But if the prey is too large to carry, such as a bullock or a buffalo?
Then the tiger first eats a good portion right after catching it. Then he comes home to the den and sends out the tigress to eat her share, while he stays home in the den and takes care of the cubs.
But here is something for you to think of. In sending the tigress out to eat her share of the prey, the tiger must _tell_ her where the prey is lying; otherwise she might go the wrong way. Why? Because the prey might be lying a mile or more from the den, so that she could not possibly trace it merely by its _scent_. And the prey might have been caught in any direction, especially if the tiger had to chase it or stalk it for a long distance. So n.o.body could tell beforehand in what direction a tiger might catch its prey.
The tigress could not merely follow the tiger"s _paw marks_ to get to the prey, as the tiger may have gone out several times that day or the day before; and so there would be several lines of paw marks, and she would have to search very long by following all the paw marks in turn.
Yet she always takes the right direction, and gets to the prey quickly.
Hunters in the jungle have found that out. How does she do it?
The only way to explain it is this--the tiger _tells_ her where the prey has been caught and is now lying. That is what hunters believe from the actual facts they have observed. Then that shows that animals have a method of communicating with one another. Of course they do not use _our_ words. They must have words or sounds, or even signs, of their own.
Now I shall go on with the tiger family. The cubs, of course, drink their mother"s milk. They do that till they are three months old.
But meanwhile, when they are six weeks old, they can walk and trot. They are then very playful, and they leap and gambol and tumble over one another.
They are then able to go about with their father and mother for a short distance. So if food gets scarce for the tiger and tigress, they leave their old den altogether, and go to live elsewhere in the jungle where food may be more plentiful.
In this house-moving the cubs can trot behind their father and mother for a mile or two. Then, for fear of tiring the cubs, the tiger and tigress scoop a hollow under a tree, and place them there. The tiger and tigress go on ahead till they find the new home. Then they come back to fetch the cubs.
If the cubs are now two months old, the father and mother need have no fear in leaving them for a few hours. So in their new home the tigress may go hunting with the tiger every day.
If food gets very scarce, the tiger goes out alone for a long distance for two or three days at a time. In his absence, the tigress makes a short trip from time to time in another direction, in case any other kind of food may by chance be found there.
Tigers prefer to eat deer or antelope, just as you may prefer to eat roast turkey. But if tigers cannot get deer or antelope, they have to catch a bullock or a buffalo--which is just plain beef! As even that may be scarce, tigers have to be satisfied with the wild pigs, which are plentiful in the jungle,--that is, just pork! As a change now and again, they may have mutton, because there are also wild sheep and wild goats in the jungle.
But when the tiger and tigress are both away from the den in search of food, are the cubs quite safe in the den?
They usually are, after they are two months old, when they are as big as house dogs; and, until then, either the tiger or the tigress stays with them all the time. When the cubs are two months old, they may stay by themselves in the den; then a wolf or a hyena may perhaps come to the den, and try to kill one of the cubs; but all the cubs would stand together, facing the enemy, and would defend themselves.
They would change at once from being playful like kittens; they would become little tigers in their nature. And woe to the wolf or hyena when the mother returns! She would know at once by the cubs" actions that they had been annoyed. Then the tigress would track down the intruder and kill it.
At the age of three months the cubs can eat meat, but they cannot chew it as yet, as their teeth are only beginning to grow. So the mother chews the meat for them. If she or the tiger has caught a deer, she chooses the tenderest part of the meat, and chews it into mincemeat.
Then she puts a little of it into the mouth of each cub. She does that several times, till the cubs have had enough to eat.
When the cubs are four months old, their teeth have grown enough to enable them to feed entirely by themselves--but only on very tender meat.
_The Tiger"s Family Dinner_
It is very interesting to watch a tiger family having their dinner. I may remind you again that some hunters who go into the jungle sometimes hide in trees and watch the family life of different animals. So this is what they have observed at the tiger"s family dinner.
Suppose that the tiger has brought home a blue deer, which is a great delicacy among tigers. He drops the blue deer in front of the den. He and the tigress lie down and watch the cubs, who eat first. The tiger or the tigress will not tell the cubs which portion of the deer is the tenderest; they must find that out by themselves. That will be their _first lesson_ in life.
So the tiger and tigress keep aside, and see what their children do. One of the cubs makes a sudden grab at a leg of the deer, and tries to tear out a mouthful; but to its disgust the cub finds that it cannot bite the leg of the deer at all. I suppose then the father tiger gives a sort of wink at the mother tigress; at any rate, the tiger and tigress just look on, and say nothing.
Then another cub has a bite; perhaps it tries the back of the deer"s neck. But this cub also finds to its disgust that its teeth will not go through the meat there.
In this way the cubs jump about the deer, and try to bite it in different parts. They get more and more disgusted; but still the father tiger and mother tigress say nothing.
Then at last one of the cubs dives in, and makes a grab at the _throat_ of the deer--and to its delight it finds that the meat there is quite tender, and that it can tear out a piece very easily. Of course that cub eats it quite greedily, and then has several more mouthfuls. But then--
"You have had enough!" says its father. "Give Brother and Sister a chance!" Of course the father tiger does not say that in _our_ words; and he need not say it in any kind of words. He just comes to that cub and tumbles it over with a gentle pat.
Then the other cubs come to the throat of the deer, and have their dinner also. As there is not sufficient meat there to satisfy all of them, they soon find that the under part of the deer is also tender enough for them to eat.
The father tiger and mother tigress eat last, when all the children are satisfied. The tiger and tigress of course can eat any kind of meat, so they eat the legs of the deer. And if it is a deer of ordinary size, the tiger family finishes it altogether at one meal!
So you see how kind the tiger and tigress are to their children. Suppose that among us there was a family of five people, father and mother, and three children; and suppose they were having a turkey dinner. Then if the father and mother were as kind to their children as the tiger and tigress are, they would give to their children the breast and all the nicest t.i.tbits of the turkey--and after that the father and mother would eat what remained of the turkey.
That shows that a tiger is an affectionate father, whatever faults he may have. Among animals, the mothers, of course, are nearly always affectionate to their children; but very often the fathers are not. In fact, among some kinds of animals in the jungle, the fathers do not care much for their children; they desert them.
But the tiger is different; he is usually a good father. That is an important thing to remember. It shows that even if an animal is supposed to be very bad generally, it may yet have some special virtues of its own. That is a lesson for us. We may know people who are supposed to be bad; but even then we should try to find out if they have some good quality.
CHAPTER VII
The Tiger Cubs" Lessons
Do tiger children have lessons? Of course they have! Almost all animal children have. You will remember the lessons in Book I which the elephant child had to learn. In the same manner other animal children must learn how to make a living in the jungle, and also how to avoid dangers.
Among tiger children, their lessons begin even when the father and mother are providing them with the food; for, as I have just told you, the children must learn at least which part of the meat to eat, and which not to eat.
But the most important thing they have to learn is how to catch the prey, and how to kill it for themselves--that is, how to provide their own food. Their parents teach them to do that gradually from time to time, in many lessons.
_Tiger Cubs Learn to Kill Prey, After their Parents have Caught It_
As they are not yet big enough to _catch_ the prey, they are first taught how to _kill_ the prey, after their father or mother has caught it alive for them. And that is another wonder of the jungle, and another good quality of the tiger. If the tiger catches a deer, even the largest kind of deer, he could kill it at one blow, so as to eat it at once. But if the tiger is the father of a young family, he thinks of his family all the time; he remembers that he must not only provide his young children with food, but he must also _teach them their lessons_.
So when he finds a big red stag, he jumps upon it, but he does not kill it outright. Instead, he merely breaks its hind legs, so that the stag cannot run away. Then he calls the cubs and the mother tigress. The tiger and tigress stand aside, and tell their children to kill the stag.
They will not at first show the children how to do it. The children must try first to find that out for themselves.
So the cubs first prowl around the stag, and try to seize it anywhere.
But the cubs cannot get their teeth deep enough into the stag"s body; and as the stag is still alive, it shakes them off. The cubs try to seize the stag at other parts of its body, but each time they fail to hold on; instead, the stag shakes them off. And if the cubs dare to come in front of the stag, the stag can still use its antlers to drive them off.
Then how can the tiger cubs manage to seize the prey at all with their teeth? Well, one of the cubs may remember the very first lesson it had several weeks before: that was to eat the _throat_ of the prey, because it was the softest part--as I have already described to you. So it remembers that the throat is the softest part.
Then that cub comes to the side of the stag, makes a sudden plunge downward, and seizes it by the throat. Even then the stag tries to shake off the cub--but the other two cubs then come to their brother"s help; they also seize the stag by the throat, one from each side.
Thus the three cubs begin to _worry_ the prey, that is, they shake it, and pull it, while their father and mother watch them. The prey holds up its head and struggles, but gets more and more exhausted with the weight of the three cubs. At last the prey is unable to hold up its head any more. Its head sinks to the ground. Then the three cubs kill it easily.
_Tiger Cubs Take Part in Hunt to Catch Prey_
When the cubs are six months old, they can take part in the actual hunt for the prey. So they go into the jungle with their father and mother.
When they sight the prey, the cubs stay a little behind, while the father and mother stalk the prey.