314 THE CAT FAMILY 



but was shot before making- the final rush. Roosevelt 

 relates two cases of negroes being killed by cougars. 



The cougar was the aggressor in the story quoted 

 above where the animal is said to have struck a 

 barbed fence, but, as Mr. Hornaday says: "The cougar 

 is less to be dreaded than a savage dog." The most 

 important thing for the sportsman to remember is that 

 he cannot expect to get these cats without dogs. Of 

 course, one might stumble on one now and then, as I 

 did, but it would be useless to go out and try for them 

 without the dogs. On this point Roosevelt says : " No 

 animal, not even the wolf, is so rarely seen or so diffi- 

 cult to get without dogs. On the other hand, no other 

 wild beast of its size and power, is so easy to kill by 

 the aid of dogs. Without dogs it is usually a mere 

 chance that one is killed." 



Mr. Goff, the owner of the pack which Roosevelt 

 followed, who lives in the cougar country and has killed 

 some 300 cougars, has killed only two without the dogs. 

 Goff never but once was charged by a cougar, and on 

 that occasion it was promptly killed by a bullet. The 

 cougar will, however, often kill or maim some of the 

 hounds if they are permitted to fight him. 



