1867.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAJ. MUSEUM. ISO 



Family FELID^E. Cats. 



Felis concolor LiuiK'. J'nma or Fuiitltcr : I'dt-cl of ihe If'intuns. 



lu the ruggetl country about tbe junctiou of McCloud and Pitt Kivers 

 the widely di.stributed Panther, or "Mountain Lion,"' a.s it is called in 

 California, is especially numerous. It has been taken many times in the 

 vicinity of the Government Fishery Establishment there. On JMarch 

 29, 1884, three Panthers which had approached the building, in all 

 probability for the purpose of stealing hogs, were " treed " by the nu- 

 merous curs about the place, and were shot and converted into speci- 

 mens — numbers ]21, 122, and 123, as given below. Mr. John Miles, a 

 settler in the same neighborhood, had half a dozen or more skins of 

 Panthers about his place in February, 1884, all of which I believe he 

 had killed within a j-ear's time. They were, as a rule, shot in the near 

 vicinity of his house, after having; been treed by dogs. 



It is practically impossible to raise colts in the Shasta County hills 

 on account of these pests. They destroj^ many hogs and young cattle 

 also, but do not present so serious an impediment to the keeping of 

 these animals as in the case of horses. Mr. J. B. Campbell, who 

 trapped two Panthers for me in 1883, told me that he had actually 

 never seen more than two or three of the numerous colts borji on his 

 stock range, as they had been killed and devoured by Panthers soon 

 after birth. 



Locality. 



Date. 



1883. 

 Shasta Countv, California Oct. 15 



1884. 



do I Mar. 29 



do Mar. 29 



do ' Mar. 29 



do ! July — 



do j July — 



do Julv — 



Nature of speci- 

 mens. 



Skeleton. 



Skin. 



Do. 



Do. 

 Skeleton. 



Do. 



Do. 



Lynx rufus (Giild.). Bed Lynx. 



We trapped numerous Lynxes in 1883-84 along McCloud lliver and 

 Squaw Creek (flowing into Pitt River), where they are apparently as 

 numerous as fo.xes, and as easily secured. Mr. W. E. Bryant, of Oak- 

 land, had a pair of tame Lynxes at his home in 1885, which were as afl'ec 

 tionate and agreeable pets as could be desired, purring contentedly in 

 true cat fashion when their fur was stroked. This, however, is very 

 unusual with Lynxes; they are bad-tempered and savage. One which 

 was kept cagetl at the McCloud Eiver fisheries for two or three years 

 was always the most vicious creature imaginable, snarling and glaring 

 at every one who approached, with an expression truly satanic. He 



