METHODS OF DEFENCE. 6$ 



It has happened that foxes have been caught in a 

 trap by a paw or else by the tail, when delicately 

 endeavouring to extract the bait. Recognising the 

 manner in which they are retained prisoners, certain 

 of them have had the intelligence and the courage to 

 cut off with their teeth the part engaged in the trap, 

 and to escape thus mutilated. St John knew a fox 

 who thus escaped by amputating a paw, and who was 

 able to earn his living for three or four years subse- 

 quently, when he was finally caught. 

 , In Australia great kangaroo hunts are organised. 

 Generally the capture is sufficiently easy, and the 

 dogs are able to seize the kangaroo, but sometimes 

 he makes a long and rather original defence. If 

 possible, he directs his flight towards a river. If he 

 reaches it he enters, and, thanks to his great height, 

 he is able to go on foot to a depth where the dogs 

 are obliged to swim. Arrived there, he plants himself 

 on his two posterior legs and his tail, and, up to his 

 shoulders in the water, awaits the arrival of the pack. 

 With his anterior paws he seizes by the head the first 

 dog who approaches him, and, as he is more solidly 

 balanced than his assailant, he holds the dog's nose 

 beneath the water as long as he can. Unless a second 

 dog speedily comes to the rescue the first is inevitably 

 drowned. If a companion arrives to free him, he is so 

 disturbed by this unexpected bath that he regains the 

 bank as quickly as possible, and has no further desire to 

 attack this suffocating prey. A strong and courageous 

 old male can thus hold his own against twenty or 

 thirty dogs, drowning some and frightening others, 

 and the hunter is obliged to intervene and put an end 

 to this energetic defence by a bullet.^ 



^ J. Gould, Tie Mammals of Australia, London, 1845-60. 



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