I40 MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 



Habits, etc. — So far as appears from accounts of hunters, there is nothing 

 in the habits of a lynx differing from those of a wild cat except what it ac- 

 complishes on account of its greater size and agility. Both these animals 

 appear much more courageous and offensive in their encounters with men 

 and animals than the cougar or panther. They will not hesitate to fasten 

 themselves on the necks of deer, trusting to bring them down by sheer ex- 

 haustion and blood-letting before the deer can manage to drag them off by 

 Tunning through brush or the branches of thick trees or by jumping into 

 water. Mr. Seth Nelson on one occasion was trout fishing at a large pool in 

 the woods of Clinton Co. when a crashing through the forest made him seize 

 his rifle in time to shoot both a wild cat and a doe which plunged into the 

 pool to free itself of its tormentor. They have been known to seriously 

 wound hunters in their own defense and even to make an unprovoked 

 attack. Wild cats are one of the greatest scourges of the life of the Pa. for- 

 ests, as fully revealed in the accounts given by correspondents to Dr. Warren, 

 formerly Pa. State Zoologist, printed in the book. Diseases of Poultry, pub- 

 lished by the Pa. Dept. of Agriculture in 1897. Dr. Warren's account of the 

 life, history and economic status of this animal is by far the fullest, most 

 entertaining, and based on the largest amount of information of any yet pub- 

 lished. From this I extract the following facts: "Favorite haunts:'' For- 

 ests, rocky ledges, briary thickets, slashings and bark peelings strewn with 

 decaying logs, fallen trees and brush piles, grown up with rhododendron (buck 

 laurel). Numbers: Increasing in Elk, Clearfield, Forest, Cameron, Centre 

 and McKean Cos. where large districts have been deforested. Food: Poul- 

 try, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, all other small birds, their eggs and young, 

 ■deer (especially fawns), lambs, young pigs, rabbits, squirrels, mice, porcupine, 

 skunk, opossum, fish, frogs. Breeding: In hollow tree or log in nest made 

 of leaves, moss, etc., some in ledges or caverns. Two to 4 young born in 

 May — (a female containing 3 young nearly ready for birth was sent me April 

 20, 1897, by S. Nelson. — Rhoads). Commercial value: Small, bringing 

 from 35 to 75 cents per pelt. Bounties: From 1885 to 1896 a two dollar 

 scalp bounty was paid on wild cats, as per Warren's report. I believe no 

 bounties have since been paid. 



Description of species. — The Canada lynx can most certainly be distin- 

 guished from the bay lynx or wild cat by the length of its hind foot, meaning 

 ty this the length from the end of the longest hind toe to the heel tip (gam- 

 brel joint) measured along the under side. Another distinctive feature in 

 adults of L. canadensis is the stiff and generally long ear-tips, but as the wild 

 cat has more or less of a tip to its ears this character is somewhat misleading. 

 The great size of the feet and their being thickly furred over the sole in 

 winter is also a peculiarity of canadensis. The grayish, hoary, unspotted 

 color of the winter fur of the Canada lynx is quite in contrast to the brown- 

 ish or reddish gray and spotted or marbled coat of the bay lynx. 



