HUNTING LIONS WITH HOUNDS

Temuka Leader, Issue 7671, 15 January 1918, Page 4

HUNTING LIONS WITH HOUNDS

Paul J. Rainey, writing about ''The Royal Sport ol Hounding Lions," in the "Outing Magazine " says : "Having always been a lover of hounds, and preferring that sport to any other, I had conceived the idea some time before that if my hounds could run a bear down and worry him until I came up and killed hpi they could do the same with lions. For this I selected fifteen of my best bearhounds ; they are nothing more than common Southern foxhounds, broken to run bear and not bother anything else. I that the most important thing was to have hounds that would not run dear, and,-as all of our bear-hunting in Mississippi is done in a country that is full of deer. I concluded the boarhounds were just the thing. •"When I arrived in Narobi with my hounds there was great speculation as to what would happen when I put them on a lion. Some said the lions would kill every hound I had ; others said the hounds would run lions all light ; but I did have some apprehension about their getting killed. I do not have to worry, any more, as T do not think a lion" is any quicker. in getting about, especially in the brush, than a'bear, and he does not mnnl a dog as badly after he dors catch him. '•'lf a bear is surrounded by hounds and starts to fight he generally goes through the pack after one hound, ,hnd once he catches him he kills him outright. A lion charges a dog and makes one;terrible rake with his fore-paw, depending/on his claws to kill anything he may strike. When he strikes a dog he knocks him out of the way and never goes after him again, but tries to get another that is snapping his heels. The hound is light, and although badly cut, is seldom seriously or fatally hurt. "V\>. killed twenty-five lions with my pack, and & great many more were wounded, and got into the thick brush, where we were unable to dislodge them, and were compelled to go- in and shoot. Thus far there' has been but one dog killed that I know of. Another point about hounding lions and killing them in thick places is that when a lion has been chased by hounds for 30 minutes, most of the fight is out of him, and you may get into the place, no matter how thick, and shoot with comparative safety. Out of all the lions we have killed, I have not had a single one charge home when the hounds were around him. Another thing in favor of hunting lions with hounds is that you always have a chance to kill a wounded lion, and not have him go off and die, as a great many do alter they have been wounded. illustrate my point—On May 10 we came on to a large lioness, just approaching a kill ; she had evidently eaten her fill, gone to water, and was going to have another mouithful before lying up in the cover for the day. We had a beautiful place to stalk her, and I had just seated myself behind a bush to let the light grow a little stronger, as it was breaking day, when she saw someone behind me and bolt,ed for a thicket some fifty yards away. I took two running shots at her, one of which I was sure had struck her ; I brought up my hounds and inside of ten minutes they had her bayed up in a small thicket. The place was very thick, but I knew the exact position of the lioness, as the hounds worried her so much they kept her growling continuously. ■"Peering through the bushes, I could see the hounds baying in the direction of a very thick clump. I knew that if she made a move to come out, the houuds would let me know, so with comparative safety, I looked around until I saw her. when I shot her through her head. Afterward I found that my first shot had gone through her stomach), and would have surely killed iter, in a few daye." 1815.