The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-17
TIGER INTUITION.
The tiger is The greatest fl

The tiger is The greatest fighter in
the jungle, and seems to know its
superiority over other animals, one in
dication OF this being found in the
straight course it takes in going to a
watering place, it's trail moving ahead
unswervingly while the tracks of other
animals show breaks and hesitations
from various alarms. a tiger has all
the strength Of the lion with the ad-
vantage of greater i.uickness and cum
ming.
Tigers might be called the cannibals
among wild beasts, hence it is a we'll
! established fact that the males often
devour their own cubs and in some
instances their females. 1t is probably
for this reason that the tigress con-
ceals her cubs from their sire as soon
as they are born and leaves him her
sen as soon afterward as may be.
There is united testimony that tigers
know the differences between natives
armed only with spears and white men
carrying rifles, and they are far more
apt to attack the former than the lat
ter. A white man armed is compare
lively safe from attack in the jungle
unless the animal he is hunting is
brought to bay or wounded.
Training tiger is royal sport, and
here no device conceived by white men
method, which is at once simple and
effective Half way between the tiger $
lair and its accustomed watering place
is dug a pit twelve or fourteen feet
square and somewhat deeper. with
sides sloping out after the manner of
an Indian cache so that the bottom
| is some feet larger than the mouth.
Every particle of fresh dirt is removed
and the opening is then concealed by
branches and leaves, over these being
erected a primitive tripod fifteen or
twenty feet high From the apex. Sc
curely bound, is suspended a live goat
/ at a height calculated to tempt the
| tigers spring. And there the animal
| is left an unwilling sacrifice, kicking
and struggling until the great beast
! shall come forth.
| Attracted by the prospective feast,
/ the tiger creeps up within bounding
| distance, then gives a mighty leap and
falls into the pit There he is kept
! prisoner for several days, his frantic
efforts to escape only serving to ex-
haust his strength Meantime his
captors have constructed a bran new
cage which is carefully let down over
him, large pieces of rattan being
gradually worked beneath until he is
completely shut in. By this time the
tiger is usually nearly dead from ex-
haustion and wounds, and in this con-
dition, a most miserable object, he and
his cage are hoisted to the surface.
AN EXPERIENCE WITH A LION.
! In regard to lions it seems there is
foundation for the statement that these
! great cats often refuse to attack a
/ man, even when unarmed. One of NJ.
Du Chaillu's gun bearers, for instance,
4 on one occasion, came Unexpectedly
face to face with lion, at a distance
of less than three feet. The native had
sufficient GOODNESS to stand absolutely
i motionless, not even attempting to
shift the weapon he carried from his
left into his right hand, for there was
no time to do so. After, perhaps, a
minute, that seemed to him intermin-
able, the lion walked away, turning
his head every few moments to look
at the man. A little later another ma
tive encountered the same lion, and.
showing less presence of mind than
his comrade, raised his spear to strike,
whereupon the brute sprang upon him,
wounding him so that he died within
an hour.
Almost all lions seen in menageries
are animals that have been captured
as cubs when too feeble to offer re-
sistance, and have been sucked by
goats, taking their nourishment thus
three times a day, and often growing
into fine beasts. IN the rare cases
where grown lions are captured. they
either sicLen and die from loss of free
| dom, many of them being carried of
by consumption; or, If they live, be-
come so fierce that they are dangerous
to handle