Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 196, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1912 — BUILD TIGER PROOF HOUSES [ARTICLE]

BUILD TIGER PROOF HOUSES

Malay Natives Perch Their Houses High Up in Trees to Escape Beasts. The ordinary Malay house Is built on posts from five to seven feet high; but one which I came across was perched high up in a tree. It was the home of a man, his wife and family, and they Informed me that It was placed in this unusual situation so as to be out of the way of the numerous tigers which then Infested the neighborhood. As tigers have been known to jump 18 feet in vertical height somewhere above 20 feet is considered to be the limit of safety. The Malayan house is a frail and flimsy structure of sticks tied together with rattan thatched with palm leaves and waited with plaited bamboo, or, as in this case, with the bark of a tree. It Is therefore an easy matter for a tiger with its great strength to break into a house and attack the inhabitants. Many instances of this have been recorded in Malaya. In one well known case a whole family were killed except one man, who climbed up into the roof, and thus escaping the notice of the tiger, was a horrified observer of the cruel mauling and ultimate slaughter and devouring of his relatives. —Strand/