MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 71 



4th. Concerning the size of the panther. 



In talking with border hunters of a certain type, and in per- 

 using the literature, one is every now and then confronted with 

 the most fabulous statements concerning the size of the beast 

 now under consideration. Some would have us believe that 

 panthers have been killed and measured with a "two foot rule" 

 that were eleven, twelve, and even thirteen feet in length 

 Formidable beasts indeed! No less an authority than James 

 DeKay tells us, in apparent good faith, that one was killed on 

 an island in Fourth Lake (of the Fulton chain) in Herkimer 

 county, that, when recently killed, "had a total length of eleven 

 feet three inches". To those who are inclined to credit such 

 statements I have only to say, measure off eleven feet on your 

 floor; place the largest panther you ever saw on this measured 

 line, and then tell me on what part of the beast you would 

 "annex" or "splice on" the three or more additional feet. 



5th. Concerning the way a panther carries its prey. 



We often see statements to the effect that a panther has kill- 

 ed a deer or a young bullock, slung it over his back and 

 marched off (perhaps up an embankment, or even climbed a 

 tree) with it. A panther drags a deer along the ground just as 

 a dog drags a sheep, or a cat a big piece of meat, and, if he is 

 a large one, he may be able to lift the deer so high that only 

 the hinder parts drag. 



Felis domestica LINN, 



DOMESTIC CAT. 



The common domestic cat stands, as regards size, at nearly 

 the other end of the series of true cats inaugurated in America 

 by the jaguar and puma. At the time America was disco verd 

 all civilized nations had adopted this animal and it had become 

 a part of man's family wherever homes were known. With 

 most of us there is something lacking in the cheer of the 

 chimney corner without the contented purr of a favorite cat, 

 and tabby has come to be associated with the innocent pleas- 

 ures of childhood and with home comforts in maturer life. 



A very full account of all that is known about pussy and her 

 family may be found in St. George Mivart's "The Cat," Lon- 

 don, 1881. As in the case of most of our domestic animals, 

 the proper combination of qualities for permanent domestica- 



