The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-02-08
A KANGAROO HUNT,
Sport That Was rs Dangerous rs 1t Was
Exciting and Novel

sport That was as Dangerous rs 1t Was
Exciting and Novel.
A kangaroo hunt in the Australian
bush is as dangerous as it is exciting,
according to a gentleman who spent
three or four months in following the
long-limbed animal. These animals are
sometimes six feet in height. with short
frot legs, while the hind ones are long
and massive, carry almost the entire
weight of the body, and permitting them
to take long springs. A kangaroo fire.
quently covers Is feet at spring, and
is even swifter than the ostrich. They
are graceful, timid creatures, except
when cornered, and then their long
talons and great strength do terri
BILE execution. A blow from the short
front leg can fell man, while their
claws, which are sharp and pointed,
tear the flesh as if cut with knife. At
the approach of man or animal they
instantly fee, gathering the young in
the pouch beneath the belly which ma
ture has supplied them for the pur-
pose. They fall at the first fire, so ten
der is their flesh. but many an excited
hunter has been laid low by their death
blow.
Starting out early one morning, in
tending to be gone a month. the narra-
tor, accompanied by a friend ranching
in the bush and two natives, travelled
for several hours through the dense
half-growth, so like jungle, before
any signs of game met their eyes.
While coming out of a thick copse of
woods one of the dogs, valuable Eng
lish pointer, came to stand, and the
natives went forward to see the cause OF
it. They returned in a few minutes
and reported family of kangaroos feed
ing on the herb-lined crest of a knoll.
The hunters then went forward, sur
rounding the spot where the animals
were feeding. The pointer broke away
from the leash, and. with yelp. jump
ed into the square where the animals
were. The party worke in toward tie
game, and in reaching the clearing saw
the body of the dog lying on the ground,
his body torn completely open by a
blow from the female kangaroo, who
was guarding young one few feet
away. Upon seeing the hunters. the
three animals turned and fed. but a
volley from the hunters laid the female
low. The male sped into the brush in a
few leaps. and was lost to sight
The writer. on his first hunt. was so
excited by the prospect of trophy that
he sprang towards the female, lying
almost motionless on the ground and
sought to drag the young one from be-
meath her. A few feet only separated
him from the animal, when one OF the
natives pulled him, and thereby saved
his life, for the female threw her whole
body forward. aiming quick deadly
blow, which would have inflicted a
painful, if not fatal wound, but for the
natives Intervention. A bullet soon
put an end to her but not before she
had gashed the shoulder of one of the
natives and injured another dog. The
young one also showed fight but was
soon dispatched. The male fingered
about and the party could hear his
chirp-like call to his mate. A native,
with our last dog, was sent to round
him up. and an hour afterwards found
the dogs body in shreds and the native
pretty badly used up. The skin of the
female measured over six feet and the
flesh of the young one made palatable
supper that night-St Louis Globe
Democrat.