I think it was in Jim Corbett's book, The Temple Tiger and More Man-eaters of Kumaon (Or it may have been one of his earlier books) where he describes being pounced on by a big cat while in his tent one night - From memory a Tiger - and the only thing he had at arms reach to defend himself was a small cheese knife on his supper plate. He managed to get lucky and kill it with the little knife.
Several years later, he got into an argument with a shop assistant while trying to describe how he had killed a Tiger in India/Africa (memory escaped me) with a similar little knife as he found in the shop. After the shop assistant didn't believe him, Corbett got angry, abused him and was then arrested for causing a 'public hysteria'... Or so the story goes.
A Bit of an off-topic point, I know.. But I thought it was interesting to bring up. I definitely recommend reading Jim Corbett's work, it's an interesting view of life when there was a real chance of you being eaten by a man-eater, and seeing how his work hunting man-eaters led to the establishment of the Corbett national park in India.
Thanks for bringing that to attention. Hadn't heard of Corbett before. I'm not immediately sympathetic to a guy killed a bunch of big cats. If they were man-killers, ok, maybe that's reasonable. But I'm still suspicious about who would take up that job.
The claim of killing a tiger with a cheese knife...yeah right. Tigers hunt big prey with sharp tusks and horns. They fight other Tigers from time to time. A dude taking one out with a cheese knife isn't even plausible.
No problem. Remembering that this was a different time, and in most cases the animals only became problem man-eaters after something like an injury has forced them to target people. Corbett's books are a fascinating read because even though he's a hunter, he's very interested in conservation of the habitats.
The cheese knife thing is a bit of a laugh, but again - having read enough about the man, I wouldn't have put it past him.
Several years later, he got into an argument with a shop assistant while trying to describe how he had killed a Tiger in India/Africa (memory escaped me) with a similar little knife as he found in the shop. After the shop assistant didn't believe him, Corbett got angry, abused him and was then arrested for causing a 'public hysteria'... Or so the story goes.
A Bit of an off-topic point, I know.. But I thought it was interesting to bring up. I definitely recommend reading Jim Corbett's work, it's an interesting view of life when there was a real chance of you being eaten by a man-eater, and seeing how his work hunting man-eaters led to the establishment of the Corbett national park in India.