Some people fear a large leopard even more than they do a tiger, because a large leopard attacks a man even more often than a tiger does. Other wild animals as a rule avoid man, as I have told you before. But a tiger very often attacks man, and a large leopard does so almost every time he can. He is by nature even more ferocious than a tiger. The leopard has this very bad quality: he is perhaps the only animal that kills for the mere "fun" of killing--just like some men who call themselves "sportsmen." If a large leopard gets among a herd of cattle, he kills several of them, one after another. He does the same with wild pigs, wild goats, and wild sheep. He kills many more than he can possibly eat. In fact, the bad name some people give to the tiger in that respect really belongs to the panther or large leopard. When a large number of animals are found killed, a tiger is usually blamed for it. But wise people, who have studied the ways of animals, never make that mistake. Of course, they cannot always tell by the paw marks on the ground whether a small tiger or a large leopard did the killing--because the paw marks of a large leopard look so much like those of a small tiger. But if a single one of the animals killed has been eaten, then they know whether it was a tiger or a leopard that did the killing. How do they know that? By examining the part eaten--as I have already described to you on page 178. _How the Leopard Seizes his Prey_ A leopard usually seizes his prey by the throat. He grips the throat in his jaws, and holds on till the animal cannot breathe and is suffocated. If the prey is large, such as a big stag, the leopard's grip on the throat may not suffocate it completely; then the leopard uses another method. He keeps his grip on the throat of the prey, and _pulls downward_ with his full weight. The prey tries to rear up on its hind legs to throw off the leopard--but then the leopard pulls downward with a sudden jerk. This breaks either the animal's spine or its neck, and it falls to the ground. The leopard seizes his prey by the throat when it is a swift-footed animal, like the deer. But when it is a slow-footed animal, like cattle, the leopard uses another method--at least on some occasions. He rushes to the prey from the side or the back, and kills it by a blow of his paw on the neck from above--as a tiger does. If one blow only stuns the prey, and it falls, the leopard just starts _eating_ the throat, which of course kills the prey. _The Leopard's One Amiable Quality--He Loves Perfumes_ The leopard is said to have at least one amiable quality. It is said that he is so fond of beautiful perfumes that he can be tamed with them! That is, if you use some beautiful perfume which the leopard likes, you can tame him with it for a time. But I cannot tell you whether that is _always_ true.