Hunting and Trapping Stories; a Book for Boys/Stories of Tiger Hunting

by J. P. Hyde Price

There is something about the name of "Tiger" which holds one spell-bound. Every traveler who has visited any country where these great creatures live comes back well stocked with stories illustrating the beauty, strength, cunning and ferocity of the tiger. Whole books have been written giving descriptions of the royal brute. We will relate a few anecdotes which will give some idea of its life and habits.

A gentleman living in Burmah, who held the position of British district judge, was from time to time much troubled by the depredations made in his section by tigers. This man's duties were numerous; he looked after the irrigation works, settled disputes, kept order among the natives, saw that the mails were properly attended to, and any other odd job that came his way. When a tiger would haunt any of his villages he had to devise means for destroying the pest. Of course, tigers were not a daily occurance, for whole months would go by without news of one.

One morning a woman who had gone down to the river to draw water disappeared. The bucket she carried was found nearly, and in the sand tell-tale foot-prints of an enormous tiger. The news of the killing spread like wildfire, and the village was soon thrown into a panic, for no one knew who would be the next victim. The judge was appealed to and forthwith organized a hunting party. They followed the tracks of the tiger into the jungle, and found the clawed body of the poor native woman, but the slayer was not to be seen anywhere. They hunted all the morning without any luck and returned dishearted to the village at sundown.

The next day a boy and his sister were carried off, and so on for a week or more each day adding another victim to the merciless thief. The village folk dared move from place to place only in strongly armed parties. It is well known that a tiger will seldom attack a band of people unless it is very hungry and there are no men in the party. The situation was becoming desperate. The Judge sent for the Colonel of a neighboring regiment who was an experienced tiger hunter, to advise him. The two consulted as to the best method of destroying the man-eater, for the week's events showed that it was a more than ordinarily clever brute.

After dinner the two men sat out on the veranda smoking and drinking coffee, and while talking the Colonel thought he saw a shadow moving among the bushes. On looking closer for several seconds he became convinced that it was but a trick of the moonlight. A few minutes later, however, he saw the shadow again more distinctly. The servant behind him ceased fanning and both men turned their heads to see the reason. In an instant they realized their danger, for the expression on the servant's face was fearful. His eyeballs were nearly starting out of their sockets, while his body was stiff with terror. They looked in the direction the man was staring and beheld a pair of devilish green eyes watching them. Neither of the men had arms ready and their situation was critical. The tiger knowing that it was discovered without waiting a second sprang at them with a roar. Both Englishmen escaped injury, but the wretched servant was seized by the tiger and dragged off the veranda to the flower-beds below. The man's screams had roused all the servants and they fled in terror, jabbering like apes. One of them in his haste slammed the compound gate after him. The tiger was not expecting this move, for it made him partially a prisoner. The walls were not very high, but the brute could not leap over them with a man in its mouth.

Now the native's wife who was close at hand heard his screams, and seized a heavy kitchen knife she rushed at the tiger and plunged it in to the animals throat. The beast roared in fury and struck out with its left paw. It caught the woman in the back killing her instantly. The Colonel and the Judge who had recovered from the shock now rushed to the scene and simultaneously emptied their heavy army revolvers into the brute. The hail of lead bullets was too much even for a tiger, and with a last roar it toppled over dead.

Lanterns were procured and the tiger examined. The servant was found to be absolutely unhurt, for he had been seized by his clothing, but his poor wife had her back broken in several places while the tiger's claws had made fearful wounds on her head and side. Henceforward the village had peace, for the career of the man-eater was at an end and the incident was soon all but forgotten.

When a tiger pest appears near a village all energies are turned towards encompassing its destruction, for neither man nor beast is safe where it lives.

On one occasion a splendid tiger was seen lurking near a cattle compound, and the authorities forthwith pronounced its doom. The village huntsman was detailed to the work and in a few days he rid the place of the brute and in a most ingenuous manner. He found a path in the jungle which he knew the tiger used on its way to drink, and he laid a trap for it.

Near sundown, some yards from the trap, an Axis deer and its mate and young one appeared leisurely eating grass. Soon the male deer became uneasy sniffing the air suspiciously. The birds ceased singing, the monkeys climbed to the tops of the trees, and the hunter felt sure that the tiger must be close at hand. He was right for a moment or so later a splendid creature sprang out of concealment without making a sound. The deer escaped, but the doe was borne to the earth by the tiger's claws. The brute leisurely ate the carcass while the hunter lay in hiding watching it not fifty yards away. When the tiger had finished its meal naturally it felt thirsty. It rose, yawned, stretched itself lazily like a cat and moved off down the path towards the river exactly as the hunter had calculated.

Now the trap set for the tiger was a clever one. The hunter had collected a number of large leaves and had covered them with a peculiar kind of bird-lime, made of sugar, linseed oil, and a number of other things, all boiled together. The preparation is well known in India, and is extremely sticky. If a person gets it on his hands it is sometimes weeks before all traces can be removed. The hunter had covered the path with these leaves for quite a distance, and owing to their color they looked innocent enough. The tiger reached the edge of the leaves and trod upon some of them, and they instantly stuck to its feet. The beast looked troubled, and tried to scrape the sticky things off on its sides, but this only made matters worse for the leaves soon plastered its sides. Then it rubbed its paws over its eyes as a cat would do. This was what the hunter wanted. In a few minutes the tiger, blinded and roaring with rage, rolled over and over on the ground in its struggles, until it looked like a big ball of leaves. The brute was soon exhausted and lay helpless, and the hunter came up and drove his knife through its heart. – Truly a dog's death.

Of course, this is not considered a very sportsmanlike way of killing a tiger, but the rule is that the first thing to be done with a man-eater is to kill it the quickest and easiest way possible.

Quite often tigers have been trapped in heavy wooden cages, well concealed with grass and branches from trees. At the far end of the trap a large mirror is placed and so arranged that the rays of the sun reflect on it. The flash of light attracts the tiger and it comes up to examine more closely, and then it sees its own reflection. On the floor of the trap is placed a board which acts on a spring, and the instant the tiger goes inside and steps upon it the trap door falls and the animal is a prisoner. Natives then come and lift the cage on to a wagon and carry it off in triumph.

In hunting a tiger does not always have its own way. Curiously enough it is often baulked of its prize by a band of insignificant monkeys. When these little creatures discover a tiger, if they feel in the mood for it, they begin to mob the beast. They follow the tiger throwing branches of trees at it or fruit, or any thing else they find, shrieking and chattering all the while. Every creature in the jungle knows that a tiger is at hand and makes off to a place of safety. The tiger, as a rule, slinks away, for it is no use it cannot climb trees and punish its tormentors.

The true sportsmanlike way of hunting the tiger is from the back of an elephant. Although in many instances men have gone out accompanied only by one native and shot tigers on foot. It is exceedingly risky and a man must be very sure of his nerve before he does so, for to miss a shot means instant death.

At a regular elephant hunt a number of beaters, armed with sticks and drums go on foot looking for the tiger and making a great noise to frighten it. The hunters shoot the game from "howdahs" or saddles on the elephants' backs.

On one occasion a party consisting of a number of hunters and three elephants were beating a track of long jungle grass. The tiger, for they knew one was not far off, was found lying beside a low rock. The animal

AN ELEPHANT FLUSHING A TIGER

did not move until the first elephant almost trod upon it. It sprang at the men in the howdah, but missed its footing and fell upon its back right in front of the elephant. A single shot from a rifle killed it. The body was found to be nearly eleven feet long, which is large for a tiger.

On another occasion a tiger upon being roused from its lair made a

superb spring and landed upon the elephant's head. The elephant trumpeted in terror and did its best to shake its enemy off. For a few minutes the tiger seemed to be getting the best of it, until the elephant encircled its body with its trunk and literally tore it off. The hunter upon the elephant's back fired a shot point blank, and the tiger broke loose and attempted to run away. It could only go about a hundred yards however for its right shoulder had been shattered. It sank exhausted to the ground. The elephant, mean

while, smarting from its injuries was roused to fury, which only those who know the elephant can appreciate. Disregarding its marhout's voice it charged on the dying tiger and literally danced upon its body until not a spark of life was left. This elephant was never any use for hunting after that, as it was always ready to run in a panic when it smelled its dreaded enemy.

When an elephant is seized with panic nothing can stop it, and any one who happens to be upon its back at the time never forgets the ride. It is said that an elephant that has once been clawed by a tiger is never safe to use again, at least for hunting, for it seems to lose all its nerve. When a tiger attacks an elephant it is usually in front, and trunk bears the brunt of the battle. This is unfortunate, for the trunk of the elephant is constructed of a mass of tiny nerves and is by far the most sensitive part of the animal. Some hunters take the precaution of covering their elephants' trunks with a loose sort of armor, made from the thick skin of crocodiles. This armor is exceedingly tough and slippery, and allows for no grip for the tigers' claws.

As a rule, when the tiger hears the hunt coming it pricks up its ears and listens to make sure in which direction its enemies lie, and then slinks off another way. In case it is surrounded it will lie in wait until the line of battle comes quite close, and then with a roar it will dash through the ranks of beaters, and the process of cornering it will have to begin again.