SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 



137 



jaw IS qi 

 bunch of grey hair mixed with long black hair. 



Dr. Richardson states that the early French writers on Canada, who ascrib- 

 ed to this animal the habit of dropping from the limbs .of trees, on to the 

 backs of deer and destroying them by tearing their throats and drinking their 

 blood, gave them the name of Loup Cervier, or wolf stag. This animal has 

 very long, owl shaped, retractile claws, and four toes on each foot, and the 

 bottoms of their feet are covered with fur. Their legs are very muscular. 

 And its whole contour denotes great activity. 



Virgil calls the Lynces of Bacchus, " varica,'" and in another place alludes 

 to theekin of the spotted Lynx, " Maculasca Lynces." 



I think the " Boreal Lynx " and our " Canadensis"' slxq the same, and one 

 animal. The former ranges in northern Europe, and the latter in North 

 America. The Hudson Bay Co., a few years ago^ used to export to Europe 

 from seven to nine thousand pelts of the Lynx. The most beautiful skins of 

 the Lynx are from Siberia, and belong to the " lu-pus cervarius.^' Buffon 

 says that all animals of America are smaller than the same kinds in Europe, 

 and that the Lynx in Siberia is compared to the wolf, but in America, to the 

 wild cat. 



I have been informed of another kind of Lynx in this State, but have never 

 seen one of that kind, it is said they live in the open cultivated* regions, 

 and have no fur on the bottoms of their feet, and are not so thick furred, 

 neither so handsome ; but I cannot describe them from personal knowledge, 

 and therefore will let them pass. 



Our Lynces breed once a year, and bring forth sometimes two and some- 

 times three at a birth, and like most other carnivorous animals will defend 

 their young with their lives. They are not, however, so speedy as most people 

 think, and can easily be treed with hounds. When they run they leap and 

 strike all their feet together. When this country was first settled, this ani- 

 mal was quite troublesome among the sheep and lambs. They went in droves 

 and were more bold than when single. The State of New Hampshire now 

 pays a bounty of one dollar on their heads. 



When I first moved to the Mollychunkemunk Lake I trapped and killed 

 forty-nine of these animals in one hunting season, and since that time have 

 killed a great many each year, but have not kept an account of the number. 

 I have seen them swimming the lake and they appeared to be good swimmers. 

 Will often swim two miles at a time, and about as fast as we can paddle a 

 boat. They can be easily trapped when it is good travelling for tliem on the 

 snow, but when the snow is deep and soft they keep in the thick swamps and 

 do not travel much. They live chiefly on the rabbit, and when we trap them 

 we have to bait them with fresh meat or scent of Assafoetida, or beaver cas- 

 tor, of which they are very fond. Their teeth are feline, very long, and 

 extremely sharp. They take their prey principally by watching and creeping 

 upon it. I frequently see their tracks where they are creeping along very 

 slow, and with steps not more than three inches apart, although, when they 

 they leap they go from seven to ten feet. 



Capt. John M. Wilson informs me that he once saw one lying stretched out 

 on the limb of a tree directly over his head, but as he moved quietly along, 

 the cat did not seem inclined to attack him. 



I have a preserved specimen of the Lynx before me now, but I think the eye 

 a little too yellow, as the natural color always appeared to me in the hying 

 animal to be like bright silver ; and after eyeing the creature for a short time, 

 and giving it time to grow mad, it increased in size and brightened to some- 

 thing like livid fire; and would seem to challenge the nerves of a strong 

 minded hunter to look them out of countenance. 



It is my impression that this animal seldom, if ever, attacks a man, when 



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