NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



convince anyone that it could not deal with any 

 bony matter or lumps of flesh, for its molar or 

 grinding teeth are quite rudimentary, and its front 

 or incisor teeth are small and blunt. This alone 

 is sufficient evidence to make it clear to us that like 

 the Aard Vark, the Manhaar JakhaPs normal diet con- 

 sists of soft food, or food which does not require to 

 be torn or chewed before being swallowed. In fact, 

 whatever the animal takes into its mouth is either 

 swallowed entire or merely crushed to a slight extent. 

 It is claimed by some farmers that Manhaar Jakhals 

 kill and devour kids and lambs. It is quite true that 

 they do resort to this practice, for hunger drives 

 an animal to desperation, and will cause it to alter 

 its ways considerably. 



On a farm in the Humansdorp district of the 

 Cape Province, there are at least fifty Aard Wolves 

 which live in the deserted burrows of Aard Varks. 

 The owner of the farm keeps large numbers of 

 different kinds of stock, including sheep and goats. 

 He informs me that, although he has resided on 

 the farm for a number of years, he has never sus- 

 tained any loss through Aard Wolves. Knowing 

 they are perfectly harmless, he never shoots or 

 hunts them, consequently they are not so timid and 

 secretive as they are in most parts of the country. 

 In consequence he frequently sees them about 

 before dark, and on many occasions has actually 

 observed them among the sheep and goats shortly 

 after the birth of the lambs and kids. He is posi- 

 70 



