THE AARD OR EARTH WOLF 
carry off lambs and kids or break ostrich eggs? 
Is it not likely that the statements of the Hottentot 
and other employees whose powers of imagination 
are wonderfully developed are accepted as facts 
without investigation? After twenty-five years’ 
experience I have come to the conclusion that, 
while in some of the yarns these natives tell as fact 
there is just an element of truth, yet in the majority 
there is no element of truth at all. 
However, I have made extensive inquiries of 
farmers in different parts of the country on the 
subject. Some of them declare that the manhaar 
does no harm at all ; while others are equally positive 
that it kills lambs and even full-grown sheep and 
goats. I have statements before me from several 
well-known farmers who declare they have seen this 
jackal attack lambs and sheep, and even killed them 
in the act. Mr. H. R. Wilmot of Alicedale, for 
instance, writes in the Farmer’s W eekly, 11th October 
1916: “I myself have seen a manhaar rush into a 
flock of sheep and catch one, and that in broad 
daylight too, in sight of the house.” 
On the contrary, Mr. John Langdon writes to the 
Northern News, 27th November 1918: “ The canine 
teeth of the Manhaar Jackal are not adapted for 
killing stock or any animal whatever. I have con- 
ferred with sundry bastards, Bushmen, and Kafirs, 
and all bear out that the Manhaar Jackal lives on 
insects, tock-tockies, ants, and suchlike; and they 
are never trapped by a carcass unless they come to 
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