138 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



A few writers maintain that no wild animal is more easily 

 tamed or exhibits more affection, and Bishop Heber re- 

 corded that in India he saw a Hyaena which followed a 

 gentleman about like a dog, and fawned on those with 

 whom it was acquainted. Cuvier, that close observer of 

 animals, believed that in a domestic state the Hyaena would 

 ' doubtless render to man services of the same kind and 

 degree as the canine species.' 



SPOTTED HY.EINA (Hycena crocuta). 

 Coloured Plate VII. Fig. 2. 



The Spotted Hyaena roams all over Africa between a 

 line drawn from Senegal to Abyssinia and Natal, where a 

 few are still to be found. It is more massively built, and 

 is larger, stronger, fiercer, and more aggressive than its 

 northern cousin. It measures as much as six feet in 

 length, including the sixteen-inch tail, and stands nearly 

 three feet high at the shoulder. Its front and hind legs are 

 not so unequal in length, and consequently its gait is less 

 ungainly. Its usual cry is a horrible maniacal sound that 

 has gained for it the name of the ' Laughing Hyaena,' 

 although in South Africa it is far more often mistakenly 

 called the Wolf or Tiger-wolf. 



Unlike the Striped species, the Spotted Hyaena largely 

 hunts in packs, carrying off the animals of travellers that 

 are tethered near the camp, seizing sheep and calves out of 

 the herds, and even snatching children from the arms of 

 their sleeping mothers. Its appetite is most voracious, and 

 the animal welcomes, if it does not prefer, putrid and 

 decaying flesh. 



The statement requires corroboration, but some travellers 

 assert that the Hyaena stores up fresh food until it is suffi- 

 ciently tainted to tickle its palate. Bearing this in mind 

 was rv nce the means of saving a hunter's life. While he was 

 unanhed he fell in with a troop of Hyaenas, and with great 

 presence of mind lay down and shammed death. The 

 animals examined him, turning him over with their grue- 

 some snouts, and one gaunt creature bit him on the thigh, 



