450 



Have seen where one chased a fawn a distance of about nne 

 hundred rods, but gave up the pursuit when the deer ran up 

 a steep hill. They occasionally enter a chicken coop and do 

 some damage. Such visits, however, are rather rare.^ Do not 

 think that they would attack a pej-son unless cornered. We 

 caught an old male Wildcat in a bear pen in spring of 1889, 

 which, during the six months that we kept it, became rather 

 lame and listened to Its name, "Jim." He would eat out of 

 one's hand, if you trusted yourself, and would purr like a 

 spinning wheel when we came around its cage. 



We sent him to the "Zoo" in Philadelphia, and on calling 

 there a year later we found him asleep in a cage with another 

 smaller Wildcat. On calling him by his name he got up and 

 purred, apparently recognizing us after an absence of one year. 



There is very general opinion among hunters and other peo- 

 ple that there are two different kinds of Wildcats, a small and 

 a large variety. We looked this up carefully and found only 

 one kind, and came to the conclusion that whenever a half- 

 grown lynx was caught it was called a Wildcat, while a very 

 large specimen was called a Catamount. 



Their fur is subject to change in color during the year. In 

 Summer it assumes a reddish tinge, while in the fall It be- 

 comes gray. We think one of the causes that Wildcats are not 

 more abundant is their habit of catching Porcupines. Nearly 

 all tTie Wildcats we caught had quills in their bodies. One old 

 male cat in particular was covered with sores caused by 

 quills, and he had some all through his body, which would 

 doubtless have been, the cause of his death if left to himself. 

 We do not f.tvor the paying of bounties. 



DR. J. K. CLEVEL.\Nn, Bradford County: 



Wildcats occasionally get into barn-yards and hen-roosts and 

 destroy poultry in winters of deep snow, but they pi-ey mostly 

 on young Grouse, Quail, Rabbits and £.mall birds. A Mr. Krise, 

 while returning from Blossburg to his home in Liberty town- 

 ship, sometime last November (1S93), had to pass over Briar 

 Hill, where there was a dense thicket of briars and brush on 

 both sides of the higliway, about dusk. A large catamount 

 sprang upon the back of one of his horses and fastened its 

 teeth into the horse'si Hesh. The man having no weapons with 

 him, jumped from the wagon, seized the cat by its neck, tore 

 it from the horse and by sheer strength choked it to death. 

 The man's rlnthes were tcirn to shreds and his body and limbs 

 were frighl fully t<irn and lacerated. 



