136 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



comes down on all-fours at once. It is not swift, and any 

 ordinary dog can overtake it in a short time. It swims 

 well when forced to take to the water, but it avoids that 

 element if possible, as it has all the objections of its race 

 to a wetting. Its flesh, although white and tender, is fla- 

 vorless, yet it is highly prized by some of the North-west- 

 ern tribes, and not a few pretend to think it superior to 

 hare. Some of the French voyageurs and half-breeds call 

 it the loup cervier; but why they do so I could never sur- 

 mise, as it does not resemble the wolf either in looks, hab- 

 its, or tones of voice. Neither is it dangerous to anything 

 larger than a bird or a small quadruped; so all the tales 

 told about its attacking men and killing them must be 

 considered as approaching the fabulous. In the first place, 

 one good blow on its back with a walking-stick would kill 

 it immediately, and a rifle-ball or a dose of buck-shot is suf- 

 ficient to send the spirit of the strongest to the feline world 

 beyond this at once. Large numbers are shot or trapped 

 annually for the sake of their skins, which command a fail- 

 price in the fur market; but they are not utilized as ob- 

 jects of the chase to any extent, as their first move is to 

 seek safety in a tree, whence they are easily dislodged with 

 a rifle or a bow and arrow. 



A wounded catamount may sometimes turn on a man, 

 but it cannot inflict much greater injury than giving him 

 a severe scratching, and few experienced hunters care for 

 such trifles. I have shot it occasionally after treeing it 

 with dogs, but I never knew it to assault me, nor to make 

 even a fierce fight against its canine foes; hence it offers 

 but little sport; yet a person who bags his twenty-pound 

 cat after a scramble through brake and brier feels not a 

 little pleased with himself. Its congeners, the L. rufus and 

 L. fasciatus, which resemble it in habit and character, are 

 very common in the forests of the North-west, and commit 

 sad havoc among the grouse, hares, squirrels, and other 

 small animals on which they prey. 



The latter is readily distinguished from the former by 

 its rich chestnut color and soft, full fur, the other having a 



