A COUGAR HUNT 17 



cougars than if they were so many tom-cats. 

 Moreover, when itself assailed by either dogs or 

 men the cougar makes no aggressive fight. It 

 will stay in a tree for hours, kept there by a 

 single dog which it could kill at once if it had 

 the heart — and this although if hungry it will 

 itself attack and kill any dog, and on occasions 

 even a big wolf. If the dogs — or men — 

 come within a few feet, it will inflict formidable 

 wounds with its claws and teeth, the former 

 being used to hold the assailant while the latter 

 inflict the fatal bite. But it fights purely on 

 the defensive, whereas the leopard readily as- 

 sumes the offensive and often charges, at head- 

 long, racing speed, from a distance of fifty or 

 sixty yards. It is absolutely safe to walk up to 

 within ten yards of a cougar at bay, whether 

 wounded or unwounded, and to shoot it at 

 leisure. 



Cougars are solitary beasts. When full-grown 

 the females outnumber the males about three 

 to one; and the sexes stay together for only a 

 few days at mating-time. The female rears 

 her kittens alone, usually in some cave; the 

 male would be apt to kill them if he could get 

 at them. The young are playful. Uncle Jim 

 once brought back to his cabin a young cougar, 

 two or three months old. At the time he had a 



