451 



Sometime in the sixties I was called to see a patient wlio 

 lived on the head waters of the Tioga river in Ward township. 

 Tioga county, Penna. When I arrived at the house, some of 

 the boys of the family had Just returned from the woods with 

 a load of Are wood and reported that a "Painter" had killed a 

 large deer in their sugar camp. As there was a fresh snow 

 on the ground I investigated and found the tracks of the 

 marauder along the body of a hemlock tree, which had been 

 turned up by the roots. It had perched itself on the roots, 

 and had remained there until the warmth of its body had 

 melted away the snow. The deer, a two-year-old doe, had 

 been feeding and had not suspected danger until too late to 

 escape. The struggle was long and severe as shown by the 

 upturned leaves and trodden down snow. The victor had par- 

 taken of a hearty meal from the neck and fore shoulder of the 

 deer. I procured a steel fox trap and set It by the dead deer. 

 On visiting the carcass the next day I found trap and drag 

 gone. I followed the trail a few rods and found a large cata- 

 mount with the trap to his hind leg. I could cite another in- 

 stance where a Wildcat had killed a yearling deer. Am in 

 favor of a bounty. Let each county pay its jwn bounty, but 

 only to its own citizens. 



JAMES THOMAS, Clearfield County: 



Wildcats are very destructive to game, poultry and small 

 wild birds. I know of two cases where they have been very 

 bold. A man of my acquaintance was carryinj^- a quarter of 

 beef through a small strip of woods and a Wildcat attacked 

 him, tore his clothes and scratched him badly. Another man 

 once got a ham, weighing about twenty pounds, and put it in 

 a cave some twenty feet from the house and the next morning 

 it was gone. I found It in a field, and seeing the tracks of a 

 Wildcat leading to and from the ham, I set a trap and caught 

 the animal on the following night. It was about four feet 

 seven and one-half inches long and weighed twenty-eight and 

 one-half pounds. Am favorable to a bounty paid by the State. 



A. W. COLEGROVE, McKean County: 



Wildcats are common in this county, and are very detrimen- 

 tal to game. Rabbits and pheasants are their principal sub- 

 sistence. They will track a Rabbit like a hound and have as 

 good a nose for birds as a pointer. They usually kill more 

 than the sportsmen or pot hunter. They will not attack a 

 person unless cornered. I have killed many and but in one 



