DESCRIPTION OF DINGO 199 



by a sly and savage bite. This habit of unexpectedly 

 biting persons it dislikes is very common, and is in- 

 eradicable. It is one reason why the colonists have given 

 up the practice of keeping a dingo or two about the 

 stations. I remember, in my youthful days, that many 

 persons were anxious to breed crosses between dingoes 

 and domestic dogs, under the impression that the excellent 

 noses, speed, and powers of endurance of the former, and 

 especially their silence when following a trail, would be of 

 great value in a breed crossed with animals of approved 

 strain. But that theory has long since been abandoned 

 as a failure, experience proving that it was the bad, not 

 the good, qualities which were most prominent in the 

 offspring. 



Sheep-worrying is one of the most troublesome habits 

 of the dingo. Like the wolf, they destroy many more than 

 they require for eating. If a couple of them get amongst a 

 flock in a paddock, the squatter is fortunate if he does not 

 lose more than a score of his best sheep. It is always the 

 best of his flock that are first attacked ; and the heaviest 

 and strongest ram is as easily pulled down by a dingo 

 as a rabbit is nipped by a terrier. One dingo has been 

 known, within the space of a few hours, to destroy several 

 score of sheep, killing some outright, and mangling 

 others so badly that they had in mercy to be made 

 away with. 



The only wild animal in Australia that is a match for 

 the dingo is the "old man" kangaroo, and perhaps the 

 large light-coloured kangaroo {Macropus unguifer) of the 

 west, and these he rarely ventures to attack. In attacking 

 the larger wallabies, at least three or four dingoes combine 

 together, and then the victim has but a poor chance of 

 escape. I have seldom seen as many as a dozen dingoes 

 hunting in a pack. I have read of packs exceeding one or 

 two hundred in number, but have never seen such a thing. 

 But dingoes are not now as numerous as they formerly 

 were. The Colonial Governments, and even private 

 individuals, have from time to time offered rewards for 

 their destruction, and thousands have been shot, trapped, 



