JACKALS 101 



The muzzle is less slender than that of the other kind. 

 Skins vary much in colour, and out of a series of twenty 

 or thirty it is seldom that two are marked exactly alike. 

 They rank through all shades of grey, from pure silver 

 to very dark, and sometimes are almost wholly russet 

 brown. The stripes, too, vary in intensity, in some 

 specimens being very clearly marked, while in others 

 they are very indistinct. 



The range of this jackal extends from five or six degrees 

 north of the Equator to as far south as Zululand. In 

 the eastern Transvaal it favours rather more thickly 

 wooded country than the other species. It is sometimes 

 found in the dense thorn bush of the Sabi ; while just 

 outside that belt, where the forest is sufficiently open 

 to admit of a horseman moving with comfort at a slow 

 pace, it is very numerous indeed. 



By nature the Side-Striped is much more sluggish than 

 the Black-Backed Jackal, and is also more nocturnal and 

 solitary in habit. By day individuals lie up in bush, issuing 

 forth at night to seek carrion, or to prey on small mam- 

 mals and ground-roosting birds. It is a dangerous poultry 

 thief. One used to lie in wait regularly, just outside 

 our compound fence, in order to catch such fowls as 

 wandered far afield in the early mornings. It was only 

 after a considerable number had thus disappeared that 

 the culprit was discovered, and dealt with. 



The species is, however, not entirely carnivorous, and, 

 in addition to locusts and other insects, will eat certain 

 wild fruits. I do not think it ever attacks mammals 

 of larger size than a hare, and it relies on catching its 

 prey by pouncing on it, and not by running it down, its 

 speed being comparatively slow. It seems, moreover, 

 relatively a little deficient either in power of sight or 

 hearing, as, when the wind blows favourably, it is often 



