The Hunter and the Hunted

The flakes were bigger now, drifting silently down in mesmerising slow motion. All around, the pines and moorland heather were already cloaked in white, for it had snowed off and on for a week, with freezing temperatures down to - 21 at night. The snow was already 15 centimetres deep, its surface crusted now with repeated frosts.

What animal is equipped for this?

In the Highland Wildlife Park just such an animal paced its enclosure, awaiting Duncan Cameron, the under keeper. He was late for feeding time and Yura the Siberian tiger, nearly four metres long and weighing 306 kilos, was hungry. He needed 40 kilos of meat at a sitting, the equivalent of a small deer. Able to cover 9 metres in a single bound, in his native habitat Yura hunted not only deer but wild boar, goats and other mammals such as hare and even, bear.

The imprints of his giant paws were pressed firmly into the path worn in the snow by the fence. But in the strong northerly wind, the snow was drifting, covering in yesterday’s tracks and gradually raising the level of his walk way.

Duncan decided not to attempt to break through in the Landrover, the snow was now too deep. He would use the digger tomorrow. The tiger could wait. After a kill they could go for three or four days without food. Yura would have to be patient.

Rutger Vanurse 52, pasty faced from over indulgence of all kinds, yet active and keen for the hunt,

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: alastair macleod
Bildmaterialien: alastair macleod: Hoy hills from Rendall in winter.
Lektorat: alastair macleod
Übersetzung: cover typset in classical
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 04.12.2012
ISBN: 978-3-7309-0077-2

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Widmung:
That which you seek may be seeking you.