Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-08-05

deep coughing grunt typical of this
time of night. These curious. short
far sounding calls may be mere evil
dence of intention, or they may be
sort of signal by means of which the
various hunters keep in touch After
a little they cease. Then one is quite
likely to near the penitent, alarmed
barking of zehras or to feel the vibra-
lions of many heofs. There is a
sense of hurried. Hurried uneasiness
abroad ON the veldt.
"The lion generally springs on his
prey from behind or little off the
| quarter. BY the impetus of his own
weight he hurls his victim forward.
doubling its head under, and very
neatly breaking it's neck. / have new
/ err seen this done. but the process has
| been we'll observed and attested. and
certainly of the many hundreds of
lions kills l have taken the pains to
| inspect the majority had had their
neeks broken.
Sometimes. but apparently moro
rarely. the lion kills its prey by bite
| in the back of the neck. | have seen
zebra killed in this fashion, but never
any of the buck. 1t may be possible
that the lack of horns makes it more
difficult to break a zebra's neck be-
cause of the corresponding lack of
| leverage when it's head hits the
ground sidewise.
Once the kill is made the lion dis
embowels the beast very neatly indeed
and drags the entrails a few feet out
of the way. He then eats what he
wants; and, curiously enough, seems
often to be very fond of the skin. In
fact, lacking other evidence, 1t is oc-
casionally possible to identify a kill as
being that of lion by noticing wheth
er any considerable portion of the
hide has been devoured. After eating
he drinks.
"Then he is likely TO do one or two
things either he returns to cover near
the carcass and lies down or he wan
ders slowly and with satisfaction to-
ward his happy home. In the latter
case the hyenas, jackals and carrioh
birds seize their chance. The astute
hunter can often diagnose the case by
the general actions and demeanor OF
, these camp followers,
"A half dozen hyenas seated on their
launches at scattered intervals and
treefuls of mournfully hump-backed
vuItures sunk in sadness indicate that
the lion has decided to save the rest
of his zebra until tomorrow, and is
not far away On the other hand.
Tapping, snarling Kilkenny fair of an
aggregation swiring about one spot in
the grass means that the principal ac-
tor has gone home.
1T is ordinarily useless to expect to
sec the lion actually on his prey. The
feeding is done before dawn, after
which the lion enjoys stretching out
in the open until the sun is well up.
and then retiring to the nearest await
bic cover In an undisturbed country,
ar one not much hunted, the early
morning hours, up to say o'clock, are
quite likely to show you lions sauht-
cring Ieisurely across the open plains
toward their lairs. They go little,
stop little, yawn, sit down a whiie.
and gradually work their way home
AT those times you come upon them
unexpectedly face to face; or, seeing
them from afar, ride them down in
glorious gallop.
"A very large lion / killed stood 3
feet . inches at the withers ana, OF
course. carried his head higher imam
that. The top of the table at which
sit is only feet inches from the
floor Furthermore, he was Feet ana
II inches in a straight line from nose
to end of tail; or over ii feet along
the contour of the back. If he were
10 rise on his hind feet to strike
man down he would stand somewhere
between 7 and feet tall, depending
on how nearly he Strengthened up. he
weighed just under 900 pounds, or as
much AS four wel-grown specimens OF
our own mountain lion.
EITHER menagerie specimens are
stunted in growth or their position
and surroundings tend to belittle them
for certainly until man see old Leo
in the wilderness he has not under