Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-10-22

her cubs, for these animals, like lions,
are homogeneous The young re-
main with the mothers until nearly or
quite full grown. By day the tiger
takes up its abode in deep shade, es-
pecially in the hot season, and gener-
ally near water. They swim well and
will even cross arms of the sea, but
very rarely ascend trees. Tigers
spring much less than is popularity
supposed, and rarely move both their
hind legs off the ground They roar
good deal less than lions do, although
their call is very similar. MIR. Blan-
ford says, when hit by bullet a
tiger generally roars, but tigresses or
at all events very often, do not. I
have on three occasions at least
known tigress to receive a mortal
wound and pass on without making
a sound.
The ordinary food of tigers, says
the New York Sun. consists of pigs,
deer, antelopes, and. strange to say,
porcupines, which one would think
would be rather awkward mouthfuls.
They also sometimes kill and eat bears
/ and young gaurS and buffalOes. al
though such wild cattle. if adult are
moro than match for the tiger.
When hard pressed during foundations
they will eat fish, tortoises, lizards,
frogs, and even locusts. They kill
great numbers of domestic animals,
and sometimes live entirely On cattle,
and they have a distinct preference for
beef over mutton. The tiger appears
ordinarily to kill cattle by clutching
the forequarters with its paws and
then Selling the throat in his jaws from
underneath and forcing it upward and
backward until the neck is dislocated."
The enormous muscular power Of
the tiger is shown by the way in which
it can transport large carcas5es of
oxen over rough ground, sometimes
lifting the body completely off the
ground. A very hungry one will de-
YOUR two hindquarters in one night
but generally remains three Or four
days near the carcass. feeding at in
tervals A tigress with cubs is often
very destructive, partly. it is said, to
teach the young tigers to kill their
own prey. Though they usually do
SO kill they do not disdain carrion.
Cases are even recorded OF a shot tiger
being devoured by another of it's own
species
The ordinary cattle-eating tiger is a
great coward in the presence of man,
and often allows himself to be pelted
of. The man-eating tigers are those
which have got fat and heavy. or be-
ing disabled from age or injury find
man an easy prey; and when once
they have got over their innate fear of
the human species such a tiger may
become a fearful scourge. Thus in
Lower Bengal alone 4,2lS persons
were killed by them between 1860 and
1866. In Bengal and Upper India IT,
gers are hunted on elephants, the
sportsmen shooting from howdahs.
In central and southern India tiger
shooting is usually attempted in the
hot season, and the tiger is either
driven by heaters past tree on which
the sportsman sits, or followed up.
either on an elephant or On foot Oc-
casiOnally, especially when tiger has
been wounded. d herd of buffaloes are
employed to drive him out OF the COW
err which they do very effectually,
charging him in body if he does not
retreat Tigers captured young are
easily tanned, and many of the adult
animals in menageries are perfectly
good-tempered, and fond of being
noted ard caressed by those whom
they know. They have repeatedly
bred in confinement, although not so
freely as lions, and the cubs more
rarely thrive.