Hyena

hi-e'na, a brownish gray flesheating animal about the size of a dog. It belongs to a distinct family which has many characteristics of the cat and the dog. There are several species. The common striped hyena is native to northern Africa and southern Asia as far inland as Persia. It has low hindquarters and high shoulders, which give it a disproportionate appearance, farther heightened by a shaggy, bristling mane like that of a mastiff in anger. The ears are long and point forward. Each foot has four toes armed with heavy claws adapted to digging. Hyenas conceal themselves by day in caves and old ruins, and prowl usually in packs by night, living chiefly on dead animals which their keen sense of scent enables them to locate at a distance. The teeth and jaws have prodigious strength, giving rise to an Arab saying: "He hangs on with a grip like that of a hyena." The hyena is a snarling, filthy, greedy animal with an exceedingly offensive odor. It is a regular feature of oriental life. When night falls on an eastern village these repulsive animals issue from their retreats and beset the suburbs, filling the air with their howls. The natural abhorrence in which hyenas are held is increased by a ghoulish habit of tearing the village dead from their graves. Very possibly the accounts of the hyena are exaggerated. Chambers's states that their young may be tamed and that they make valuable watchdogs. A spotted hyena found in the Cape region of South Africa possesses a peculiar growl not unlike the mirth of a maniac. It has given this species the name of laughing hyena. See Jackal