Jackal

The Jackal's long-drawn, eerie howling at dusk or just before dawn is perhaps more familiar to most people than the animal itself. Its nearest wild relative is the wolf, but the Jackal is similar in build and meaner in aspect. It lacks the arching bows and elevated forehead which give the wolf its nobler profile. Jackals are found in almost any environment, in humid forest country or in open dry plains or deserts. Greater number is found in the lowlands, about towns and villages and cultivation sheltering in holes in the ground. Jackals usually come out at dusk and retire at dawn.; but in cool or cloudy weather they may be up and about by day. Also, on a very hot day, Jackals often come out in quest of water to drink or lie in. Jackals usually go out alone but two or more may hunt together. They do a pretty good job at clearing carcasses, perhaps the only sanitary service they provide to the surrounding. The hunting instinct is not wholly dormant in the Jackal and so some become poultry thieves or take to killing sickly goats and sheep. Any small or wounded animals are vulnerable to the attack of Jackals. Talk about being sly! They have even been known to collect in a pack to hunt small deer and antelopes. Sometimes when they have had enough meat they feed on fallen fruits as well.