108 STORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



nose to tail; but I have heard persons say that it sonic- 

 times attains a length of body of seven or more feet in 

 portions of Florida and Texas. I have hunted in some 

 of the best game regions of these States, and bagged a 

 cougar occasionally; but I never saw one possessing such 

 proportions, and I am rather doubtful if it exists, as that 

 measurement would bring it up to the standard of the 

 lion or grizzly bear. The two largest that I killed in the 

 West measured, respectively, fifty-four and fifty-six inches, 

 exclusive of the tail, and they were considered to be good- 

 sized animals. The longest cauda measured was thirty- 

 three inches, so that the animal had a total length of seven 

 feet five inches. The height of the tallest one I ever kill- 

 ed was a fraction over thirty-one inches; the body was 

 thirty inches around, and the head was a little more than 

 twenty inches long. 



Twenty-four hours after the death of the largest I had 

 an opportunity of weighing it, and it turned the scales at 

 one hundred and thirty-seven and a half pounds. This 

 weight, when propelled by strong muscles, and placed in 

 intense activity by rage, is no mean force for an unarmed 

 man to encounter and vanquish ; hence one cannot well 

 blame the Indians for the fear of the animal they display, 

 or their pride in killing one. 



The color of the cougar is a brownish-yellow above, and 

 a pale red or dusky- white beneath; the lower jaw and 

 throat are white ; and the whiskers, which are rather long, 

 are white, and rise in a blackish base. It has no mane, 

 nor any tuft on the extremity of the tail; its hair is soft 

 and dense over the limbs and body; and the color is so 

 much alike in both sexes that they cannot be distinguished 

 by the looks of pelage. 



The female brings forth her young in the spring, the 

 number at a birth varying from two to four, and the pe- 

 riod of gestation being about ninety-seven days. 



The character of the cougar is like that of the cat family 

 in general, whether wild or domesticated; and this may 

 be summed up by saying that it is naturally timid and 



