Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-03-16
DEOPARDs TRAINED FOB HUNTING.
How yyiId Animals In India Are Educated
to Run Down AnteIopsas
Letter from fndiAl

l
sport one must commence tho training
with a fulI-grOwn leopard for hunting
purposes. The desirable hsrceness ana
deetness are only thus to be secured.
The leopard is brought out IN bull
lock cart. with a kind Of mask that
covers its eyes. A chain is also slipped
around its lOins. 1t is quite tame,
knowing its keeper and anticipating the
sport
The cart drives along, accompanied
by the sportsmen, to q spot which the
herd of antelOpes VIII presently cross
in their course. The does all go hrsG,
the black buck-the pride of the flock
Invariably brings up the rear. The
motive is ascribed to jealousy and de-
sire to keep his females all under ms /
eve. Whatever the motive, the posi-
/ ton is fatal to him. At the proper
/ moment the hood is slipped OF the ]
/ cheetah's head, and his prey Is shown
/ him. Unlike the dog, he seems to hunt
/ by sight and not by scent. he looks
4 I,eenly about him for one moment, and
! then drops off the cart, generally at the
/ of side. using it for a cover as long as
/ he can If there are trees or any rails
! ing ground he is quick to take adyan-
| tage of them. and then makes his burst
| upon his quarry.
He almost invariably chooses the
| buck. but he runs him down by sheer
| feetness. This is the meaning of those
dog-Iike claws and the great length OF
limb that make him look almost out OF
proportion in where all the other cat
like creatures leopards, ja-
euars, pumas, and liOns-are short
legged and crOuching. The speed Is
scarcely to be credited. There IS no
| GREYHOUND that can run down doe
] M - q
best-if, indeed, it can be called sport
at all. The cheetah springs on the
. back of the buck, strangles it, and laps
ND its blood. The huntsman comes up
and cuts the throat Of the antelope
and, letting the blood flow into a
wooden cup, gives it to the cheetah,
watching his time when the creature is
f gorged to slip the hood over his eyes
. | and lead him back to the cart.
The natives give their accounts OF the
animal more picturesquely, and the ma
tive accounts are still to be found In thu
!. naturaI-history books In q wild STATE
the cheetah feeds itself only ever
l. three days, gorging itself on these &C
p casions and lying comatose during thu
intervals. In their IG1rsuit Of prey the.
are social, and IN that way differ iron
most of the other carnivOra. Two o
i three of them viii meet at night and g
forth on their hunting expeditions /
4 company. It is by ascertaining thel
:, place of tryst that the natives are abb
to capture them. 1t is very often b
the trunk of tree, which IS found al
?, scratched and barked by their claws
If Moses and meshes are driven into tn
2. ground. The IeOpards come bOundin
o. over the grass and are soon caught.
Q blanket is flung over the head and tn
creature is tied and carried off. On
q, of the favorite theories of the natives
)" which is repeated over and over agal
in the books, is that when the traine
~ leopard misses his stroke he cannot r,
4 cover his breath quick enough for
second bound and the heard passe
Ii from him in safety.
Then he gets extremely agitatet
IS runs up and down till his temper sui
n. sides, and is at last carted and agar
let slip on fresh quarry. 1t Is pictu
esuue kind of notion, but most me
40 who have seen antelOpe-hunting in IL
9d East will be able to qualify its apple
as ton. The leopard does not show h
re-. temper to any extreme extent, and,
ia fact is making another bound on b
:. prev before the antelope can get of
AZ the temper can rise. Nor is the pop
OF lar idea that he must be caught adu
in order to secure the perfection OF
hunting qualities quite correct. lie
a tamable creature, and, therefor
lp- even when an adult, can be manage
ad but those who have raised cheetah k
ne tens viii realize that it needs no tral
ed ing to make them crafty their carr
IN yorous inclinations. Maj. JerdOn h
ne one that followed him about like
1d- dog, racing after him when he took
l1y rides.
re- But when it grew up it showed so
des enough that it was naturally given
les, hunting. It's attacks on sheep had
the be prevented, and several horsewh
T 1t pings made it realize that they VIZ
ad- under special protection. A dOnE
yes defended himself successfully with
h a heels. A cheetah was IN such matt
1lI, ouick to take a hint and had GO
Gu memory. It's training was commend
The on gazelIes, but it soon attained
we'd dignity of bringing down antelop
IN Its owner mentioned one peculiarly
sQ- proof that it hunted by sight and
ills BY scent. 1t was very fond of mOu
ged ING a stack Of hay or the trunk {
tive tree, and from that eminence look
3 OF down on the hunting possibilities
ling the neighborhoOd, and, when actul
Q to in the chase, if the antelope got on
en- sight. it would abandon pursuit. bU
ers, a greyhound were then slipped
lghs would resume the chase and, Of cOul
rue outstrip the dog
and "
e OF Mrs. BRECKINRmGE, wife Of =
'yeo gresham breckenridge, Of Keutuc
r LIZ was in her younger days a noted B
able Grass belle, and though she is