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 



