The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-12-24
TWO UGLY ANIMALS
Those Big Pigs, the Rhinoceros
and The nippopotamus.
THEY ARE HARD TO CAPTURE.
Getting Away With One Of the Colossal
5rutss Makes the Work Of Trapping
the Big FeIines Seem Like child's
Plsy--Methods Of the Hunters.

the Big Felines Seem Like Child'e
Plsy--Methods Of the Hunters.
Trapping the big felines Is child'a
play compared with the work of cap
tuping those numbering. colossal ami
mails Of the big pig" family, the rhi-
noceros and the hippopotamus.
Too stupid to tame or to break to
halter and too heavy to transport
through hundreds of miles Of wilder
ness, 1t would take man half a life
time TO bring one of these five to six
thousand pound creatures out of jun
gle into civilization. Therefore the
experts only chance Is to fnd COW
with calf and to capture the young
one.
Compared with the alert, grim ex-
terror Of the fellnes. there is little In
the appearance of phlegmatic, pom
derous pig like rhinoceros to indicate
Its real ferociousness. There Is hard
ly wild animal in existence which Is
more dangerous than this rarest of all
our menagerie captives. Awkward as
the great creature appears when at
rest. once aroused 1t dashes through
the densest thicket with the irresisti'
BILE 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 unexplored continent, for the
difficulty confronting him is the three
fold one of first penetrating a thou
sand or more miles into the interiorj
second. Of finding not only a rhinoce-
ros. but rhinoceros COW with calf
old enough to capture, and, lastly. of
transporting his prize across hills aud
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 spoors. like Il 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 cow and calf are
picked up.
Noiseless and from we'll to leeward,
the trapper and his men gradually
calf are inclosed In a circle. From
ahead, out of the maze Of cane and
creeper, sounds the uneasy stamping
of the COW. With 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 race horse
at the man. charging the human decoy,
and at that instant the trapper's rife
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 armor with which the
beast Is clad.
Now and then 1t happens that the
trnpper fails to kill In time-his gun
may miss fire, intervening trees may
interfere or the marksman may miss
his aim. Then the life Of the decoy
depends upon his own agility. To run
to one side before the rhinoceros Is al
most on top of him would be fatal, for
the swift brute would ovcrtake him
with a few bounds. His only hope is
to wait until the deadly horn Is almost
at his feet and then. with the swift
ness of mongoose lodging the aim OF
cobra. to leap to one side while the
ponderous creature. unable to turn
short ip time, dashes onward under its
own impetus. twice, three times. a
clever native hunter will dodge In this
way. giving the trapper ample time to
bring down the rhinoceros.
Then comes the tracking Of the
frightened calf, which has fled at the
first sign Of trouble. and soon 1t is
pushed. prodded and showed up o
bridge of log skids into cage or the
bullock cart.
But even more dangerous is the trap
ping of the hippopotamus, for, al.
though in itself the ''rhino' is more
savage antagonist than the river
horse" the trapper hunts the former
on land and brings down at safe dis
tance. whereas in the case of the hip
popotamus he must fight in the same
primitive fashion that savages have
used for ages. Hand to nav. as II
we're. he must engage this two tor
monster while standing in the bow OF
a frail canoe. for the hippopotamus
as its name. the river horse" means
is land and water animal and mus
be harpooned and brought ashore be
fore 1t expires, otherwise 1t would sint
at once TO the bottom of the river. this
coveted calf escaping among the othe'
hippopotamuse instead Of following
the stricken COW to shore, 80 thet in'
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