Читать книгу Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for Boys - Reid Mayne - Страница 8

By Wild Dogs, we mean not only several sorts of true dogs, that in different parts of the world are found living in a wild state; but also Wolves, Foxes, Jackals, Hyenas, and Fennecs – for all these are but dogs in a state of nature.

First, we shall speak of the true dogs living in a wild state – that is, apart from the society of man.

It is not necessary here to go into the often-debated question, as to whether dogs were originally wolves, or what species of wolf the dog is descended from. This is all mere speculation, and answers no purpose. It is just as likely that wolves sprang from dogs, as that dogs came from wolves; and every one may perceive that two breeds of the dog species are often far more unlike each other – both in appearance and habits – than a dog is to a wolf itself. Again, foxes differ only from wolves in point of size; and a small wolf is in reality a fox, while a large fox may be equally regarded as a wolf. Furthermore, the jackal is nothing else than another form of the same animal – the wolf or dog, whichever you choose to term it; and the hyenas but a still uglier shape of the same carnivorous creature.

With regard to the true wild dogs – which are not regarded as wolves – we find them existing in various parts of the world. They usually live in communities, and have the habit of hounds – that is, they hunt in packs. Whether they were originally dogs in a domesticated state, and have since seceded from the society of man, is a question which naturalists are unable to agree upon.

In India there are two or three kinds of wild dogs living thus. One in the Deccan – called Kolsun by the Mahratta people – is a reddish-coloured animal, nearly as large as the common European wolf. It dwells in the forests, far remote from the villages – and of course lives by preying upon other animals – just as wolves and foxes do. Again, in the forests of the Himalaya mountains there is another species of wild dog, different from that of the Deccan. It is usually known as the wild dog of Nepaul, from its being found in many parts of that kingdom. A large community of these animals is often met with in the mountain forests – living in caves, or at the bottoms of cliffs, where there are deep crevices among the boulders of loose rocks, that afford them a secure asylum when pursued by their enemies. In these places the dogs sleep, and bring forth their young; and the puppies are taught to be exceedingly wary, and not stray far from their dens during the absence of the mothers. Indeed, so cunning do they become when only a few days old, that it is difficult to capture one of them outside its impenetrable lodging-place.