Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-10
Miseellaneuus Reaaias.
HUNTING IN BRAZIL'S FOREST.
Deer Tracks Sometimes Lead to
Jaouards

| Jaeuards.
Deer hunters from the north fine
their experience Of little use in hunt
ing in the forests bordering the Anna
zon River in Brazil; not that the gam,
is different. for the deer found ther,
are very similar to the deer hunted
here, being simply little more stocky
owing to the fact that their range Il
restricted by. the dense undergrowtf
found almost every where. Their run:
are mostly confined to the little path'
| v keep open by nibbling the shoot
US they intrude from year to year.
a we'll bred northern deerhount
could overtake or tire out his quarry
without doubt, but the we'll bred nor
thern dog in Brazil soon succumbs tC
the climate and the many pests ant
dangers which he can neither recog
nize nor defend himself against, such
as snakes, scorpions and a host Of
singing insects. His pendant ears
hairy feet and thick coat Of hair afford
lodgment to his deadly enimies.
The native deerhound. as he is call.
ed, is not hound at all. but slender
almost hairless animal with ears tha
stand erect instead Of being pendulous
He is always alert for hidden dangers
which he detects as quickly as his mas.
ter can.
MI ha n avoid {
the onca by which name the jaguar Is
known throughout South America
which sometimes gets between the deer
and the dog, and when the later comes
along drops on him from some over
hanging limb or leaning tree trunk
The jaguar, like all the cat family
hates dogs, and takes pleasure in trap
ping one in this way. and is very ex-
pert in foreseeing where game will run
when pursued.
Deer, like most other wild animals
confine themselves to a limited tract
for their feeding ground. Their laby-
rinthine pathways lead to all parts OF
this tract, and the hunter who knows
the ground selects a point on a run
where the deer is likely to pass and
here awaits n shot.
AS moving about Is often almost
impossible save In these tunnelike
paths, hunting in this way is very fat
iguing. for one can rarely stand erect
in following the quarry and getting
your game home. If you are so fortu-
nate as to get any, is sometimes diff
ficult problem.
"My first experience in this kind of
hunting was rather startling" said a
man back from Brazil. II had been
lying in wait at little opening on one
of these paths and the dogs were COM
ing toward me in full cry I was ex-
pecting every moment to see the deer
break into view, when suddenly the
barking ceased.
"a moment later the dogs came UP
behind me from the direction in which
I had come. Their backs were bristl-
ing like an angry cats and their tails
showed in every way that they were
badly scared.
II had no doubt they had met an
onca, but where? I began to creep
cautiously along the path toward
where I had last heard them barking
had gone but a few yards when
heard the warning growl Of an onca.
"a moment later, peering around
bend, I saw directly in the pathway
and under the trunk Of an overhang-
ing tree a large onca lying on the body
Of a dead deer. He was licking the
blood from the animals throat and
watching me with vicious eyes.
Evidently he had selected his am
bush in time to be ahead Of both dog
and deer, and had taken the first COM
er He was so near that it was easy
to finish his career with a single shot
in the ear.
THE real difficulty was what to do
with my game. I was fully a mile
from the nearest house. and at least
half the way I must crawl through
one of those little tunnels. and night
was already falling. So I took some
choice cuts from the deer and sever
ing one Of the onca's huge fOrepaws to
authenticate my story to my friends
at home I put them in my game bag
and followed by the dogs, who were
now happy and exultant at their nor
row escape, arrived home just as the
stars were beginning to appear.
1T may surprise you, but the mar
lowest escape from death by wild an
imals in Brazil that 1 ever witnessed
was in an encounter with drove of
those diminutive southern hogs known
on both continents as peccaries. Of
course we have jaguars, as large as a
small tiger, terrible fighters too, but
I never knew a sober man when awake
to be molested by cne.
You all know what q peccary is,
and ours are much like the Texan or
Mexican variety; a little larger, but
the same gray, thin beast, shaped like
flatfish, tusks, curved up. This is
the only animal I know that a gun
does not frighten.
"Slngly or in companies of three or
four they are as timid as rabbits and
behave much like them, lying perfectly
still until almost trodden on, then
crashing away and making all the
noise they can. Few, hunters have
nerve enough to take a shot, even
when they run in plain sight.
"Save in the breeding season they
get together In droves of hundreds,
sometimes thousands; then, let them
alone if you are alone.
"The victim Of the adventure | al
luded to was a young man who was
sent out to Brazil by firm in the
states, ornamental lumber dealers,
who wished to purchase a suitable
tract near the Amazon River and set
up sawmill. A bright fellow, but no
woodsman.
THE nearest neighbor of Capt. VAL
dez, with whom we were both stop