The Tower Menagerie : $b comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history.Bennett, Edward Turner
History
The Tower Menagerie : $b comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history.
distinction, these characters may fairly be regarded as sufficiently
striking to sanction the separation of the animal now under consideration
from the dogs. With the latter it corresponds most completely in the
number and form of its teeth, and in the general structure of its
skeleton, which differs remarkably from that of the Hyæna.
In size and form it is smaller and more slender than either the Hyæna or
the Wolf. Its ground colour is of a reddish or yellowish brown, which is
variously mottled in large patches along the sides of the body and on the
legs, with black and white intermingled together. Its nose and muzzle are
completely black, and it has a strong black line passing from them up the
centre of the forehead to between the ears, which are very large, black
both within and without, and furnished with a broad and expanded tuft
of long whitish hairs arising from their anterior margin and filling up
a considerable part of their concavity. There is a lighter patch on the
muzzle beneath each of the eyes. The tail is of moderate length, covered
with long bushy hair, and divided in the middle by a ring of black, below
which or towards the extremity it is nearly white, as are also the fore
parts of the legs below the joint. These colours and markings are subject
to variation in different individuals; but in their general disposition
and appearance they constantly exhibit the greatest similarity.
The Hyæna-Dog, if this compound term may be allowed, is a native of
the South of Africa, and infests the frontier settlements at no great
distance from the Cape to a very extensive and troublesome degree. Mr.
Burchell, to whom we are indebted for the earliest specimen brought
to this country, as well as for first pointing out its distinctive
characters, informs us that it hunts in regular packs, preferring the
night, but frequently pursuing its prey even by day. It is not only
exceedingly fierce, but also remarkably swift and active, insomuch that
none but the fleeter animals can escape from its pursuit. Sheep, oxen,
and horses appear to be its favourite game: on the former it makes its
onset openly and without fear, but of the latter it seems to stand
in awe, and attacks them only by stealth, frequently surprising them
in their sleep, biting off the tails of the oxen, for which it has a
particular fancy, and inflicting such serious injuries upon the horses,
especially the young colts, as they rarely survive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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