HYENAS, JACKALS, WILD DOGS, Etc. 
HY/EN1D/E, CANIDS, Etc. 
I N addition to the large and small felidoe and their near allies the 
civet-cats and genets, there are various other carnivorous animals 
inhabiting the continent of Africa which, although they may make 
no special appeal to the sportsman, are nevertheless of great interest 
to the naturalist, and cannot, therefore, be passed over without 
mention in any book dealing with the wild animals of Africa. 
Of these predatory beasts, perhaps the most important and best known 
are the hyenas, of which highly specialized animals three distinct species 
are found in Africa. Of these the spotted hyena (Hycena crocuta) is the 
largest and the most widely distributed, as it is found all over that 
continent from the Cape Colony to Senegambia and the Sudan, and is 
equally at home in the hot, moist climate of the coast regions of the 
equatorial zone and the high, cold plateaux and mountain -slopes of the 
inland districts. Although not standing much over thirty inches at the 
shoulder, and weighing not more on the average than 120 lb., it has 
always struck me that a spotted hyena is a very much more powerful 
animal than any dog of the same size and weight. I have seen one seize a 
large goat by the neck and go off with it at full gallop, and only last year, 
when sitting up watching for lions over the carcass of a large male oryx 
beisa, on a bright moonlight night, I saw a spotted hyena seize this heavy 
carcass by the neck and drag it two or three yards before it saw or winded 
me, when it at once ran off. The power of a hyena’s jaws is proverbial, 
and I have myself known one to make its escape from a large steel trap 
by wrenching off one side of it. The springs of this trap were so strong 
that it required two men to set it. A wounded spotted hyena which I once 
attempted to spear with a very long bladed assagai made specially for 
stabbing elephants from trees, seized the blade of the spear in its teeth 
and crumpled it up in a most surprising manner. Once its jaws had closed 
on the blade, I was unable to pull it from its mouth, as, although it bit it 
from one end to the other, it opened and closed its teeth on it so quickly 
that it never lost possession of it. 
Out in the wilds in uninhabited parts of Africa spotted hyenas are very 
timid, and usually show great fear and distrust of human beings, but 
where they live in the midst of a dense native population they often become 
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