.1915] The Ottawa Naturalist. 71 



known to attack man. The wild cat, Lynx rufus, is also extinct 

 and was never more to be feared than the harmless necessary 

 domestic variety. The lynx, Lynx canadensis, is still fairly 

 common in our northern woods, and despite the blood-curdling 

 stories of some of our nature fakirs, it is a most innocuous 

 creature, living largely on hares and as averse to fighting as the 

 Hon. W. J. Bryan. The bear, Ursus americanus, would doubt- 

 less defend itself if cornered, but when it meets a man its first 

 imptdse is instant flight. A she-bear with cubs generally waits 

 to cover the retreat of her young, but I never heard of one taking 

 the offensive. 



And what of the ravening wolves that, — in newspaper 

 stories, — hunt in fierce packs, and devour hapless hunters and 

 trappers? There are certainly plenty of wolves in the back 

 woods, and they destroy large numbers of deer and in some 

 districts kill the young cattle of the settlers. But the cold 

 truth, well known to every woodsman, is that the Canadian 

 timber wolf, large and powerful animal as it is, never attacks 

 anyone. The ordinary farm dog is a far more formidable 

 animal. The wolf is exceedingly wary and has an overwhelming 

 distrust and fear of man and all his works. Anything that man 

 has touched or handled inspires dread in the wolf. Conse- 

 quently it is very hard to trap or poison him, and even harder 

 to get a shot at him. Although always apparently half famished, 

 he will prowl for days around a dead horse before he dares to 

 feed on it, his exceedingly keen scent warning him that his 

 dread enemy, man, has had something to do with it. Every 

 hunter knows that it is quite safe to leave the carcass of a deer 

 hung from a low branch anywhere in the woods. If there is 

 snow on the ground, the tracks of wolves will be seen all around 

 the suspended game, but not one of them will venture to touch 

 the meat tainted for them by the contact of man. Much less 

 likely are they to attack man himself, and all the stories of their 

 treeing or devouring woodsmen should be catagorized with the 

 German statements as to the causes of the war. 



The moose is not at all pugnacious, but it is much more 

 respected in the wilds than the wolf. It is not a particularly 

 timid animal, and impelled by curiosity, it sometimes approaches 

 the woods traveller quite fearlessly, its imposing bulk making 

 it appear decidedly formidable. As far as I know, there is no 

 record of anyone ever having been hurt by a moose, but occasion- 

 ally its threatening attitude causes an unarmed man, perhaps 

 unduly alarmed, to take to a tree. A friend told me recently 

 of a curious display of woodcraft in connection with an obstinate 

 moose. My friend, who was without a weapon of any kind, 

 was crossing a portage in the Kipawa district last summer 



