CAT FAMILY 



159 



The pelts of the Wild Cat have a ready sale 

 among furriers. Dr. Merriam has eaten its flesh 

 and pronounces it excellent. It is white, very 

 tender, and suggests veal more than any other 

 meat with which he is familiar. 



The Texas Wild Cat is a large, dark, and much 

 spotted cousin living in southern and eastern 

 Texas. It is especially abundant " in the dense 

 chaparral of cactus and mesquite along brushy 

 stream bottoms and in the timbered gulches." 

 Away from the towns the animals are most com- 

 mon in places where there is excellent cover 

 such as is aiTorded by the thick part of the oak 

 brush, where they can be hunted only with dogs, 

 and in the great rose hedges, which are almost 

 impenetrable. 



Wild Cat hunting with dogs is a favorite sport 

 in certain parts of the South. The hunters 

 usually take their stands in open spots and wait 

 for the dogs to drive the game vv'ithin shot. The 

 Wild Cat rarely trees, but usually, rabbit-like, 

 runs round and round in a limited circle depend- 

 ing on outrunning or dodging the dogs. Mr. 

 Bailey once shot a W'ild Cat in front of the 

 hounds as it passed him for the third time. " It 

 did not seem tired or much alarmed, but easilv 

 kept out of sight of the dogs." When opened, 

 " the stomach of this individual was full of veni- 

 son that had not been perfectly fresh when eaten, 

 probably from a Deer that had been wounded by 

 some hunters a week before." 



The Plateau W'ild Cat gets its name from in- 

 habiting the high plateau of Arizona, Utah, and 

 Colorado. It is paler than the preceding, has a 

 shorter tail, and a softer fur. It is found also 

 in the mountains and Staked Plains regions of 

 western Texas. Mr. Vernon Bailey, in whose 

 honor Dr. Merriam named this species, writes 

 ("A Biological Survey of Texas ") : " The coun- 

 try occupied by this Plateau Wild Cat is mainly 

 open, arid, and rocky. Canyons, gulchc- and 

 clififs are its favorite haunts, while caves and 

 clefts in the rocks furnish dens and safe retreats 

 from which hunting excursions are made. . . . 

 Fresh tracks are frequently seen where the Cats 

 have followed the lines of the cliffs, crept along 

 narrow shelves of rocks from one wood rat's 

 den to another, or walked noiselessly in the dust 

 under and around the great boulders, where 

 the cotton-tails hide. Most of the Wild Cat's 

 hunting is done at night, but occasionally one is 

 surprised at midday crossing a valley to another 

 cliff, or found toward evening getting an early 

 supper." 



One January evening Mr. Bailey, while watch- 

 ing the hawks come into the cottonwoods to 



roost at sundown, saw " a pair of bright eyes 

 among the branches overhead and slowly traced 

 out the almost invisible form of a Wild Cat flat- 

 tened along a rough gray branch." As he needed 

 the specimen, he did not wait to see if hawks 

 were the object of the Wild Cat's hunt, but soon 

 secured it. 



The Desert Wild Cat, another well-known spe- 

 cies, is of a tawny hue which matches well with 

 its barren surroundings. (See detailed descrip- 

 tion above). Its habits do not difi^er greatly 

 from others, beyond the change necessitated by 

 local conditions. It is a lithe, bloodthirsty ani- 

 mal that spends manv of its waking hours stalk- 

 ing its prey. 



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By permission of U. S. Biological Survey ' 



PLATEAU WILD CAT 



From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes, showing handsome markings 

 of these Western cats 



Says one observer: "While walking along a 

 railroad track, I had an excellent opportunity to 

 watch the method by which the Bobcat hunts 

 Prairie Dogs. I was just emerging from a deep 

 cut when I saw a large reddish Bobcat at a 

 distance of not over forty feet. It was sneaking 

 through the scattering greasewood bushes flat 

 upon its belly, its short tail twitching nervously, 

 and the excited chattering of the Prairie Dogs 

 on a neighboring flat showed that its approach 

 had been noted by the alert animals. One large 

 old Prairie Dog in particular, apparently the 

 Cat's intended victim, was seated at its burrow 

 on the edge of the town, chattering in a bantering 

 manner and appearing less frightened than the 

 rest. The burrow was within leaping distance 



