The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1906-10-04
RED DOG OF INDIA.
NE is A MIGHTY HUNTER or
GAME ANIMALS.
Never Reaches the Size Of Wolf and
is of Peculiar shape-To BE
Found All over Asia.

The red dog never reaches the SIZE
of a wolf, though 1t exceeds that Oh
iackal saws the Saratoga Review lts
shape is uncouth, the body narrow anu
low In the forequarters. with loose
limbs ending in large awkward paws
the head and brush carried low. Inc
head. remarkable for the large Dluhl
furry ears. Is intermediate between
the domestic dog and fox, without the
honest look of the one of the quick
witted sharpness Of the other. Against
these disadvantages the bright chest
nut hue of the wild dogs coat, shaulhs
into black at the end of the Drush'
does not avail for handsomeness.
Over most of India it is to be found
on mountains and plains, in Forest
where forest grows and about the pare
slopes where the hills have not vegeta'
ton. East of India, very similar
beast ranges even to Java. and anoth'
er. paler and shaggier, haunts OF 81
IBERIA and Sakhalin, so that over most
of Asia one form or other is to be
reckoned with. Naturally the Indian
species Is the most known, yet 1t is
not known at all intimately. for
though so widely spread 1t is not
common animal and the field natural
lists of India have little to say OF 1t.
But it is clear that the red dog is
very different animal from the wolf
and far superior to any other eastern
canine. Most of the wild relatives OF
our dogs are cowardly beasts, feeding
on carrion and small animals and
only attacking large ones when hard
pushed by hunger. Such is the VOLTS
way of life, while the jackal skulks
round villages and sometimes enters
large towns in search of scraps, max
ing night hideous with his bowls, even
in Calcutta. But the red dog is
true hunter, the deadliest foe to the
game animals that is known in the
east. He Is not very swift-less so
than the jackal-nor is he adrolt or
graceful in his actions, but he follows
deadly persistence. and however long
the trail may be the pack runs into
their victim without fail in the end.
They do not so in large numbers-a
dozen would be big pack-but what
they want in force is replaced by their
courage and cunning strategy in at
tack.
Their ordinary prey is the powerful
sambur deer and the beautiful spotted
axis, corresponding to our red deer
and fallow deer the various antelopeS
of the plains and wild goats of the
hills. All of these they harry in turn
for a few days, then the terrified
beasts forsake that section of the
jungle and the red pack must range
far afield again, not to return till long
after, when the terror of their raid
has subsidized in the locality. Their
methods of attack are terrible in the
extreme; some OF their devices, in
deed, can hardly be mentioned here
Suffice it to say that their ordinary
plan, whenever possible, is to disem
bowel the victim
Deer are not the only prey on which
these terrible creatures adventure;
the biggest horns known of the gauI
(bos gaurus) came from one said tc
have been killed by wild dogs, of the
Burmese race in this case; and YET
this gaur, the largest of all wild oxen
is too much for the ordinary tiger;
and the tiger often fails with the bear
the most gallant of all wild animals
but the red pack will bring him to his
end. Their fellow carnivores even are
not safe. The black bear of the Hi
malayas, although the fiercest Of
Italian bears. has been seen in his las
struggle with the pack, with torn
coat and flesh in strips, fighting game
ly still.