THE COUGAR OR MOUNTAIN LION 313 



"In less than a minute the loud, steady barking of 

 the dog told that his part of the work was done, and 

 accordingly I hastened to the spot with the intention of 

 doing my part, if possible. Old Spot was looking up a 

 large fir-tree and barking, as much as to say, ' He went 

 up that one.' I looked the tree over very carefully for 

 as much as three minutes, and said to myself, ' If there 

 is a lion up that tree, it is somewhat undersized.' Then 

 I began to look into the trees near by. Very soon I dis- 

 covered in a large fir-tree, about sixty feet up, crouched 

 among the branches, a large female lion. 



"I yelled to Rockwood to come on with his shot- 

 gun. But for some reason he could neither get the 

 shells into nor out of his gun, so I must cither do the 

 work with the little .22 or let the lion go, which latter 

 was out of the question. I had been looking for lion 

 at other times, now my chance had come, I figured 

 that, if the first shot did not kill, the dog would help 

 me out in case of a close call. I took careful aim, and 

 the bullet struck just over the eye, ranging backward, 

 tearing a hole in the skull an inch long, and taking 

 effect in the brain. The rifle had hardly cracked when 

 the biggest piece of meat I ever saw in mid-air came 

 tumbling down. The dog had her in an instant, but 

 there was no need, for she was as harmless as a cougar 

 could be."* 



It is quite evident from all the cougar tales that the 

 beast is cowardly and tries to escape by sneaking away 

 from the hunter, or running from the dogs. Such was 

 my opinion of him when I met him. The hunter Goff 

 told Roosevelt of a cougar which stalked a young girl, 



*(j. A. Welder, Kalispell, Montana, in Field and Stream. 



