THE MOUNTAIN LION, OCELOTS, LYNXES AND THEIR KIN 



BY R. W. SHUFELDT 



T N the United States we have a number of very hand- 

 -* some representatives of the Felines, the Jaguar, the 

 Ocelot, the Cougar, Lynxes and so on. Most of them have 

 been so hunted and persecuted by man that they are all 

 near the point of extinction, in fact, in most parts of 

 the eastern United States such forms as the Cougar have 

 been completely exterminated. No example of that ani- 

 mal has been seen or shot within the New England 

 States for a period of over fifty years. 



Of the many sketches and life histories of the Moun- 

 tain Lion that have appeared in print in the way of 



the species, not one in ten of the old hunters of that re- 

 gion would know what animal was meant. Doubtless 

 Puma and Panther would stand in a similar case in still 

 other districts. Cougar, however, is probably the name" 

 by which the species is most generally known. 



Owing to man's incessant persecution and destruction 

 of all the larger Felidac in all parts of the world, they 

 have become, to a greater or less degree, great cowards, 

 and to this state the cougar forms no exception. So far 

 as the animal is concerned, its attacks upon man have been 

 matters of bitter experience to it, and the species has come 



MALE OCELOTS AT PLAY 



These handsome animals of the cat tribe are found throughout South America, northward through Mexico, from which coun- 

 try the animal occasionally passes into Texas and southern Louisiana. It is one of the most striking representatives of the 

 family to which it belongs. 



magazine articles and works on natural history, one of 

 the fullest, most accurate and interesting ones is from 

 the pen of that great hunter, Theodore Roosevelt. 

 Up to the time of his lamented death, Colonel Roose- 

 velt had hunted and killed more Cougars than any man 

 of his time, and it is worth anyone's while to read what 

 he has published about them. 



Any one of the various names given to the animal in 

 its application will depend upon the part of the country 

 where it occurs. Years ago, when the writer hunted 

 through the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming, and in 

 the Dakotas, this famous cat was generally known as 

 the Mountain Lion, and to apply the name of Painter to 



to learn, in time, that it would either lose its life or it 

 would be painfully wounded. At the same time, the 

 latent spirit of its kind will occasionally be aroused, and 

 when driven into a tight corner, a cougar will exhibit 

 considerable bravery. When driven to it, an old male 

 will promptly engage a number of tracking dogs turned 

 loose upon him, and plenty of instances are on record 

 where he has not only successfully held them at bay, but 

 often killed one or more of the most powerful of the 

 pack. 



Horses and grown cattle have often been slain by 

 cougars, and such instances are probably by no means 

 at an end in the wilder parts of the country where the 



