TIGEKS STALKING CATTLE. 113 



hog, seemingly through sheer love of destruction, since the 

 carcases lay uneaten as struck down in the same covert which 

 concealed the remains of the human victims. 



I have known a young tigress, not arrived at full growth, 

 to kill five head of cattle in the afternoon, and to eat during 

 the night following only the hind quarters of one, the rest 

 being left untouched after the blows of her paws, and the 

 weight of her body cast upon their necks and shoulders had 

 dislocated the former ; nor had she sucked the blood of a single 

 one from the throat a practice not common with either the 

 tiger or the panther, so far as my experience teaches, both cats, 

 as a rule, preferring to make the first meal of the heart, liver, 

 and hind quarters. Although the throat is often found to be 

 lacerated or punctured by the tiger's fangs, I cannot recall a 

 single instance where the blood of the victim appeared to have 

 been sucked from a wound opened at the throat. Like other 

 animals, great and small, which seize live prey, the tiger and 

 the panther will not unfrequently continue its hold of the 

 throat till life is extinct, and this custom may give rise to 

 the general belief in the blood-sucking habit of these animals. 

 I would not be understood to assert that blood is never sucked 

 from the jugular, since, doubtless, it is sometimes, as when 

 the animal is very thirsty, and slakes its thirst with the 

 blood before proceeding to eat the flesh of its prey. 



The tactics and manoeuvres of a tiger bent on converting 

 into beef one or more of a herd of cattle, prior to the final 

 attack, are most interesting, and the stupidity displayed by 

 the cattle is sometimes astonishing. The tyrant of the jungle, 

 seated in the shade, will sometimes watch complacently for 

 a considerable time the movements of the herd, which he 

 clearly considers his own property, with the calm and deli- 

 berate air of a sleek grazier selecting the individuals best 

 suited for his present purpose; or, assuming an indifferent 

 air, will walk gravely and thoughtfully along the covert side, 

 seemingly occupied with thoughts in no way connected with 

 the grazing herd in the open; even indulging in a comforting 

 roll in the sandy soil to rid himself of ticks and other para- 



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