THE BLACK-BACKED JACKAL 
of these ‘back door” holes through which, as a 
tule, the terriers are unable to follow; and, should 
there be no one to intercept them on the surface, 
make away into the veld as hard as they can. The 
parents are very rarely found in the holes with the 
young ones ; they are generally lying in the nearest 
patch of bush, and may often be seen watching the 
proceedings from a safe distance.” 
The puppies at birth are little helpless creatures, 
just like the pups of the domestic dog, and are 
suckled by the mother until they are old enough to 
eat solid food. Then both parents diligently forage 
around in all directions for food for the ravenous 
youngsters. Nothing in the way of flesh food comes 
amiss. If the parent jackals should kill an animal 
which is too large to carry away, they gorge them- 
‘selves with the meat, and disgorge it for the puppies. 
If they are able to carry the provender in their 
mouths, they always do so in preference to swallow- 
ing it. When carrion is plentiful, the jackal satisfies 
its appetite upon it, and does not interfere with 
other creatures of veld and forest. It is one 
of Nature’s scavengers, and in the past filled an 
important niche in the economy of Nature. For 
instance, in the distant past South Africa was swarm- 
ing with animal life both large and small, and the 
jackals belonged to what we might term Nature’s 
Sanitary Corps. When an animal died, instead of 
its body putrefying and poisoning the atmosphere, 
the jackals gathered in scores and ate up every 
VOL. II 97 7 
