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

by Sir Samuel White Baker

The rear of this trap should be partitioned with bamboo cross-bars to form a cage, in which either a goat or a village dog should be tied as a living bait. Leopards are particularly fond of dogs, and the advantage of such a bait during the night consists in the certainty that the dog, finding itself alone in a strange place, will howl or bark, and thereby attract the leopard. The partition must be made of sufficient strength to protect the animal from attack. In Africa the natives form a trap by supporting the fallen trunk of a large tree in such a manner that it falls upon the leopard as it passes beneath to reach the bait. This is very effective in crushing the animal, but it is exceedingly dangerous, like all other African traps, as it would kill any person or other creature that should attempt to pass. Newera Ellia, the mountain sanatorium of Ceylon, was always well furnished with leopard-traps upon the permanent system, and the leopards, which were at one time a scourge of the neighbourhood, were considerably reduced. In 1846 I introduced English breeds of cattle and sheep, and started an agricultural settlement at that delightful mountain refuge from tropical heat; but the leopard became our greatest enemy, and although the cattle were well housed at night, and carefully watched when at pasture during the day, our losses were severe. I observed a peculiarity in the attacks by leopards; they seldom appeared upon a bright summer day, but during the rainy season, when the wind was howling across the plain, and driving the cold mist and rain, the cattle were off their guard, and generally turned their tails to the chilly blast. It was invariably during such 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.

At one time my own blacksmith had a nocturnal adventure with a leopard which afforded a striking example of audacity. A native cow had a calf; this being her first-born, the mother was exceedingly vicious, and it was unsafe for a stranger to approach her, especially as her horns were unusually long, and pointed. The cattle-shed was scarped out of the hillside, and was within a few feet of the blacksmith's house. The roof was thatched. During the night, a leopard, which smelt the presence of the cow and calf, mounted the roof of the shed and proceeded to force an entrance by scratching through the thatch. The cow at the same time had detected the presence of the leopard, and, ever mindful of her calf, she stood ready to receive the intruder, with her sharp horns prepared for its appearance. It is supposed that upon the leopard's descent it was at once pinned to the ground, before it had time to make its spring.

The noise of a tremendous struggle aroused the blacksmith, who, with a lantern in his hand, opened the cattle-shed door and discovered the cow in a frantic state of rage, butting and tossing some large object to and fro, which evidently had lost all power of resistance. This was the leopard in the last gasp, having been run through the body by the ready horns of the courageous mother, whose little calf was nestled in a corner, unmindful of the maternal struggle.

No sooner had the blacksmith appeared upon the scene, than the character of the conflict changed, and the cow, regarding him in the light of a fresh enemy, left the crumpled body of her antagonist and charged straight at her proprietor, who dropped his lantern and flew to the arms of his wife, whom he had left in bed. After some delay, during which the courage of all parties was restored, excepting that of the crippled leopard, the cow was appeased, and a shot from a pistol through the head of the enemy closed the episode.

Every resident in India is aware of the depredations committed by this pestilent class of the carnivora. Lions and tigers may be dangerous in the jungles in every country which they inhabit, but they never invade the actual premises; it is exactly there where the leopard is to be feared. Nothing is too small or too large for its attack; from a fowl upon the roost to a cow in the pasturage, all that belongs to the domestic stock is fair game for the wily leopard.

The cautious approach of this animal is so wary that a dog is pinned by the neck and carried off before it is aware of the presence of its enemy. Upon one occasion in Africa we were bivouacked for the night on the banks of the Settite river, and no sound disturbed the repose of the camp. Suddenly a leopard bounded into the centre, where the Arabs were sleeping around the embers of a splendid fire, and seizing one of the dogs, it sprang into the darkness, carrying its captive with it. The remaining dogs rushed off in pursuit, together with all the Arabs with swords and shields, and the leopard dropped its prize about 150 yards from our enclosure. The unfortunate dog had been surprised in its sleep, and it died in a few hours from the injuries sustained, the neck and throat being terribly lacerated. It would have been natural to suppose that the dogs would have given an alarm on the approach of the wild animal, but the noiseless tread of the leopard, as usual, was unheard, even in the extreme stillness of a calm night. The sudden attack of a leopard is generally so unexpected that a dog has no time for self-defence, and being invariably seized by the neck, it is at once rendered helpless, and cannot utter a warning shriek before it is carried off. I was walking with a very powerful bull terrier at Newera Ellia in Ceylon, when the dog, who was running through the jungle within a few yards of me, suddenly disappeared without a cry, and was never heard of again; this same dog would have made a good defence had it confronted the leopard face to face.

On another occasion a dog named Matchless, a cross between foxhound and pointer, was seized by a leopard in open day when, together with a pack of hounds, walking through a jungle-path at Dimbola, not far from Newera Ellia. The leopard sprang suddenly from a tree, and, seizing the dog, immediately ascended, and took refuge among the boughs with the hound suspended in its mouth. The entire pack bayed the audacious enemy; it then dropped the dog and jumped from tree to tree, followed beneath by the excited hounds. At length the leopard reached a large tree, which was sufficiently isolated to prevent it from springing to any adjoining branches. In this position it was surrounded, and became the central object, where it remained snarling at the infuriated pack. The party of hunters now commenced a bombardment with stones, and a lucky hit induced the leopard to either jump or fall into the middle of the hounds. There was an exceedingly large dog named Pirate, a cross between mastiff and bloodhound; he immediately seized the leopard, and a general fight ensued, the whole pack supporting Pirate in his attack. Captain E. Palliser, late 7th Hussars, quickly thrust his hunting-knife under the shoulder, and in a few minutes the hounds were worrying a dead leopard.