Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-11-13

To 5cgin with the te1it0. l am glau
to say that in the few instances in
which have stood a charge my an
tagoniSt never got home; but a relative
of mine, who was very badly wound
ed by tiger. and several friends, who
have not only been in the mouths of
tigers but of lions. all tell me that the
animal. to use, perhaps. homely form
of expression. came roust hang up
against them" The description is
perhaps more expressive than refined
in language, but think conveys the
idea of animal "hurtling" up against
you. In Selling their prey. tigers and
| believe lions, though with the latter
| have had no experience, almost in
variably 60 for the throat. though in
one or two instances that have come
under my notice of animals killed by
tigers they have evidently been first
hamstrung: these, probably, were the
work of young and inexperienced
tigers. l once saw a man charged and
knocked over by a panther, and he
only saved his throat by putting up his
arm, which, as we'll as his shoulder,
the animal grasped with teeth and
claws. The relative to whom | alluded
was seized in a similar manner, and
three friends of mine who have been
mauled by tigers, and one by a lion
all describe the animal knocking them
over by sheer force of weight before
Selling them. | think, therefore, the
being knocked over by paw stroke is
fallacy.
Any one who knows anything about
elephants must be aware that their
trunks, and particularly the tip of the
trunk, is the most delicate and sensi-
tive part of the animal. and that he
shields it from injury by every possible
means in his power. 1t is therefore
very unlikely that he would expose it
In the act of charging. My expert
ence, limited though it be, points to
the fact that an elephant, once he has
made up his mind to charge. curles up
his trunk tight. Before charging. and
in order to get wind of his adversary,
he may indeed extend it, but once the
presence of foe to be attacked is de-
tected the proboscis is put out of the
way of possible harm.
Bison Il am thinking of the Indian
animal. BOS gd1trNs-and buffaloes,
when they charge, invariably poke
their nose up in the air and commence
by running at YOU with their heads
well up, much in the manner of do
nestle cattle, and only lower their
horns when within few yards of OBJ
ject of their attentions, This | take
to be mere matter of common sense
ha Of al ba
puts his head down say even forty
yards away, he could not possibly see
where he was going.
Bears, when wounded. will, indeed,
often get up on their hind legs and
dance about from sheer rage, and will
also at times do so in order to get
better view of the whereabouts of
their enemy; but when they charge.
whether it be at a man mounted or on
foot, they invariably charge on all
tours.
In charging most animals give vent
to certain vocal sounds runts or
roars--and this, it is natural to sup
pose, is done with view to terri
flying and demorizing the object they
are attacking; in fact, more often than
not it is mere bounce on the animals
part. | have often seen tigers roar
when charging who never really meant
mischief, and who, when met by a
bold front. turned off. No doubt in
the case of attacking their fellow an
imals. establishinga funk" and so de-
moralization, these roars may prove
an aid in bringing their victim within
their grasp; but as a rule, when en-
gagged in pursuit of prey the tedd@ de-
pene principally on their powers of
stealthy approach, and only roar at
the last moment before Selling, with "a
view to paralyzing morally their in
tended victim. Land and Water.