ii2 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



from the hut, they ran to the spot, hoping, of course, 

 to secure some meat for themselves ; but, although 

 between the time of the first alarm and their reaching 

 the place barely three minutes could have elapsed, nothing 

 remained on the ground except a little blood and some 

 pieces of skin, while three or four Hunting Dogs could be 

 seen decamping through the bush. 



One of the reasons why the wild dog is so terrible a 

 foe to game lies in his wasteful method of hunting. 

 For example, two or three individuals, having pulled 

 down an impala or reedbuck, will eat as much as they 

 can conveniently stow away, and then, leaving the carcass 

 just where it happens to lie, will leisurely proceed to 

 rejoin the rest of the pack. The remainder of the meat 

 is abandoned to the vultures, and on the following day 

 a fresh victim is pursued and slain. Unlike the felines 

 and viverrines, Hunting Dogs take no precautions to 

 preserve their food against the professional scavengers 

 of the forest, having no intention of returning for a 

 second meal. They live entirely upon animals which 

 they have killed themselves, and very rarely touch carrion. 

 We have seldom caught them in traps, and most of those 

 so taken were either old, and so unable to keep up with 

 the pack, or injured in some way. I once shot a female 

 in the act of feeding on an abandoned leopard kill ; but 

 on examining her I found that a bullet wound in the 

 quarter, inflicted apparently about a month before, had 

 rendered her incapable of hunting. 



This contempt for any but fresh meat renders Hunting 

 Dogs more than usually difficult animals to deal with. 

 Traps and poison seldom avail against them, at least in 

 districts well stocked with game ; for where food can be 

 easily secured, and where consequently there is no 

 necessity to return to kills, the area in which a pack is 



