The Cougar 149 



its shoulders, and its long tail twitching, it 

 slouched down the path, treading as softly as 

 a kitten. I waited until it had passed and 

 then fired into the short ribs, the bullet rang 

 ing forward. Throwing its tail up in the air, 

 and giving a bound, the cougar galloped off 

 over a slight ridge.. But it did not go far; 

 within a hundred yards I found it stretched 

 on its side, its jaws still working convulsively. 

 The true way to hunt the cougar is to fol 

 low it with dogs. If the chase is conducted in 

 this fashion it is very exciting, and resem 

 bles on a larger scale the ordinary method of 

 hunting the wildcat or small lynx, as prac 

 ticed by the sport-loving planters of the 

 Southern States. With a very little training, 

 hounds readily and eagerly pursue the cou 

 gar, showing in this kind of chase none of 

 the fear and disgust they are so prone to ex 

 hibit when put on the trail of the certainly 

 no more dangerous wolf. The cougar, when 

 the hounds are on its track, at first runs, but 

 when hard-pressed takes to a tree, or possibly 

 comes to bay in thick cover. Its attention is 

 then so taken up with the hounds that it can 

 usually be approached and shot without much 

 difficulty; though some cougars break bay 

 when the hunters come near, and again make 



