Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-12-18
TWO UGLY ANIMALS,
Those Big Pigs, the RhinoCer0s
and the Hippopotamus.
THEY ARE HARD TO CAPTURE.
Getting Away With One Of the Colossal
6rutes Makes the Work Of Trapping
the Big Feiines Seem Like Child's
Play-Methods Of the Hunters.

Brutes Makes the Work Of Trappina
the Big Feiines Seem Like ChiId's
Play-Methods Of the Hunters.
Trapping the big fclincs is childs
play compared with the WORK of can.
turing those numbering. colossal ami
mails OF the big pig family. the rhi-
noceros and the hippopotamus.
Too stupid to tame or 10 break to
halter and too heavy TO transport
through hundreds OF miles of wilder.
ness, it would take man half life.
time TO bring one Of these five TO six
thousand pound creatures ont OF u inn.
gle into civilization. Therefore the
experts only chance is to find COW
with calf and TO capture the young
one.
Compared with the alert. grim OK
terror OF the felines, there Is little in
the appearance OF a phlcgmatic, pom
derous pig like rlI1noceros 10 Indicate
its real foreclosures. There is hard
~ wild animal ia existence which is
more dangerous than this rarcst OF all
our menaSeric captives. Awkward as
the great creature appears when AT
rest once aroused it dashcs through
the denscst thicket with the irresisti.
bic speed Of an express train.
To catch a rhinoccros the TRAINER
proceeds with preparations much MS
would an explorer bound for a two or
three year expedition In the interior
of an uneNplOrCd continent. for the
difficulty confronting him - tho three
fold one Of first penetrating a thou
sand or more miles into the interior;
second. Of finding not only rhnoce-
ros, but rhiuOccroS COW with calf
old enough 20 capture. and lastly, Of
transporting his prize across hills and
mountains and plains. over rivers and
ravincs. across swamps and through
forests to civilization.
Shifting swamps and rivers. the men
are ever on the lookout for the deep.
round spoons. like a pie plate driven
into the mud. for i'm this wet ground
the rhinoccros loves 10 walloW. Ere
qucutly five or six months eupse be-
fore the tracks OF cow and a calf are
picked up
NoiseleSs and from well 10 lccward,
the trapper and his men gradually
steal nearer until The COW and the
calf are incloscd in IL circle. From
ahead. out Of the maze OF cane and
crceper, sounds tho uneasy stamping
Of the COW. With Il half snort, half
Grunt, in an instant the rhinoceros is
all attention. Head raised and nostrils
shifting. she searches the air steadily.
AT sight of one OF the savages the COW
dasheS with the speed OF "A race horse
at the man, charging the human decoy,
and at that instant the trappcr's rifle
is heard and her furious charge is
over. provided the bullet reaches the
heart by striking just behind the left
forelcg-the only vulnerable point i'm
the inch thic.l armor with which the
beast is clad.
Now and then it happens that the
trappcr fails TO kill ina timc-hiS gun
may miss TIRE. Intervening trees may
interfere or the markSman may miss
his aim. Then the life OF the dCcoy
depends upon his own agility 10 run
to one side before the rhiuoccros is al
most on top Of him would be fatal. for
the swift brute would oyCrtale him
with Il few bounds. Ills only hope is
to wait until the deadly horn is almost
at his feet and then, with thc swift
ness of mou-OOse dodgiu.. the aim OF
n cobra, TO leap to one size while the
pondcrous creature. unable to turn
short in time, dasbes onward under it's
own impetus Twice. three times. n
clever native hunter will dodge in this
way, giving the trappcr ample time to-
bring down the rhinOceros.
Then comes the tracNil- of thc
frightened calf. which has fed at the
first sign OF trouble. ana soon 10 is
pushed, proddcd and showed ND
bridge OF log skjds into "a cage of the
bullock cart
But even more dangerous is tGc trau-
ping Of Che hippopotamus. for. ai.
though iu itself the "rhiuo" is II more
savage antagonist than the river
horse" the trappcr hunts the former
on land and brings down at safe dis.
karcc. whereas I'm the case of the hip
popOiamus he must fight iu tac same
primitive fashion that savaccs have
used for ages. Hand TO NAV. as 10
were. ne must engage This two ton
monster while standing in the bow of
30 fraii canoe. for the .hippopc,amus.
1s its name. Dc river horse" means.
is land ana water animal ANA must
be harpooncd and brought ashore be-
fore it expires. otherwise 30 would sink
at once Co tho bottom OF the river. the
coveted calf escaping among fhr other
hippopo'amuscs instead Of following
tho stricken COW to- shore. so that the
yOuugstcr may be caught "a. 81.
Roller Iu ST. Nicholas