Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America — Volume 1

by Sir Samuel White Baker

The habits of the tiger being thoroughly understood, it becomes necessary under all circumstances to employ the village shikari. This man is generally more or less ignorant and obstinate, but he is sure to know his own locality and the peculiar customs of the local tiger. It is one of the mysterious characteristics of this animal that it invariably selects particular spots in which it will lay up; to these secure retreats it will retire; therefore, should a fresh track be discovered upon the sandy bed of a nullah or upon a dusty footpath in the jungles, it may be safely inferred that the tiger is lying in one or other of its accustomed haunts. The village shikari will quickly determine from what direction the tiger has arrived; he will then suggest the probable route that the animal will take whenever it may be disturbed.

Should the tiger be killed, another will occupy its place a few months later, and this will assuredly assume the same habits as its predecessor; it will frequent the same haunts, lay up in the same spots, and drink at the same places; although it may have never associated with or even seen the tiger which formerly occupied the same locality.

I have already described the keen power of scent possessed by this wary animal, which necessitates extreme caution, and the placing of the guns in positions elevated about 10 feet above the ground. It is seldom of any use to drive jungles upon speculation, although it not unfrequently happens, where tigers are plentiful, that when driving for deer the grander game unexpectedly appears, and presents itself suddenly before the astonished hunter. The recognised system of tiger-hunting by driving is as follows. We will say that the party of three may have arrived at a village, after having received intimation that a native cow had been carried off within the last few days. The first operation is to send natives in all directions to look for tracks, and to discover the place where the animal last drank.

At least two elephants should accompany the party, even though the thick jungle country may be ill adapted for shooting from these useful creatures. One of these should be, if possible, a really dependable animal, that would advance steadily and quietly up to a wounded tiger. The great danger of this branch of sport arrives when a tiger may have been wounded, and it has to be tracked up on foot, and eventually beaten out of the dense thorny cover of its retreat. A staunch elephant is then indispensable, and the real excitement commences when the beaters are sent for safety up the adjoining trees, and the hunter, absolutely certain that the dangerous game, although invisible, is close before him, advances calmly to the attack, knowing that the tiger will be ready to spring upon the elephant the moment that they shall be vis-a-vis.

In the absence of any elephant, the pursuit of a wounded tiger by following up the blood-track on foot is a work of extreme danger. The native shikaris generally exhibit considerable hardihood, and, confident in their activity, they ascend trees from which they have a clear view in front for some 30 or 40 yards. They descend if the coast is clear, cautiously advance, and then again they mount upon the branches of some favourable tree and scan the ground before them. In this manner they continue to approach until they at length discern the wounded animal. If the hunter is clever at climbing, he may then take a steady shot from a good elevation; but if not, he must take his chance, and knowing the exact position of the tiger, he must endeavour to make certain of its sudden death by placing a bullet either in the brain or the back of the neck.

A newly arrived party, having heard that some native cow has been carried off within a week, will make a reconnaissance of the surrounding country upon their elephants, and will examine every watercourse for tracks. We will suppose that after some hours of diligent search the long-wished-for pugs or footmarks have been discovered. Now the science of the chase must be exhibited, and the habits of the tiger carefully considered. The first consideration will be the drinking-place. If the middle of the dry season, say the beginning of May, the heat will be intense, and the hot wind will feel as though it had passed over a heated brick-kiln. The water will have entirely disappeared, unless a river shall be permanent in the neighbourhood. It will be necessary to procure two or perhaps three buffaloes to tie up in various positions not far from water, as baits for the tiger during the hours of night, when it will be wandering forth from its secure retreat and searching for its expected prey. The buffaloes should be at least twelve months old; I prefer them when eighteen months, as they are then heavy animals and would afford two hearty meals, each sufficient to gorge the tiger to an extent that, after drinking, would render it lazy and inclined to sleep. Great care should be taken in the selection of these buffaloes. The natives will assuredly offer their skinny and unhealthy animals: but a tiger, unless nearly starved, will frequently refuse to attack a miserable skeleton, and like ourselves it prefers a fat and appetising attraction. It must be distinctly remembered that after the tiger has devoured the hind-quarters of the animal it has killed, it requires a deep draught of water; it is therefore necessary that the buffalo as bait should be tied up somewhere within a couple of hundred yards of a drinking-place, as the least distance; otherwise, instead of lying down somewhere near the remains of its prey, it must wander to a great distance to drink. The stomach, being full of flesh, will naturally become distended with water, and the gorged tiger will not be in the humour to undertake a return journey of perhaps a mile to watch over the remains of its kill; it will therefore lie down in some thick covert near the spot by the nullah where it recently drank, instead of returning to repose in the neighbourhood of its recent victim. This will throw out the calculations of the shikari, who would expect that the tiger will be lying somewhere near the spot where it dragged the buffalo. The beat will under such false conditions be arranged to include an area in which the tiger is supposed to be asleep after its great meal, but in reality it may be a mile or two away in some unknown direction near the water. Great precaution is necessary in making all preliminary arrangements. It is a common custom of native shikaris to tie up a buffalo where four paths meet, as the tiger would be walking along one of these during the night, and it could not help seeing the alluring bait. I do not admire this plan, as, although the probability is that the buffalo will be killed, there is every likelihood of disturbance after the event, when natives would be passing along the various routes. The slightest noise would alarm the tiger, and instead of remaining quietly near the carcase, it would slink away and be no more seen.

Natives are very inquisitive, and should the tiger have killed the bait, and dragged the buffalo away to some deep nullah, the shikari and his companion are often tempted to creep along the trace until they perhaps see the tiger in the act of devouring the hind-quarters. This is quite contrary to the rules of hunting, as the tiger is almost certain to detect their presence if they are so near, in which case it is sure to retreat to some undisturbed locality beyond the area of the beat.

There is constant disappointment in driving for tigers owing to the stupidity or exaggerated zeal of the shikari; and if the hunter is thoroughly experienced, it is far better that he should conduct the operations personally.

Success depends upon many little details which may appear trivial, but are nevertheless important. When a buffalo is tied up for bait, it must be secured by the fetlock of a fore foot, and care must be taken that the rope is sufficiently strong to prevent the buffalo from breaking away; at the same time it must not be strong enough to prevent the tiger from breaking it when the animal is killed, and the carcase is to be dragged to the nearest nullah (or ravine). If the rope is too powerful, the tiger cannot dispose of the body; it will therefore eat the hind-quarters where it lies, and at once retreat to water, instead of concealing the prey and lying down in the vicinity. In such a case the remains of the body will be exposed to the gaze of vultures and jackals, who will pick the bones clean in a few hours, and destroy all chance of the tiger's return. When the dead body is concealed beneath dense bushes in a deep ravine, the vultures cannot discover it, as they hunt by sight, and the tiger has no anxiety respecting the security of its capture; it will therefore sleep in peace within a short distance, until awakened by the shouts of a line of beaters.

If the buffalo is tied with a rope around the neck, a tiger will frequently refuse to molest it, as it fears a trap. I have seen occasions when the tiger has walked round and round the buffalo, as exhibited by the tracks upon the surface, but it has been afraid to make its spring, being apprehensive of some hidden danger. I have also seen a dead vulture lying close to the body of a buffalo, evidently killed by a blow from the tiger's paw when trespassing upon the feast. It is a good arrangement to secure both fetlocks of a buffalo with a piece of strong cord about a foot or 16 inches apart, independently of the weaker cord which ties the animal to either a stake or tree. Should the buffalo break away during the night, it cannot wander far, as the bushes will quickly anchor the rope which confines the fore legs; the tiger would then assuredly attack the straying animal and kill it within the jungles. In such a case the drive should take place without delay, as the dead buffalo will certainly be hidden in the nearest convenient spot, and the tiger will be somewhere in the neighbourhood.