Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-05-13
Wild Dogs.

The will dog, diego. or warrigal, OF
Aus,r.lu. ~ he is id 1hrrpty called,
Is Wy .usliy tamen when caught
youn.,. but lever loses sis blo"d-thirst>
proc.Iyiiies. ] opce found a litter COM
fortau,y eeta1'i,h"I inside tue drIed'np
carc4~, of y defurct bullock. We TOOK
homr one OF the pups, abont u mouth
old; l., very soou adapted himself to
CIrcn instances, * kiuniy 10 miik,
rlsyed with tho .ner dogs, and be-
have, himself like any other puppy,
saw. ia th,s, thst when ea>i'ied or kicked
for DIV mischief, OF which he was as
full asa monkey, he would not stick
his ta,l between bis legs and yclp, like
any other puppy, but shake himself dc
family, and susp snvaseIy, with fierce
snar { Es assailant. As wild do4
grows .iuCr he must be chained up, or
he w. hip the heads off all the fowls
in the place with his steel-trap jaws
One We had uset to devote all his cum
ming to killing Cats at which he was an
adept An old dog, brought up from
puppyhood, will lot snap and groWl,
when punished, as puppy will, but
will axe his castigation very meekly
kDewa warrigal, a very handsome one,
which would 60 ont vita the kangaroo
dogs regularly, and assist con- amore at
the slaughter OF any CT his own kind.
No animal that l have ever heard of
seene TO delight in bloodsLel, for
bloodshed's sake, 30 thoroughly RS u
warriaal, unless it be man himself.
have known one dog kill or fatally
tyf ohnan in nfnl,{
ally tearing them under the flank. He
will only condescend to eat the latest
of the flock. once came across score
or 50 of sheep which had been lost
from travelling flock, in an angle Of u
large river. Two old dogs were sitting
on the false bank, experimenting the
efforts Of five puppies to slaughter
these sheep. Tue old ones seemed to
confne themselves to keeping the
sheep in the angle, aud were doubtless
instructiug and IL living their you!aful
hopefuIs. We had three good kangaroo
dogs With us, ard killed the tGo old
dingo s aud four out Of the five puppies.
h~ve kill.d dog single handed two OF
three times, but 1t requires very
clever and handy horse, and takes a
great deal ont Of him. The dog will
run straight on END four or five miles,
and "ill begin to dodge only wnen he
is 80 ltAate, that you can tlug him; then
he will soon sit up under some bush,
saapping at you, and You can knock
him on the head with your stirrup iron
at yonr leisure. Trust hla not when
apparently dead; warrigal has nine
lives, and will sham dead perslstensly.
have seen one. after being fearfuily
worried by lot of savage h.uuds, sub
NIT to have his brush cut Of without
showing sign Of life, and ut last, rs
we we're mounting to ride off, open one
eye to calculate the chances Of escape.
They are very handsome dogs; never
bark; their howl is one of the most
melancholy Of sublunary sounds. and
sends sll the dogs on u station half
crazy with anger and Excitement. They
are easily killed with strychnine in a
district where poison has not been
much used, but it is almost impossible
to poison dog that has once tasted 4,
without being killed by bait. The
usual procedure is to run o trail OF
strong smelling offl, or singed sheep
skin suspended to the axle Of some
vehicle, and drop ON it, ut intervals Of
two or three hundred yArds, pieces OF
meat rolled in paper, to prevent the
crows from taking them, and seasoned
with few grains Of strychniss. These
bats are laid on road or cattle track.
which the wild dogs are very fond Of
following. Some bury the bait, as dog
will eat the meat IAioh he takes the
trouble to dig up. With u cunning dog
far more elaborate means are taken. a
nice piece of liver, dosed with strych'
nine, is toasted all night over wood
fire, and then thrown u yard or two
away from the supposed camp. From
first to last it is not touched with the
hands, but carried or held with forked
sticks. In the morning the enemy is
found dead, having eaten what he
though: to be y bit of supper left be-
hind by some traveller who had camped