The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-19
ODD ANIMAL TRAPS IN INDIA.
FERCEsT OF BEASTS MADE TO
COMPASS THEIR OWN RUIN.
subtle Yet simple Means Adopted by
Natives for Kidding themselves OF
Formidable PeSts-Tigers. Bears
and HOrrid snakes Frequent VIC
Tins of These Devices.

Formidable PeSts-Tigers. Rears
and Horrid snakes Frequent vic
Tins of These Devices.
From the New York sun.
"The queeIest oyer hunt in which It was
ever my good fortune TO participate Oc-
CURED near primitive village in The Pun
laub some miles west OF the dry cid city
of kala Bagh," said a. G. Thorpe. who re-
Gently returned from Northern India after
an absence of several years. NO doubt as
a enid you have been advised to catch
birds by putting salt On the.r tails Wen.
the means by which the tiger in this case
was bagged We're equally absurd on the
surface, YET their success was as imme-
date and serious as could be
"One morning word was received in the
village that a big tiger had been seen
proving around Ia the neighborhood. and
me natives, recovering from the panic mo
which they Weie thrown hN the informa-
con at once set about 20 gave him warm
RECEPTION. From a particular kind
OF tree which is found ali over Northern
lndia they gathered an immense quantity
Of leaves about eight inches in diameter,
thlck aud as tough. as good amen. Other
trees whose sap made heavy sentinOus
paste We're tapped, and the tough leaves
We're smeared with the liqusd. Then The
natives carried the prepared leaves short
distance from The village, ana covered the
ground with them lor a radius of forty
feet around a big tree, turning each leaf
so that the pastS-p aStered SIDE was up
permost Next a small and loudly protest.
ING pig was hoisteG 10 a bough of the
tree about eleven or twelve feet from the
ground and there made secure. More than
100 natives armed with spears hid them
selves IN The tops OF surrounding trees. and
all settled down TO watch the development
of events.
Two or three hours passed and (also
perched in a leafy retTeaO was beginning
TO think that the tiger would not put in
an appearance. when there was the sound
OF sCeathy step and the expected animal
stole cautiously out into the opening near
the pig-baited tree. Guided by the senses
of hearing and SMELL the big cat had
readily detected the presecene of the young
porker, and as he came crouching along
the pig detected him and set up deaf
enlng squal of terror. Like a fash of
lightning the sinuous body of the tiger
shot upward, but missed the pig by a good
three feet, for a tiger, as a general thing,
cannot leap more than nine or ten feet
vertically, although il is nothing for him
TO cover a single bound more than thir-
ty feet horizontally.
"Angered by his first defeat, the tiger
crouched down and repeated the spring
but sull the screaming, terrorized bait es-
capped him. Determined to try again, the
big cat gathered himself together in a
tense knot, his yellow eyes glancing with
rage and his great red tongue licking his
chops in indication of his hunger How
came aware that mis- paws were covered
with the leaves and concluded TO rid HIM
self of the unclean accumulation before
dining on the porker He stretched out
the paws and wiped them on the ground,
only TO gather up few more of the pasty
leaves. Apparently amazed by this ex-
traordinary increase of membranes, the
big cat then wiped his paws on his body
thus transferring the leaves to his sides
and belly. This seemed to relieve his
mind and he put his paws on the ground
To his increased establishment. he found
the paws again filled with the adhesive
leaves and his rage exceeded all bounds
Temporarily he lost sight of the pig and
fell to cleaning himself, with the result
that his stripes were soon obseured by a
mass of green.
IAN members of the cat tribe have a
habit of wiping their paws on their face
and head, and this tiger was no eXcep-
ton; but when the paste got into his
eyes it caused pain that drove the animal
almost out of his head. Down on the
ground he flung himself and began to roll
over and over in his mad efforts to free
himself from the leaves, which, of course,
continued to multiply upon him until even
his tail looked like a healthy young tree
bough Then, finding no relief in the roll
ing, up he sprang and dashed blindly
around in a circle until his head struck
a tree with a resOunding crash and bowl
ed him over, Shrieking, writing, half
stunned tiger maniac. Down from their
hiding places swarmed the natives and
helpless in his blindness aud pain, the tiger
soon yielded up the ghost, being punctured
by a thousand spear thrust
THE traditionafly inventive American,
when travelling in Northern India, cam
not fail to be interested by the ingenious
methods employed by the natives for the
destruction of wild animals" continued
Mr.. Thorpe. The theory entertained by
the natives is that nearly all of the ami
mails which menace their lives and prop
erty are merely greedy imDeciles; hence
the methods adopted for their destruction
are usually simple and remarkable for the
total absence of that personal risk which
American and English hunters of big
game deem essential to the thorough en-
joyment of their sport. The idea of the
natives is to make the animal destroy
himself If possible, which is well Illus
trated by a method employed in the Pun
jaub for the undoing of predatory bears
THE bears of Northern India are not 50
strong, daring or fierce as tigers or lions
still they are dangerous foes 10 encounter
when pressed by Hunger on one respect
they are more formidable than tigers, be-
cause. the unarmed man can always es-
cape from a Tiger by scaling tree, where
as the bear, being an expert climber can
easily ascend 10 the pursued mans re-
treat; SO for this reason ne is feared as
much by the natives as the biz cats.
Whenever a bear is discovered DroWlng
around the outskirts of a village the ma
tives select tree. with stout Dough
stretching out horizontally some fifteen
OF eighteen feet above the ground and
fasten to Ii, about ten feet from the fork,
a quantity of odorous goat flesh, honey or
some Othef deHcdcy particularly accept
able to the bears palate. just above the
| bait, and a foot or so in front of 1t, Is sus-
pended huge stones weighing perhaps 200
pounds by means of a rope attached to
an overhanging Dough. This stone forms
a pendulum with It's bulk protecting the
bait from bruins claws
Tempted by the honey goat flesh or
other succulent dainty Mr.. Bear climbs
the tree and makes his way clumsily
along the bough untl barred from further
progress by the swinging stone This he
attempts TO push aside with his paw, but,
being wholly ignorant of mechanics, does
not calculate upon the result of this COM
munication of motion to the pendulum,
and so permits the stone to swing back
and deal him a Tousing thump. Natural
iy fne unexpected assault puts him IN a
rage, and he pushes the offending weight
away with renewed vlgor, only to be
the recipient of a still more painful blow.
Too stubborn in contest and always a
determined foe, the bear continues to push
ihe swinging stone with every increasing
energy and to receive its assault until
he Is knocked off the bough and falls
stunned TO the ground. where, If neces-
sary, the natives, who have Witnessed the
contest between stone and brute from
places of concealment. rush up and de-
spatch him.
"Another automatic method frequently
used in the Punjaub TO destroy marauding
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