The most recent development in dehorning technology is the dehorning (caustic) paste.

Although in theory the dehorning might have deterred poaching, no sooner was it complete then the department ran out of money to pay its scouts for four months.

Her father would have turned away any hired man who kept his riding-animals in any such condition, and as for the dehorning, she could almost have done better herself!

A Drastic Step' "The dehorning of the black rhinoceros is a drastic step," said Brian Jones, an official of the directorate.

The idea of dehorning had initially been rejected in Zimbabwe because the rhinoceros uses the horn in mating, in defending itself against other animals and in browsing.

The dehorning in Damaraland, where the black rhinoceros has adapted to the harsh environment along with rare desert elephants, pale coffee-colored springboks, ostriches and zebras, was done over a three-week period last month.

"Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail," which describes the roping, branding and dehorning of the devil, is a superb early example of a tall-tale country-and-western tradition that still thrives through yarns like Charlie Daniels's "Devil Went Down to Georgia."