Tantanoola Tiger 1901

Our Mount Gambier correspondent writes under date May 6:-

“A report has reached Mount Gambier that the old-time ‘Tantanoola tiger’ has again, made his appearance in the Millicent district. It has been seen, according to the report, by several residents at Mount Hope, and an attempt to effect its capture proved of no avail. The tracks of the animal were found leading to a cave, at the mouth of which was the carcase of a sheep, which had evidently been killed by the 'tiger.'”

… Caves are a natural feature of the south-east. A man always feels an inch or two taller than his neighbor when he has a cave on his own property. The Government is receiving a good return on the money expended opening up the new cave at Narracoorte. It is a pity that something is not done to prevent vandalism in the fine old cave at Narracoorte. In its vastness it surpasses the new one. Tantanoola has a fame all its own on account of its succession of tiger scares. No sooner one tiger is reported to be killed than some one sees another. I had the honor of sleeping in a farmhouse not two miles from the place where the present tiger roams the Australian jungle in search of sheep. But I did not know this till afterwards…

A representative of the Millicent "Times" has interviewed W. Nitschke, son of Mr. J. C. A. Nitschke, a well-known farmer and resident, with reference to the report that he had a personal interview with the famous "Tantanoola tiger." The story told to the reporter by the young man was this:- He had, with his brother, been trapping rabbits for some time on his father's property, section 59, hundred of Benara. It was reported to them that on Saturday night, May l8, Messrs. G. Serle and S. Jennings heard a noise around some of their traps, a noise between a roar and a growl.

Also, the same night the dogs of the party behaved as though afraid of something. On Tuesday morning, May 21, about 7.30, so W. Nitschke says, he was out on section 59, and, about 100 yards away from him he saw the tiger sitting on a rise just as a dog would sit. The animal slowly turned its head from side to side as though listening for something, and remained in the same spot for about ten minutes, as near as could be judged. There is no doubt in Nitschke's mind as to the fact that this was a tiger, as he has seen the tigers in the Zoological Gardens, and this was similar to, but a finer animal than, those. When he dropped some traps; the tiger got up and walked with a slouching gait and broadside on to his disturber, who was near enough to count five distinctly-marked black stripes on the side of the beast. The animal walked towards some tussocks not far from the rise on which it had sat, and Nitschke went away to get his brother, but when they returned it had gone, apparently into some ti-tree close handy, whither they declined to follow it.

That is the story, and it has created a good deal of excitement among the residents of the district and in the town. This is the first occasion, at least within some years, that a definite story as to a distinct view of the Tantanoola tiger has been told and been held to by the relater when interviewed. The character of the youth leaves no doubt that he believes he saw what he claims to have seen.

The excitement raised by the description, published last week, of an interview with the Tantanoola tiger, has brought that mysterious animal under official notice, for perhaps the first time in his career. At the last meeting of the Mayurra District Council, the chairman (Councillor McCourt), in the midst of prosaic road and drain business, referred suddenly to the tiger, and for a moment the other members held their breath in expectancy. Councillor McCourt said he had been asked by a ratepayer to raise the question of supplying trappers in the infested locality with plaster of paris, with which to take a cast of the animal's foot. Councillor Sutherland wanted to know whether the trappers could be sure that the tiger would tread on the plaster of paris if it were laid, but the Chairman quickly explained that it was intended to get a cast of the footprint after the tiger had made one. Councillor Osman enquired whether it would not be better to supply salt to put on the beast's tail, and this raised a smile that made the contractors waiting outside wonder whether the council's overdraft had got loose. Finally, says the Millicent "Times," Councillor Osman suggested that the matter be referred to Tantanoola Council, to whom the tiger properly belonged, and who might deal with it more seriously than this council could. The matter then fell out of discussion with a dull thud.

The Tantanoola "tiger" is establishing a record. It was reported to the "South Eastern Star" on Monday, on reliable authority, that the animal was seen a week ago on the boundary of the flats of Benara and Hindmarsh, near Lake Bonney. The young man who saw the tiger states he was within 100 yards of it at 7.30 a.m., and that it was a couple of chains away from the ti-tree scrub. He describes it as being a beautiful animal, much finer than those in the Adelaide Zoo.