Lake Chohoa and the Ruanda 



had bitten off rather more than he could chew. When I 

 came upon the scene, attracted by the commotion in the 

 grass, the bushbuck was exhausted with its struggles but not 

 crushed, and judging by the flattened grass all around, the 

 fight had been going on for some time. The python had a 

 firm grip with its teeth of the fleshy part of the buck's leg, 

 from which blood was flowing and had freely sprinkled the 

 grass round about. The bushbuck had escaped so far owing 

 to the fact that there was no tree or bush within reach on 

 to which the python could get a purchase for the squeezing 

 process — this I put down to the instinct of the antelope 

 who had seemingly manoeuvred away from them. Neither 

 the one nor the other took any notice of me as I stood and 

 watched, completely fascinated by the sight. So the struggle 

 went on, the python continually flopping the heavy part 

 of his coils over and around the bushbuck, which lay side- 

 ways on the ground ; the buck, however, always managed 

 to slip away from beneath them. As I had had a long and 

 tiring day elephant hunting and was still many miles from 

 camp I had perforce to leave, so I set the bushbuck free by 

 shooting the python — the plucky little beast limped away 

 in sorry plight but with every chance of recovery. 



From what natives have told me, also borne out by my 

 own observations, I am of the opinion that a python first 

 attracts the curiosity of its prey by wriggling the end of 

 its tail in one place, then striking with its head and throwing 

 the weight of its body on the unsuspecting prey from behind. 

 The " fascinating " or " hypnotising " theory is all very 

 well for birds and some of the small mammals, but there 

 is no hypnotising of such redoubtable opponents as bush- 

 buck or the larger ichneumons or civets — it must therefore 



37 



