The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-17
" IN THE LAND OF LIONS. y
INnM. York Gum

TIC real roar of that animal sounds
nike. He calls the menaserie row. at
'oedins time only a gentle hint of
What a Wild lion can achieve i'm the
local line.
"A pack of lions will often deliber-
a'elN drive game into narrow ravincs
or cuide-sacs where the killers are
Waiting. he says in the American
ma-azine. AT such times the man
favored by the chance of an cncanp-
mont Within five miles or so can hear
4 lions roar.
"Otherwise ! doubt if he is apt often
to get the fu%ll-voicet. genuine article.
n peculiar qucsting cough of
early evening is and deer i'm
Nlbration, but il is a call father than
q roar. No lion is fool enough to
max" a noise when he is stalking.
'After"ard. when fulfilled. individu-
ais may open up d few times, hut ONLY
a Tow times. in sheer satisfaction. APP
~rarentlE. at being we'll fed. Rut when
seven or eight lions roar merely to see
q much noise they can make-as
when driving game. or trying tn SIAM
pede Your oxen on a Wagon trip-the
effect is something tremendous.
Ground and Air shake.
The Very substance of the ground
Nihrat"s; the air shakes. ] can only
compare ii to the effect of a very
large. deep organ in a very small
church. Thor" is something genuine
~ aWe-inSPiring about it: and when
the repeated volleys rumble into 81
lence n can imagine the veldt
crouclled in a rigid terror that shall
endure.
The only sure thing about A lion
is his originality. He has more en-
ception to his rules than the German
. Ia 1O1Iapn Nov, u.hr, la ,1 l.1-~ ,-;-l...
lion hunters for many years, and who
nave brought to their hunting close
observation. can only tell YOU what a
non may do in certain circumstances.
Following Very broad principles. they
may even predict what he is apt to
dc. but never what he certainly will
do.
In general. then. the lion freauents
that part of the country where feed
ne takes his toll by night. retiring
during tho day into the shallow ra-
vines, the brush patches, OF the rocky
little huttes. l have, however. seen
lions miles from game. Summarizing
peacefully atop an ant hill. Indeed,
occasionally a pack of lions like to
live high in the tall grass ridges,
where every hunt will mean for them
a four or five mile jaunt out and back
again.
Never Very Far from Water.
He needs water after feeding. and
so rarely gets farther than eight or
ten miles from tina necessity. He
hunts AT night. This is as nearly in.
variable q rule as can he formulated
in regard to lions. Yet once. and per-
maps twice. L saw lionesses stalking
through tall grass as early as 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. This eagerness may
! ar m 1I- sa,f 1,n,o hal =. a. -.A1 -
possession of hungry cubs.
The lions customary harmlessness
IN the daytime is best evidenced. how
ever. by the comparative indifference
of the game to his presence then.
From q hill we watched three of these
beasts wandering leisurely across the
plains below. a herd of kongonis
wedding directly in their path merely
moved aside right and left. quite de-
l1heratelI to leave a passage 30 Yards
or so wide: that otherwise paid not
the slightest attention.
Y have several times seen this in
cldent or a modification of it. And
Yet. conversely, on a number of ocCa-
sions we have received our first init.
nation Of the presence Of lions by the
wild stampeding of the game away
from a certain spot.
However. the most of his hunting
- ~! Wy ] cen IQG hours
of shutdown and 2 o'clock he and his
friends may be heard uttering the
deep coughing grunt typical of this
time of night. These curious, short.
far-sounding calls may be mere evil
dehce OF intention. or they may be a
sort of signal by means of which he
various hunters keep in touch. After
a little they cease. Then one is quite
likely to hear the p%enitant. alarmed
harklng OF zebras or 10 feel the vi
hrations of many hoofs. There is a
sense of hurried. Hurried u~neasiness
abroad on the Neldt.
Neatly Breaks Victims Nccks.
| The lion generally springs on his
prey from behind or a little off the
quarter. BY the impetus Of his own
weight he hurts his victim forward.
doubling its head under. and very
neatly breaking its neck. have
never seer this done. but the process
has been we'll observed and attestcd.
and certainly of the many hundreds
Of lion kills | have taken the pains
to inspect the majority had had their
nccks broken.
Sometimes, but apparently more
rarely. the lion kills its prey by a bite
in the back of the neck. l have seen
zebra killed in his fashion. but never
any of the buck. 1, may he possible
ti'ot tiIt idtN VI ItDTHS mako IL more
difficult TO break a zebra's neck be-
cause of the corresponding lack of
leverage when its head hits the
ground sidewise.
Once the kill is made the lion dis
embowels the beast very neatly in
deed and drass the entrails a few feet
out of the way. He then eats what he
wants; and, c%uriously enough. seems
often to be very fond of the skin. In
tact InrEyp,o "A,
casionally possible to identify a kill
as being that Of a lion by noticing
whether m considerable portion of
the hide has been %devoured. After
eating he drinks.
Then he is likely to do one of 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
birds seize their chance. The astute
hunter can often diagnose the case by
the general actions and demeanor of
these camp followers.
Feeding Done Before Dawn.
"A half dozen hyenas seated on
their launches at scattered intervals
and treefuls Of mournfully hump
backed vultures SUM in sadness indi-
cate that the lion has decided to save
s'c ASSt VI iis ZepId UHtli tomorrow.
and is not far away. On the other
hand, a tapping. snarling Kilkenny
fair of an aggregation swirling about
one spot in the grass mean that the
principal actor has gone home.
ut is ordinarily useless to expect TO
see 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 we'll up.
and then retiring the nearest aNailahla