THE BLACK-BACKED JACKAL 



of these ' back door ' holes through which, as a 

 rule, the terriers are unable to follow ; and, should 

 there be no one to intercept them on the surface, 

 make away into the veld as hard as they can. The 

 parents are very rarely found in the holes with the 

 young ones ; they are generally lying in the nearest 

 patch of bush, and may often be seen watching the 

 proceedings from a safe distance." 



The puppies at birth are little helpless creatures, 

 just i like the pups of the domestic dog, and are 

 suckled by the mother until they are old enough to 

 eat solid food. Then both parents diligently forage 

 around in all directions for food for the ravenous 

 youngsters. Nothing in the way of flesh food comes 

 amiss. If the parent jackals should kill an animal 

 which is too large to carry away, they gorge them- 

 selves with the meat, and disgorge it for the puppies. 

 If they are able to carry the provender in their 

 mouths, they always do so in preference to swallow- 

 ing it. When carrion is plentiful, the jackal satisfies 

 its appetite upon it, and does not interfere with 

 other creatures of veld and forest. It is one 

 of Nature's scavengers, and in the past filled an 

 important niche in the economy of Nature. For 

 instance, in the distant past South Africa was swarm- 

 ing with animal life both large and small, and the 

 jackals belonged to what we might term Nature's 

 Sanitary Corps. When an animal died, instead of 

 its body putrefying and poisoning the atmosphere, 

 the jackals gathered in scores and ate up every 

 VOL. ii 97 7 



