74 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



Yet if these animals should be driven to bay they will fight 

 with great determination and ferocity. Their teeth are long and 

 sharp, and they deliver a succession of snapping bites, after the 

 manner of the wolf, so as to lacerate the flesh of their antagonist, 

 and weaken him by loss of blood. In one instance a pack of 

 hounds were attacked by a number of jackals, which fought so 

 furiously that they were with difficulty driven off. 



Sometimes a jackal, perceiving that it has no chance against its 

 pursuers, will escape by feigning to be dead. By this artifice one of 

 these animals has been known to deceive quite a number of dogs, 

 which, after biting and worrying it for some time, left it upon the 

 ground as lifeless. No sooner had they abandoned it, however, 

 than it cautiously raised its head, gave a quick glance round, and 

 then ran away with all speed, apparently not much hurt. 



The Common Jackal, or Kholah as it is termed by the natives, 

 is a very useful animal in the towns of India and Ceylon, as it 

 scours the streets by night, and devours the off"al that has been 

 thrown out. This offal, if it were allowed to remain even until the 

 next day, would putrefy and poison the air, so that the jackals do 

 good service in removing it. While engaged in their nocturnal task 

 they fill the air with hideous yells; but the inhabitants are so accus- 

 tomed to their outcry that it does not disturb their rest in the least. 



In consequence of their usefulness, kholahs are protected in 

 many parts of India, and allowed to roam at will. Under ordinary 

 circumstances they seldom or never attack a human being. Occa- 

 sionally, however, one is seized with madness, akin to that terrible 

 canine disease which we call "hydrophobia"; and then it will run 

 through the streets, even in broad daylight, snapping at every 

 human being and animal that it meets. 



Jackals have often been domesticated, and kept for many years 

 in captivity, learning to obey the word of command, and to follow 

 their master about just like pet dogs. In order to render them 

 perfectly tame, however, it is essential that they should either be 

 born in captivity, or else be captured while quite young; for if they 

 have once enjoyed the freedom of a wild life, they have acquired 

 a treacherous and revengeful disposition, which they never after- 

 wards lose. 



