THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 



107 



forest depths. Though not often a dangerous foe until 

 brought to bay or roused by hunger, owing to its natural 

 cautiousness and timidity of character, yet its shrieks are 

 so loud and penetrating that no person can hear them 

 without feeling a thrill run through his body, and, if un- 

 armed, without taking excellent care to avoid an encounter 

 with it if possible. 



An adult male weighs on an average from eighty to one 

 hundred and fifty pounds; but in portions of the South, 



TOE PUMA, OE OOUGA.B. 



where the climate is favorable and food abundant, it at- 

 tains greater weight than this. One shot near Elbow 

 Creek, in Southern Florida, in December, 1873, measured 

 nine feet four inches in length, and weighed two hundred 

 and forty pounds. The skin of this monster is now, I be- 

 lieve, to be seen in the parlor of the Argonauta Rowing- 

 club, at Bergen Point, New Jersey. The usual length of 

 the cougar varies from four and a half to five feet, from 



