THE COUGAR. 123 



CHAPTER V. 



THE COUGAR. 



NO animal of the chase is so difficult to 

 kill by fair still-hunting as the cougar 

 that beast of many names, known in the East 

 as panther and painter, in the West as moun- 

 tain lion, in the Southwest as Mexican lion, 

 and in the southern continent as lion and 

 puma. 



Without hounds its pursuit is so uncertain 

 that from the still-hunter's standpoint it hardly 

 deserves to rank as game at all though, by 

 the way, it is itself a more skilful still-hunter 

 than any human rival. It prefers to move 

 abroad by night or at dusk ; and in the day- 

 time usually lies hid in some cave or tangled 

 thicket where it is absolutely impossible even 

 to stumble on it by chance. It is a beast of 

 stealth and rapine ; its great, velvet paws, 

 never make a sound, and it is always on the 

 watch whether for prey or for enemies, while 

 it rarely leaves shelter even when it thinks 

 itself safe. Its soft, leisurely movements and 

 uniformity of color make it difficult to dis- 

 cover at best, and its extreme watchfulness 

 helps it ; but it is the cougar's reluctance to 



