642 
THE SAVAGE WORLD, 
The Wild Dog, Hyena Dog, Painted Hyena, or Wilde Hund 
'caon venaticus , or pictus ), is very abundant in southern Africa, and is gener¬ 
ally regarded as the bridge 
between the hyenas and the 
dogs. It is not inclined to 
attack man but prefers to 
hunt its own game or to 
devour carcases of animals 
killed by others. It is 
smaller in stature than the 
hyena, is thin, has bristling 
hair of red or brown (chang¬ 
ing in spots to white or 
black, and to gray upon the 
bushy tail), has large, 
straight, white-tufted ears, 
broad, short muzzle and fang¬ 
like teeth. It is nocturnal, 
hunts in large packs, which 
give no sound while pursu¬ 
ing their prey, and is alto¬ 
gether a gruesome creature. 
It has been domesticated, 
when it exhibited the most 
utter antipathy to dogs born in captivity. It sometimes happens that a pack of 
wild dogs and one of hyenas will meet and quarrel over the possession of a carcase. 
The wild dog sometimes finds the wolves enjoying a feast upon the prey 
they have run down, or it may be 
upon a carcase which the wolves 
have discovered. Then there will 
ensue the most bitter quarrelling 
and the most animated fighting, 
which will terminate only when the 
prey has been reduced to fleshless 
bones and the combatants have ex¬ 
hausted their strength. 
The wild dog runs like hounds 
in a pack, but unlike the hound 
gives no audible expression to its 
emotions. It has a great variety of 
names, such as the warabo , the durwa , 
the wilde hund , the painted dog , the 
painted hyena , and the hunting-dog 
hyena. 
A hunter had a somewhat start¬ 
ling experience from suddenly 
stumbling into the midst of a sleep¬ 
ing pack, which rose about him like spectres or hobgobblins. In order to 
induce them to withdraw, and thus render escape possible for himself, he shot 
