218 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



tigers' weights as shot does not appear satisfactory. Those 

 which scaled over 500 Ibs. must surely have included a good 

 deal of beef. 



V. PANTHER (Felis Pardus) 



Native names : generally, ' Chita ' ; in the Himalayas, ' Lagd Baga ' ; 

 in Central India, ' Tendwd ' 



The panther is common all over India, Burmah, and Ceylon, 

 but does not cross the snow-line of the Himalayas, being 

 replaced beyond the range by the ounce. Sterndale gives two 

 varieties, the pard and the panther, describing the pard as being 

 larger, the spots more clearly defined in rosettes, and the skull 

 longer and more pointed than the panther's. Sanderson also 

 gives two varieties with the same distinctions, but calls Stern- 

 dale's pard the panther, and Sterndale's panther the leopard. 



This is in itself perplexing to the ordinary sportsman, and 

 as the writer saw two beasts shot in the same beat, the male 

 corresponding to Sterndale's pard and the female to Sander- 

 son's leopard, the only solution he can offer of the difficulty 

 is that the sportsman may call the beast he shoots either 

 leopard or panther according to his own fancy, and not one 

 man in a hundred will be able to contradict him. 



The panther is a nuisance wherever he is ; he is perpetually 

 prowling about villages at night picking up unconsidered trifles, 

 such as dogs, goats, ponies and babies, in short anything. 

 Occasionally panthers become regular man-eaters, and though 

 far more plentiful than tigers, they are so cunning that they are 

 far harder to shoot. A wounded panther is always a dangerous 

 beast to follow up. He can hide, like a quail, in anything ; his 

 attack is always sudden, and being a quick, active beast, he more 

 frequently makes good his charge than a tiger. More men get 

 mauled by panthers than by tigers, but on the other hand fatal 

 results are the exception, and stories are told of men having 

 strangled panthers with their hands when they have been 

 attacked. 



