods. The tiger, thinking 

 they were the dreaded wild pack, would either leave altogether or scramble into a tree. As 

 tigers never do this ordinarily, it shows how wild dogs get on their nerves. 



Several South American wild dogs and foxes are included in the series with the wolves 

 and jackals. Among these are AZARA'S DOG and the RACCOON-DOG. These are commonly 

 called foxes, though they have wolf-like skulls. 



THE DINGO. 



The only non-marsupial animal of Australia when the continent was discovered was the 

 WILD DOG, or DINGO. Its origin is not known ; but as soon as the settlers' flocks and herds 

 began to increase its ravages were most serious, though doubtless some of the havoc with 

 which it was accredited was due in a great measure to runaways from domestication. Anyhow, 

 in the dingo the settlers found the most formidable enemy with which they had to contend, 

 and vigorous measures were taken to reduce their numbers and minimise their ravages, so 

 that by now they are nearly exterminated in Van Diemen's Land and rare on the mainland 

 of Australia. 



It is a fine, bold dog, of considerable size, generally long-coated, of a light tan colour, 

 and with pricked-up ears. It is easily tamed, and some of those kept in this country have 

 made affectionate pets. Puppies are regularly bred and sold at the Zoological Gardens. The 

 animal has an elongated, flat head which is carried high ; the fur is soft, and the tail bushy. 

 In% the wild state it is very muscular and fierce. 



