XXII 



THE CAT FAMILY 



AS wc observed in the introductory chapter on big 

 game in general, the cats are hardly to be con- 

 sidered true game, since they are not good to eat. 

 Throughout the world, however, the greater animals 

 which are included in this family have long furnished 

 sport with the rifle, and the puma or North American 

 cougar, familiarly known as the mountain lion, is listed 

 by the Boone and Crockett Club as " big " game. 



In other lands there are many animals belonging to 

 this family ; some of them have magnificent size and 

 strength, are ferocious in the extreme, and their pur- 

 suit is attended with much excitement and danger. 

 Wc have only to recall the great African lion, " the 

 king of beasts," the tiger of India, and the jaguar of 

 South America, to realize that our own cats are of lit- 

 tle importance when compared with those of Asia and 

 Africa and South America. True, wc have a few jag- 

 uars in tiie Southwest, but their occurrence is so sel- 

 dom that they may be regarded as not a game animal 

 for North Americans. 



Sportsmen who seek the highest excitement and de- 

 sire a sport which is attended with mucii danger will 

 hardly be satisfied with the American animals of the 

 feline groujt. Thc\' know that they must go to other 



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