456 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 84 



in 1810, 51 in 1816, 56 in 1822, and 51 in 1824, but only 2 in 1861. 

 Maxwell (1898, pp. 215, 216), says that a wolf was killed near St. 

 George, Tucker County, as late as 1894 and one in Randolph County 

 in 1897. Regarding Pendleton County, Morton (1910, pp. 357-358) 

 writes that A. W. Roby killed two wolves in 1889, Thomas A. Payne 

 two wolves in 1892, and S. P. Dolly and Jacob Arbogast two wolves 

 in 1896. According to Brooks (1911, p. 24) the last record for the 

 State is a wolf killed by Stofer Hamrick during January 1900 in 

 Randolph County. 



Family FELIDAE 



FEUS CONCOLOR COUGUAR Kerr 



Cougar, Panther, or Eastern Mountain Lion 



When the first settlers arrived, panthers were reported to have 

 been commoner in the Allegheny Mountains than elsewhere in the 

 State. Nevertheless, they were at one time numerous enough in 

 most sections to disturb the settlers. McWhorter (1915, pp. 346, 488) 

 has published records of panthers in Taylor County and along Blood 

 Run and Horn Creek, tributaries of the Little Kanawha River. 

 Panthers were reported to have been fairly common up to and even 

 later than 1815 along Finks Creek in Gilmer County (McWhorter, 

 1915, p. 326). A panther killed by John Riffle in 1855 on Oil Creek 

 appears to be the last record for Lewis County (McWhorter, 1915, 

 p. 353). McWhorter (1915, p. 347) likewise records panthers on 

 White Oak Run, Middle Fork River, and on Cheat Mountain in 

 Randolph County. In 1850, C. B. R. Kennerly presented to the 

 Smithsonian Institution the skeleton of one (no. 848) Idlled at Capon 

 Springs in Hampshire County. 



According to the statistical tabulations published by Maxwell 

 (1898, p. 216), 11 panthers were killed in Randolph County in 1853, 

 14 in 1856, 11 in 1858, and 6 in 1859. Fred T. Galford, a skilled 

 worker employed by the E.C.W. at Camp Black Mountain, Mononga- 

 hela National Forest, reports finding tracks of a panther in the snow 

 on Black Mountain during the winter of 1935 and also in 1936. He 

 and members of a C.C.C. camp saw one at the same locality walking 

 along a footpath during the summer of 1936. Forest employees 

 were convinced that one or more go over Black Mountain in Poca- 

 hontas County about twice every 10 days. W. M. Perrygo and 

 C. Lingebach saw panther tracks on Kennison Mountain, Pocahontas 

 County, during the latter part of June 1936. They also noticed 

 tracks on Middle Mountain in Randolph County. Arthur A. Wood, 

 forest supervisor, Monongahela National Forest, writes that there is 

 some evidence of a very few panthers in the Middle Mountain section 

 of Randolph and Pocahontas Counties. 



