44 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
mauling, if not from death. We were breaking 
through the jungle on our way to some traps; Ali 
shouted and pushed me to one side, shoving my gun 
into my hands. I looked up, setting my gun, just as 
a black leopard sprang. Ali’s spear whizzed by my 
head, I fired, catching the animal in mid-air squarely 
in the chest with an explosive bullet. Ali’s spear hit 
him in the side. I took it as a good lesson in careful- 
ness. It was well enough to be on the alert for the 
animal I was trailing, but it was also important to be 
on the alert for the animal that might be trailing 
me. 
A favorite native method of hunting is with bird- 
lime, which is a mucilage made from the gum of a 
tree. In catching tigers or leopards, the hunter 
spreads out the birdlime where they will pass and 
carefully covers it with leaves. Immediately after 
a cat animal has put his foot in the stuff, he becomes 
so enraged and helpless that he is easily captured. 
It is very much like putting butter on a house cat’s 
paws to keep him busy until he becomes accustomed 
toanew home. The tiger or leopard that steps in 
birdlime doesn’t step gracefully out of it and run 
away; he tries to bite the stuff from his feet and 
then he gets it on his face. When he tries to rub 
it off, he plasters it over his eyes. Finally, when he 
is thoroughly covered with it, he is so helpless that 
without much danger he can be put into a cage; 
and there he spends weeks in working patiently to 
remove the gum from his fur. Birds and monkeys 
