PIGS 



and wilas, bordering the Tamankaduwa portion of the 

 Mahaweliganga, they may be seen out on the feed almost 

 all day long ; but these swamp pigs are never very big 

 ones, and hardly worth a shot. 



The old boars seem to prefer wandering about in jungle 

 country, and if by chance you should catch sight of a soli- 

 tary pig in such country, by all means go for him, as he 

 will probably have a pair of tusks worth securing. 



It is no " sporting crime " in Ceylon to shoot a pig 

 the glorious sport of pig-sticking being an impossibility 

 though they can be hunted on foot with dogs, and speared, 

 as is often done in the hill forests. It is not worth while, 

 however, to take hounds down to the low country, as you 

 would inevitably lose at least one dog for every pig you 

 bagged, not necessarily killed by the pigs themselves but 

 more likely by leopards, not to mention the chance of the 

 dogs getting hopelessly lost in the interminable forests. 



Pigs are naturally vegetable feeders, but are not at all 

 particular as to what they eat. They grub up roots and 

 bulbs, eat lotus stems and seeds in the swamps, make raids 

 on native gardens and " chenas," and are by no means 

 averse to a meal of carrion, though I must say I have only 

 once, in all my wanderings, caught a pig actually at it, and 

 that was on the body of a brother pig killed by me the 

 previous day. 



I may here state that I have always been surprised at 

 the number of times I have seen remains of animals shot 

 by me in " gamey " jungle country left absolutely un- 

 touched, except by the usual insects. Unless a leopard 

 finds and eats the remains, the chances are they will simply 

 lie there and rot. Not counting leopards, the only crea- 

 tures I have ever actually seen feeding on carrion were, a 

 pig once, several times the mongoose, and once a smal 



39 



