The Randall County news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1908-1926, 1909-12-24
TWO UGLY AhII,'ALS,
Those Big Pigs. the Rhinoceros
and the Hippopotamus.
THEY ARE HARD TO CAPTURE.
Getting Away With One Of the Colossal
Brutes Makes the Work Of Trapping
the Big FeIines Seem Like Child'o
Piay-Methods of the Hunters.

Piay-Methods of the Hunters.
Trapping the big felines is child's
play compared with the work OF cap
turing those numbering, colossal ami
mails of the big pig" family. the rbi-
noceros and the hippopotamus.
Too stupid to tame or to break to a
halter and too heavy to transport
through hundreds of miles of wilder.
hess. 1t would take man half life
time TO bring one of these five to six
thousand pound creatures out of u jun
gle into civilization. Therefore the
experts only chance is to find cow
with a calf and to capture the young
one.
Compared with the alert, grim eI-
terror OF the feines. there is little in
the appearance OF phlegnatic. pom
deruus pig like rhinoceros TO indicate
its real righteousness There is hard
ly wild animal in existence which is
more dangerous than this rarPst of ali
our meuagerie captives. Awkward as
the great creature appears when at
rest. once aroused it dashes through
the densest thicket with the irresisti-
bic speed of an express train.
To catch rhinoceros the trapper
proceeds with preparations much as
would an explorer bound for two or
three year expedition in the interior
OF an unexpored continent, for the
difficulty confronting him is the three
fold one of first penetrating a thou
sand or more miles into the interior;
second. of finding not only rhinoce-
ros, but a rhinoceros COW with calf
old enough to capture. and. lastly, of
transporting his prize across hills and
mountains and plains, over rivers and
ravines. across swamps and through
forests to civilization.
Skirting swamps and rivers, the men
are ever on the lookout for the deep.
round spoons. like u pie plate driven
into the mud. for in this wet ground
the rhinoceros loves to wallow. Ere.
quently five or six months elapse be-
fore the tracks of a cow and a calf are
picked up
Noiseiess and from well TO leeward.
the trapper and his men gradually
steal nearer until the COW and the
calf are inclosed in IA circle. From
ahead out of the maze OF cane and
creeper, sounds the uneasy stamping
of the cow With a half snort half
grunt in an instant the rhinoceros is
all attention. Head raised and nostrils
! ,kA IN nj StnDhilV
At sight of one of the savages the COW
dasheS with the speed of n race horse
at the man. charging the human dccoy.
and at that instant the trapper's rifle
is heard. and her furious charge Is
over. provided the bullet reaches the
heart by striking Just behind the left
foreleg-the only vulnerable point in
the inch thick armnr with which the
beast is clad.
Now and then it happens that the
trapper fails to kill in time-his gun
may miss tire. intervening trees may
interfere or the marksman may miss
his aim. Then the life OF the decoy
depends upon his own agility. 70 run
to one side before the rhinoceroS is al
most on top of him would be fatal, for
the swift brute would overtake him
with few bounds His only hope Is
to wait until the deadly horn is almost
at his feet and then, with the swift
ness of a mongoose lodging the aim or
cobra. to leap TO one side while the
punderous creature. unable to turn
short in time, daShrS Onward under It's
own impetus. Twice. three times, a
clever native hunter will dodge in this
way. giving the trapppr ample time to
bring down the rhinOcrroS.
Then comes the trucking of the
frightened calf. which has fed at the
first sign of trouble. and soon 1t Is
pushed. prodded and showed up a
bridge of log skids iuto Il cage of the
bullock cart
But even more dangerous Is the trap
ping of the hippopotamus, for. al
though in itself the rhine is more
savage antagonist than the river
horse" the trapper hunts the former
on land and brings down ut Il safe dis
lance. whereas in the case OF the mp
pOpOtdinuS Ne UluSl u-ht III thc 9''i''
primitive fashion that SayageS nave
used for ages. Hand 10 NAV. as /
E were. he must engage this two tor
monster while standing in the bow o
fra, canoe. for the hippopotamus
as its name. the river horse. means
is a land and water animal and mus
be harpooned and brought ashore be
fore it expires otherwise ii would SIM
1 at once 10 the bottom of the river. IN
] coveted calf escaping among the othe
/ appropriateness instead OF ioII""lh
q, the stricken COW to shore. so lhai IN
youugster may be caught.-a. "
ROlker in ST. Nicholas.
The Blue Danube.
The Danube still retains its ancien