266 



The Living Animals of the World 



Thoto h,i A. a. KiuUa,i'l J' So 



Grazing is evidently not tlie natural mode oi feediu, 



biowsevs. 



A (IIRAPFE GKAZING. 



f thesi animals, which are essentially 



liis chest, neck, and arms. 

 Ahviiys after that we donned cord 

 coats, when running giratf'es 

 in bush and forest country. 



In regions where they 

 have been little disturbed, 

 'riraffes no doubt wander across 

 o})en plains, and are to be seen 

 well away from the denser 

 forests, feeding among scattered 

 islets of acacias, easily exposed 

 to tlie human eye. But in 

 S<juth Africa they are now 

 seldom to be met with out ol' 

 the forest region. Once, and 

 once onlv, have I seen giraffes 

 in the open. This was on the 

 outskirts of the forest, and 

 the great creatures had been 

 tempted to a little knoll of 

 moL'itla trees, rising like an 

 islet from the sea of grass. 

 One's first impression of these creatures in the wild state is very deceptive. I well 

 remember first setting eyes upon a troop of five or six. As they swung away from the leafage 

 on which they were feeding, my friend and I cantered easily, thinking that we should soon 

 come up with them. We were completely deceived. With those immense legs of theirs, the 

 great creatm-es, going with their easy, shuttling, Init marvellously swift walk, were simply 

 striding away from us. Discovering our mistake, we rc.ide hard, and the giraffes then broke into 

 their strange, rocking gallop, and a iieadlong, desperate chase liegaii, to be terminated by the 

 death of a fine cow. Like the camel, the giraffe progresses by moving the two legs upon 

 either side of the body simultaneously. At this strange, rocking gallop these animals move at 

 a great pace, and a good Cape horse is needed to run into them. Bv far the liest plan, if vou 

 are bent on shooting these animals, is to press your pony, so soon as you sight giraffes, to the 

 top of its speed, and force the game beyond its natural paces in one desperate gallop of a 

 couj)le of miles or so. If well mounted, your nag will take you right u]i to the heels of the 

 tall beasts, and, firing from tlie saddle, you can, without great difficulty, bring down the game. 

 The giraffe, unlike the antelopes of Africa, is not \ery tenacious of life, and a bullet planted 

 near the root of the tail will, penetrating the short body, pierce a vital spot, aird bring 

 down the tall beast crasldng to earth. Having tasted the delights of fox-hunting and many 

 other forms (rf sport, I can testify that tlie run up to a good troop of giraffes is one 

 of the most thrilling and exciting of all human experiences. There is nothing else quite 

 like it in the wide range of sporting emotions. Having enjoyed this thrilling }ileasure a few 

 times, howe\er, the humane hunter will stay his hand, and shoot only when meat, or perhaps 

 an exceptionally fine sjiecimen, is absolutely needed. Giraffes are, of course, utterly defenceless, 

 and, save for their shy, wary habits and remote, waterless habitat, have nothing to shield 

 them from the mounted hunter. 



tiiiiiffe-hunting on foot is a very different matter. In that case the giraffe has the better 

 of it, and the stalker is placed at great disadvantage. These animals are in many places 

 found in extremely waterless country, where even the mounted hunter has much trouble to 

 reach them. Like elands and gemsbok and other desert-loving antelopes, they can exist for 

 long periods — months together — without drinking. In the northern portions of the Kalahari 

 Desert, where I have carefully obser\ed their lialuts, as well as hunted them, it is an undoubted 



