1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 263 



cowardly before man and dogs they are bold in attacking large game 

 animals. Apparently no choice is made between small or large deer 

 or those with or without horns, and they are known to attack and 

 kill a large bull elk or the largest horse if other game is not avail- 

 able. They rarely attack full-grown cattle, however, but will kill 

 calves and yearlings without hesitation. 



Voice. That much-discussed subject, the " scream " of the moun- 

 tain lion, is a delicate one because of some confusion in the inter- 

 pretation of the scream. Generally the animals are silent, but they 

 are by no means without vocal powers. When treed or cornered 

 they have a repelling growl and snarl and hiss, and at times when 

 they are free and alone they utter a loud call or cry that suggests 

 a fair compromise between the caterwaul of a tomcat and the roar 

 of a lion. It is heavy and prolonged, slightly rising and falling and 

 fairly well indicated by the letters o-o-W-O-U-H-u-u. On two occa- 

 sions, in the woods, on dark nights the writer has heard this cry 

 repeated several times at frequent intervals, and once from a cage 

 in a zoological park. There was no mistaking its catlike quality in 

 any of these cases, but it could hardly be called a scream. Still, if 

 the animals have the vocal range of some other felines, it is not 

 improbable that they make sounds that could be called screams. 

 The most common mistake in regard to mountain lions is in attribut- 

 ing to them the shrill " woman-in-agony scream" of the full-grown 

 young of the great horned owl, which is often heard, and when close 

 on a dark night is fully as terrifying as any sound a real mountain 

 lion could possibly produce. 



Breeding habits. Mountain lions usually have from 2 to 6 young, 

 4 being the common number. The period of gestation is about 3 

 months, and the young are born irregularly from April to August, 

 and by the following autumn may be half -grown cubs able to travel 

 with the mother and eat a large share of the venison killed. By the 

 following spring they are generally large enough to kill game and 

 to take care of themselves under favorable circumstances. Whether 

 they breed when a year old seems not to be known, but it is doubted 

 that they do. The male assumes no family duties or responsibility 

 after the young are born and is rarely found in company with the 

 female except at the brief mating time late in winter or early in 

 spring. 



Food habits. So far as is known, mountain lions live entirely on 

 meat and almost entirely on game that they kill. Occasionally one 

 will return to its kill for a second meal, but in a country of abundant 

 game another animal is usually selected for the next meal. A mother 

 and 3 or 4 well-grown young of the year will fairly well pick the 

 bones of a deer at one sitting, and during the time when the young 

 are following the mother game is killed almost daily. Just how 

 often it is necessary for them to eat is not known, but evidently they 

 can go for several days without eating and lose no flesh. Generally 

 they are lean and muscular; but sometimes the immature animals, 

 especially in a good game country, will be found with considerable 

 excess fat under the skin. They do not hibernate and require food 

 more or less regularly throughout the year. 



Economic status. No other predatory animal, unless it be the wolf, 

 compares in its destruction of game and livestock with the mountain 



