There is a considerable difference in the size of the male and female. I have both measured and weighed tigers, and I have found a great difference in their proportions, such as may be seen not only in many varieties of animals, but also in human beings; it is therefore difficult to decide upon the actual average tiger, as they vary in separate localities, according to the quantity of wild animals in the jungles which constitute their food. If the tiger has been born in jungles abounding with wild pigs and other animals, he will have been well fed since the day of his birth, therefore he will be a well-developed animal.
A well-grown tigress may weigh an average of 240 lbs. live weight. A very fine tiger will weigh 440 lbs., but if very fat, the same tiger would weigh 500 lbs. I have no doubt there may be tigers that exceed this by 50 lbs., but I speak according to my experience.
The length of a tiger will depend upon the system of measurement. I always carry a tape with me, and I measure them before they are skinned, by laying the animal upon the ground in a straight line, and not allowing it to be stretched by pulling at the head or tail, but taking it naturally as it lies, measuring from nose to tip of tail. I have found that a tiger of 9 feet 8 inches is about 2 inches above the average. The same tiger may be stretched to measure 10 feet.
No person who examines skins only can form any idea of the true proportions of a tiger. The hide, when stripped from a tiger of 9 feet 7 inches, weighs 45 lbs. if the animal is bulky. The head, skinned, weighs 25 lbs. These weights are taken from an animal which weighed 437 lbs. exclusive of the lost blood, which was quite a gallon, estimated at 10 lbs. This would have brought the weight to 447 lbs. The hide of this tiger, which measured 9 feet 7 inches when upon the animal, was 11 feet 4 inches in length when cured. I have measured many tigers, and the skins are always stretched to a ridiculous length during the process of curing; these would utterly mislead any naturalist who had not practical experience of the live animal.
The tiger of zoological gardens is a long lithe creature with little flesh, and, from the lack of exercise, the muscles are badly developed. Such a specimen affords a poor example of the grand animal in its native jungles, whose muscles are almost ponderous in their development from the continual exertion in nightly rambles over long distances, and in mortal struggles when wrestling with its prey. A well-fed tiger is by no means a slim figure, but on the contrary it is exceedingly bulky, broad in the shoulders, back, and loins, with an extraordinary girth of limbs, especially in the fore-arm and wrist. The muscles are tough and hard, and there are two peculiar bones unattached to the skeleton frame; these are situated in the flesh of either shoulder, apparently to afford extra cohesion of the parts, resulting in additional strength when striking a blow or wrestling with a heavy animal.
There is a great difference in the habits of tigers; some exist upon the game of the jungles, others prey specially upon the flocks and herds belonging to the villagers; the latter are generally exceedingly heavy and fat. A few are designated "man-eaters"; these are sometimes naturally ferocious, and having attacked a human being, they may have devoured the body and thus have acquired a taste for human flesh; or they may have been wounded upon more than one occasion and have learnt to regard man as a natural enemy; but more frequently the man-eater is a wary old tiger, or more probably a tigress, that, having haunted the neighbourhood of villages and carried off some unfortunate woman when gathering firewood or the wild products of the jungles, has discovered that it is far easier to kill a native than to hunt for the scarce jungle game; the animal therefore adopts the pursuit of man, and seldom attempts to molest the natives' cattle.
A professed man-eater is the most wary of animals, and is very difficult to kill, not because it is superior in strength, but through its extreme caution and cunning, which renders its discovery a work of long labour and patient search. An average native does not form a very hearty meal. If a woman, she will have more flesh than a man about the buttocks, which is the portion both in animals and human beings which the tiger first devours. The maneater will seize an unsuspecting person by the neck, and will then drag the body to some retreat in which it can devour its prey in undisturbed security. Having consumed the hind-quarters, thighs, and the more fleshy portions, it will probably leave the body, and will never return again to the carcase, but will seek a fresh victim, perhaps at some miles' distance, in the neighbourhood of another village. Their cautious habits render it almost impossible to destroy a cunning man-eater, as it avoids all means of detection. In this peculiarity the ordinary man-eating tiger differs from all others, as the cattle-killer is almost certain to return on the following night to the body which it only partially devoured after the first attack. If the hunter has the taste and patience for night shooting, he will construct a hiding-place within 10 yards of the dead body. This should be arranged before noon, in order that no noise should disturb the vicinity towards evening, when the tiger may be expected to return. A tree is not a favourable stand for night shooting, as the foliage overhead darkens the sight of the rifle. Three poles of about 5 inches diameter and 12 feet in length should be sunk as a triangle, the thickest ends placed 2 feet in the ground. The poles should be 4 feet apart, and when firmly inserted will represent a scaffolding 10 feet high. Bars and diagonal pieces must be firmly lashed to prevent the structure from swaying. Within a foot of the top three strong cross-bars will be lashed, to support a corduroy arrangement of perfectly straight level bars, quite close together to form a platform. A thickly folded rug will carpet the rough surface, upon which the watcher will sit upon a low turnstool that will enable him to rest in comfort, and turn without noise in any required direction. A bamboo or other straight stick will be secured as a rail around the platform, upon which some branches may be so arranged as to form a screen that will conceal the watcher from the view of an approaching tiger. This arrangement is called a "mucharn."
When a tiger is driven before beaters it seldom or never looks upwards, but merely regards the surface as it advances; but when approaching a "kill" (the term applied to the animal which has been killed) the tiger is exceedingly cautious, and surveys everything connected with the locality before it ventures to recommence the feast. Even then, when assured of safety, it seldom eats the carcase where it lies, but seizing it by the throat, it drags the prey some 15 or 20 yards from the spot before it indulges in the meal. I have already described that the first meal consists of the buttocks and hindquarters; the second visit is devoted to the forequarters, after which but little remains for the vultures and jackals.
It is essential that the night watcher should be raised about 10 feet above the ground, otherwise the tiger would probably obtain his scent.
Night shooting is not attractive to myself, and I very seldom have indulged in such wearisome shikar. There is no particular satisfaction in sitting for hours in a cramped position, with mosquitoes stinging you from all directions, while your eyes are straining through the darkness, transforming every shadow into the expected game. Even should it appear, unless the moon is bright you will scarcely define the animal. I have heard well-authenticated accounts of persons who have patiently watched until they fell asleep from sheer weariness, and when they awoke, the dead bullock was no longer there, the tiger having dragged it away without disturbing the tired watcher. There are several methods of rendering the muzzle-sights of the rifle visible in partial darkness. A simple and effective arrangement is by a piece of thick white paper. This should be cut into a point and fastened upon the barrel with a piece of beeswax or shoemaker's wax, in addition to being tied with strong waxed packthread.