630 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



animal is still to be found in numbers. They go abroad 

 during the day as well as the night, but most often dur- 

 ing the latter; when hunting their prey they pass, like 

 all cats, noiselessly and stealthily through the timber 

 and the undergrowth. When not engaged in searching 

 for food, they take great pleasure in stretching them- 

 selves out. sometimes in the shade, but mostly in the 

 direct ravs of 

 the sun, choos- 

 ing either some 

 ledge of rock 

 or a conveni- 

 ent limb in a 

 tree. They kill 

 many deer as 

 well as other 

 animals, and 

 sometimes 

 even make the 

 u n f o r tunate 

 mistake of 

 tackling a por- 

 c u p i n e, the 

 (juills of which 

 upon getting 

 into the mouth 

 parts and 

 throat, may re- 

 sult in their 

 death. 



The voice of 

 the cougar va- 

 ries with the 

 nature of the 

 circumstanc e s 

 under which it 

 is u t t e r e d. 

 When being 

 mauled by a 

 pack of dog.s 

 it gives vent to 

 all those 

 squalls, hisses 

 and howls 

 common to all 

 cats, both big 

 and little, when 

 being bad- 

 gered. When 

 hunting at 

 night it some- 

 times gives 

 vent to a ter- 

 rific scream 

 that may be heard for a long distance. 



Colonel Roosevelt in hunting cougars had at least two 

 hair-raising close calls, that tried even his niarvelously 

 steady nerves in stress and danger. He said "never to 

 move in attacking a panther, who knows he is being pur- 



THK MOUNTAIN LION 



Next to the jaguar this is the most powerful of the feline kin in America. It has a number 

 of common names, such as puma, cougar, painter and panther. The mountain lion formerly 

 ranged throughouf eastern North America, but is now extinct in that section. It is, how- 

 ever, occasionally found in Florida. 



sued, until you are sure of the location of yoiu* game. 

 No animal realizes sooner that he is being hunted than 

 the panther, and the instant he does know it his wari- 

 ness, cunning and native ferocity will appear to a won- 

 derful degree. He never hunts for a fight, and will al- 

 ways avoid one if possible; but when he realizes that 

 'fight it is,' he follows the advice of a very skilful pugi- 

 list, who said 

 to his pupils : 

 'if possible, al- 

 ways get in the 

 li r s t blow.' 

 And that first 

 attack will be 

 delivered with 

 ;i savage rush 

 into the midst 

 of your pack 

 of dogs, and 

 a killing right 

 and left." 



According to 

 Colonel Roose- 

 velt, in Colo- 

 rado the cou- 

 gars may drop 

 their young at 

 almost any 

 time between 

 January a n d 

 June, and the 

 females far 

 outnumber the 

 males. Three 

 kittens is the 

 usual number 

 at a birth. 



Some thirty 

 odd years ago 

 Mr. John Mor- 

 timer Murphy 

 related for us 

 a good story 

 about cougars, 

 or pumas, as 

 he styled them. 

 He referred to 

 the cougar of 

 I"" 1 o r i d a, in 

 which State he 

 says the ani- 

 mal is not sys- 

 t e m a t i c ally 

 'pursued, al- 

 though the heavily-wooded country affords excellent op- 

 portunities for indulging in it. The majority of hunters 

 are more afraid of this powerful cat thin of a bear, and 

 seldom molest it unless they have every advantage. It 

 is exceedingly destructive to stock, especially sheep. 



