206 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



fur is composed of hairs of uniform length. In 

 most specimens which I saw, the color varied be- 

 tween a vague pale yellowish red and a more or less 

 grayish tinge, or even,. a .ljl^,ck:is]j ,h,u,«;- :The chin, 

 throat, Iqwerparts and tail- are-usually lighter, while. 

 the hair of the upper surface is darker. Though 

 these colors prevail, one may meet black Dingos, 

 or some with white paws and other unusual mark- 

 ings. 



The Dingo is still found in nearly all the denser 

 forests of Australia, upon the eminences grown with 

 shrubs; in the groves of the park-like plains, and on 

 the plains themselves. He ranges throughout the 

 whole continent and is rather common in all parts 

 of it. He is considered the most dangerous foe of 

 flocks and is hunted in every possible manner. 



Habits and In his habits and practices the Dingo 

 Traits of the resembles the Fox more than the Wolf. 

 Dingo. Like the former he hides all day in his 

 lair, in localities where he is not quite secure, and 

 prowls around at night, threatening all Australian 

 quadrupeds. He also resembles the Fox in the 

 trait that he rarely hunts in great packs. Dingoes 

 are generally seen in troops of five or Six, usually a 

 mother with her offspring; but it sometimes happens 

 that a great many Dingoes assemble around a heap 

 of carrion; some settlers state that they have seen 

 as many as eighty or one hundred of these animals 

 together. It is said that Dingo families keep -faith- 

 fully together, and that each family takes posses- 

 sion of an allotted range, never encroaching on the 

 domain of another pack, nor suffering other Dingoes 

 to cross the boundaries they have appropriated for 

 their own hunting grounds. 



Harmful Before the settlers inaugurated a 

 Depredations of determined warfare against this 

 the Dingo. deadly foe of their flocks, they lost 

 an astonishing number of Sheep. It is said that 

 out of one single flock one thousand two hundred 

 head of Sheep and Lambs were lost in three months 

 because of the depredations of the Dingoes. Still 

 greater than the immediate loss that a visit of this 

 predaceous animal entails, are the indirect losses, 

 for upon his appearance the Sheep are seized by an 

 insane fear, which causes them to run away into the 

 wilderness, where they fall a prey to other Dingoes, 

 or perish of thirst. The Dingo also preys on Kan- 

 garoos of all kinds and other larger and smaller 

 animals of the bush. He attacks every animal in- 

 digenous to Australia and fears only domestic Dogs. 

 Shepherd Dogs and Hounds bear eternal enmity to 

 the Dingoes and the wild and tame Dogs pursue 

 each other with eager ferocity. If a number of 

 domestic Dogs see a Dingo, they pounce upon him 

 and tear him to pieces; the reverse happens when a 

 stray tame Dog is found by Dingoes. 



The Dingo When the Dingo meets a human being 

 Holds Man he always flees, if he has the time to do 

 in Fear. go. In his flight he shows all the cun- 

 ning of a Fox, and knows how to profit by every loop- 

 hole of escape, but if he is driven to bay, he turns 

 around in a savage manner and defends himself with 

 the frenzy of despair ; yet even then he tries to make 

 good his escape. Bennett relates really wonderful 

 stories about the Dingo's tenacity of life. A Dingo 

 had been surprised by his enemies and had been 

 beaten so severely that it was thought that all his 

 bones must have been broken ; so he was left lying 

 where he had been struck down. But hardly had the 

 Men left the supposed corpse, when to their great 

 surprise, they saw the animal get up, shake himself 



and hurry to the woods. At the present day the 

 Dingo is being exterminated by fair means and foul. 

 Everybody's hand is against , him, and he is shot, 

 caughj, in traps or poisoned' with strychnine. It is 

 only by chance that he is shot ; for he is too timid 

 and cunning to cross a hunter's path, and even when 

 pursued by Hounds the chances are that he will 

 somehow cunningly elude them. 



The Dingo The Dingo has usually been considered 

 in a incapable of domestication ; yet he is 



Tame State, occasionally found, half-tamed, in the 

 keeping of the Australian natives. A great many 

 Dingos which were kept captive in Europe, remained 

 savage and ferocious and their Wolfish nature con- 

 stantly asserted itself, so that the keepers had always 

 to be on their guard. That opinions as to the char- 

 acter of a whole tribe, when formed from the obser- 

 vation of a few scattered specimens, may be very 

 deceiving, is well illustrated by the Dingoes of the 

 Breslau Zoological Garden. One of them became 

 as tame as a Dog, while the other remained savage. 

 The first named learned to bark (a noteworthy accom- 

 plishment) and used the newly-acquired language to 

 good advantage ; for instance, when a door near the 

 cage was opened, while his untamed companion pro- 

 duced long-drawn, laughing tones, like a Jackal, the 

 tamed animal always joined the duet with a truly 

 Dog-like howl. Schlegel,,to whom I am indebted 

 for this accourtt, was, like myself, of the opinion that 

 the progeny of the Dingoes might be trained to be 

 very useful companions to Man. 



King has succeeded in bringing up a young Dingo, 

 and training him to assist in guarding Cattle; and 

 Pechuel-Loesche observed a beautiful, strong Dingo 

 on board the English iron-clad ship Defence, which 

 roamed about all over the ship like a Dog, climbed 

 the steep stairs with sure-footed dexterity, and was 

 on good terms with everybody on board. 



The Owner- From the Dogs run wild let us now turn 

 less or to those which, though ownerless, yet 



Pariah Dogs, stand in a certain relation of depend- 

 ence to Man. The English have given them the 

 name of Pariah Dogs, and we may well adopt this 

 designation, for Pariahs they are, indeed: miserable, 

 degenerated animals, cast off by the better classes; 

 they are but poor Curs, in spite of their complete 

 freedom; they lick the hand that imposes the yoke 

 of slavery upon them, and seem happy when Man 

 allows them to serve him and keep company with 

 him. 



In the south of Europe the Dogs are kept in a 

 manner quite different from that usual in the north. 

 In Turkey, Greece and southern Russia herds of 

 ownerless Dogs besiege the cities and villages, 

 sometimes entering the streets, but never penetrat- 

 ing into a yard; for, if they did, they would be 

 driven away by the Dogs of the house. They feed 

 chiefly on carrion or occasionally upon small ani- 

 mals, especially Mice and the like. The Dogs kept 

 by peasants in the south of Spain are also fed' very 

 little at home, and they prowl about at night, seek- 

 ing food. According to BoUe, it has occasionally 

 happened, during recent years, on the Canary 

 Islands, that a Dog has run wild and perpetrated 

 great damage among the flocks of Sheep. 



Pariah Dogs All Egyptian cities stand partially 

 of the upon the ruins of former towns, that 



Egyptian Towns, jg to say, on heaps of rubbish. The 

 majority of these cities, and more particularly the 

 largest of them, like Alexandria and Cairo, are sur- 

 rounded for a considerable distance by veritable 



