Canada Lynx 695 



moment his snow-shoes tripped him up, and he fell head- 

 long with his face in the snow. The Cat instantly sprung 

 upon him, tearing with one stroke the coat from his back. 

 Mackenzie turned round at once, and caught the Cat by 

 the throat with one hand, and with the other he drew his knife; 

 but as he made a lunge they both rolled over together, and he 

 received some very severe scratches. Still holding on firmly to 

 the throat of the animal, he was not bitten, although he was 

 in danger of having his bowels torn out by the hind-feet of the 

 Cat, who was making a vigorous resistance. A second lunge 

 with the knife was fatal; it passed through the animal's heart, 

 but it left Mackenzie exhausted and bleeding on the snow. 

 He soon recovered, and carried his booty in triumph to the 

 Post."^' 



Canadian hunters and trappers generally credit the Lynx storage 

 with a well-developed storage habit. When it secures more 

 food than it needs for the present, it carefully hides it in the 

 earth or in the snow for less bounteous times. One case has 

 already been cited. 



The Rabbit is the most diseased of our mammals, and the diseases 

 Lynx feeding on the Rabbit should logically inherit the physi- 

 cal troubles of its victim, but I have seen no proof that it does. 



As already noted, there is no evidence of epidemic among 

 the wild Lynxes to account for their periodic disappearance. 



Those who have the opportunity of conducting post 

 mortem examinations on the bodies of Lynxes can render 

 good service by recording in full their condition, as it is probable 

 that the Lynx may be temporary host of a parasite that finds 

 its final and fatal development in the Rabbit. 



The specimen from which I made the drawing of feet 

 (Fig. 1 86) died of sunstroke in the New York Zoological Park. 



Like all cats, the Lynx is scrupulously clean. Menagerie sanita- 

 specimens usually set apart one corner of the cage for the 



"Labrador Peninsula, 1863, Vol. I, pp. 59-60. 



