THE COUGAR. 135 



frightened, though greatly amazed. The 

 cougars were not full grown, but young of the 

 year. 



Now in this case I do not believe the beasts 

 had any real intention of attacking the men. 

 They were young animals, bold, stupid, and 

 very hungry. The smell of the raw meat ex- 

 cited them beyond control, and they probably 

 could not make out clearly what the men were, 

 as they walked bent under their burdens, with 

 the deer skins on their backs. Evidently the 

 cougars were only trying to get at the venison. 



In 1886 a cougar killed an Indian near 

 Flathead Lake. Two Indians were hunting 

 together on horseback when they came on the 

 cougar. It fell at once to their shots, and 

 they dismounted and ran towards it. Just as 

 they reached it it came to, and seized one, 

 killing him instantly with a couple of savage 

 bites in the throat and chest ; it then raced 

 after the other, and, as he sprung on his horse, 

 struck him across the buttocks, inflicting a 

 deep but not dangerous scratch. I saw this 

 survivor a year later. He evinced great re- 

 luctance to talk of the event, and insisted that 

 the thing which had slain his companion was 

 not really a cougar at all, but a devil. 



A she-cougar does not often attempt to 

 avenge the loss of her young, but sometimes 

 she does. A remarkable instance of the kind 

 happened to my friend, Professor John Bache 

 McMaster, in 1875. ^ e was camped near the 

 head of Green River, Wyoming. One after- 

 noon he found a couple of cougar kittens, and 



