Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America — Volume 1Baker, Samuel White, Sir
History
Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America — Volume 1
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Animal behavior; Hunting
weather that the leopards attacked. The watchman was probably wrapped in
his blanket, wet, and shivering beneath a tree, instead of remaining on
the alert, and this auspicious moment was selected by the leopard for a
successful stalk upon the unsuspecting herd. I have frequently lost both
cows and sheep, that were attacked and killed in broad daylight, and the
leopards were generally of sufficient strength to break the neck of a
full-grown beast. It should be remembered that the native cattle are
much smaller than those of Europe, and I do not think it would be
possible for a leopard to dislocate the neck of any English cow. An
example occurred when unfortunately a valuable Ayrshire cow was
attacked, and the leopard completely failed in the usual dexterous
wrench, but the throat was so mangled that the cow died within a few
days, although the leopard was driven away by the watchman almost
immediately upon its onset.
The wounds from the claws of a leopard are exceedingly dangerous, as the
animal is in the habit of feeding upon carcases some days after they
have been killed; the flesh is at that time in an incipient stage of
decomposition, and the claws, which are used to hold the flesh while it
is torn by the teeth and jaws, become tainted and poisoned sufficiently
to ensure gangrene by inoculation. The claws of all carnivora are five
upon each of the fore feet, including the useful dew-claw, which is used
as a thumb, and thoroughly secures the morsel while the animal is
pulling and tearing away the muscles from the bones.
A wound from either a tiger or a leopard should be thoroughly syringed
with cold water mixed with 1/35th part of carbolic acid, and this
syringing process should be continued three times a day whenever the
wound is dressed. Nothing should be done but to wrap the wound with
linen rag soaked in the same solution, and keep it continually wetted.
The daring of a leopard during night is extraordinary. I have frequently
during wet weather discovered in the early morning a regular beaten
track in the soft earth, where a leopard has been prowling round and
round a cattle-shed containing a herd of animals, vainly seeking for an
entrance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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