earth-pig

English

Noun

earth-pig (plural earth-pigs)

1. Alternative form of earth pig
   • 1928, Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Slaves of the sun, page 149:

     Here we met with the large and deep lairs of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata) and also of the earth-pig, a devourer of ants and termites. The burrows of the earth-pig are several yards deep, and hidden in the grass they constitute a dangerous impediment to the traveller and hunter.

   • 1881, Seven Years in South Africa:

     Two more porcupines, a jumping-hare, and a South African skunk, all had a similar fate, and then the dogs took a circuitous route back again to the hills, and started an earth-pig (Orycteropus capensis).

   • 1864, Lewis Grout, Zulu-land: Or, Life Among the Zulu-Kafirs of Natal and Zulu-land:

     Altogether a different animal from those above named is the so-called earth-pig (Orycteropus capensis,) which some call also the ant-eater, or the ant-bear, the Isambane of the natives. His hog-like head, with a long upper jaw, which projects far over the lower, and terminates in a snout; his erect, large, pointed ears; the shape, size, and position of the eyes; and some other things, make him look, at first sight, not a little piggish; and hence, with his habit of burrowing and spending his days mostly in the earth, he comes, properly enough, by the name of earth-pig.

   • 1972, John Gilbert, Africa, struggle for survival in the bush, page 218:

     The Belgian naturalist R. Verheyen has pointed out that in fact the range of distribution of the two animals overlaps so closely that it is probable that warthogs will not populate a new region unless they can be certain that the hard-working earth-pigs are already there to make life bearable.

Anagrams

• graphite, hig-taper