LIONS 17 



X 



Although I have camped and hunted in all the 

 Western States inhabited by this animal, the 

 nearest I ever came to seeing one was when I 

 found the tracks where, the night before, out of 

 curiosity, one had circled my camp. While this 

 statement undoubtedly proves that I am not 

 an authority on cougars, experienced hunters 

 agree that the animal is a coward and so noc- 

 turnal in its habits that rarely is one seen abroad 

 by day, unless it is driven from its hiding-place 

 with dogs and brought to bay. 



The African lion, while nocturnal also, prowls 

 about often during the day, particularly in the 

 early morning and late in the afternoon. Most 

 of its prey, however, is killed at night and 

 after a "kill" it is very noisy, while the cougar 

 is rarely heard. Two, three, and possibly five 

 cougars may sometimes be found together; but 

 African lions are found in troops of six, eight, 

 ten, and even fifteen or eighteen, although, of 

 course, they are more commonly seen singly or 

 in pairs. 



Lions care little for the heavily wooded re- 

 gions. Their natural habitat is the veldt coun- 

 try, which corresponds to the prairies of our West, 

 the bush-veldt, that might be likened to the des- 



