636 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



smaller species of birds. As in the case of the domestic 

 cat, they glory in the pleasure a catnip bed brings them, 

 taking great delight in rolling in the odoriferous plants 

 tintil every part of their pelt smells strongly of them. 

 They will also chew the young green leaves and the 

 blossoms. 



As a rule, a wild cat does not go abroad much in the 

 day time ; but like all its tribe, it prefers to hunt during 

 the early hours of evening or even before sunrise. They 

 "lay off," so to speak, during the middle of the day, re- 

 sorting to some rocky ledge or the big limb of a tree, 

 and do not object to the warm rays of the sun if they 

 chance to shine upon them. This species is not essen- 

 tially a forest animal ; they seem to very much prefer to 

 live upon the hillsides, where the heavy timber has been 

 cleared away and been replaced by a second growth and 

 a tangle of brambles partially concealing loose rocks and 

 fallen logs. Through such places the wild cat goes 

 noiselessly about, ready at any instant to pounce upon 

 a rabbit, a squirrel or game bird that chances its way. 

 Sometimes two wild cats will be seen together, but far 

 oftener only a single one. As in the case of all our 

 Felidae, they occasionally give vent to a most unearthly 

 caterwaul a howl that it is difficult to believe an animal 

 of its size could be capable of producing; and if any 

 of its regular game be in close proximity they will be 

 certain to betray their presence in their fright, where- 

 upon the cat takes advantage of their terror, and either 

 immediately pounces upon the poor, startled creatures, or 

 else cautiously stalks to the point from whence the 

 rustling or noise proceeded. 



Wild cats generally have a hard time of it in the win- 

 ter; but they keep about during the entire season, how- 

 ever cold it may be, in spite of the difficulty to get 

 through deep snows and to surprise and capture their 

 game. Often, up in some big tree, the wild cat will sit 

 for an hour or more, patiently watching a squirrel-hole 

 until its inmate makes its appearance, when, with a 

 lightning stroke the deadly paw will take him in; then 

 follows a pitiful and frightened squeal, and the wily 

 hunter has secured his meal. 



The female generally produces from two to four kit- 

 tens at a birth, dropping them in a nest she has prepared 

 of moss and leaves, in some hollow log or recess in the 

 rocks of convenient size and sufficiently secluded. They 

 do not make good pets, it is said, and any attempt to 

 tame or domesticate the captured old ones is never suc- 

 cessful. 



This species often gets away with the farmer's do- 

 mestic fowls of all kinds, even the turkeys ; they are also 

 fond of eggs, and capture fish when they can, the wild 

 cat being no mean swimmer. A \yriter at hand says : "It 

 will follow flocks of wild turkeys, and, seeing in what 

 direction they are going, will proceed by a short path to 

 their probable destination, where it crouches down, and 

 when one of them comes within its reach it bounds upon 

 it and seizes it." 



Generally, this species is very shy, and will resort to 

 many tricks to elude both dogs and hunters, when hunt- 



ed by them ; and if ever cornered by the former, a wild 

 cat can put up a fine fight. Years ago I knew of a fine 

 setter dog that was killed by one of these cats, the latter 

 having her kittens to defend at the time. 



We may next pass to a brief life history of the 

 Canada Lynx, a larger and heavier animal than the 

 wild cat, and averaging some two inches more in length, 

 the latter exceeding 38 inches. Many of their habits 

 are almost identical, however, such as their methods 

 of hunting, their untamable ferocity and their breeding. 

 Flower remarked that "Various fabulous properties are 

 attributed to the animal, whatever it was, by the an- 

 cients, that of extraordinary powers of vision, including 

 the ability to see through opaque substances, being one ; 

 whence the epithet "lynx-eyed," which has survived to 

 the present day, although having no foundation in fact." 



Stone and Cram, in their "American Animals" (/>. 

 287), introduce this particular cat thus: "The Canada 

 lynx is a savage, flat-faced beast, with enormous muscu- 

 lar legs and paws out of all proportion to the size of its 

 lean body and absurd retrousse tail. Its soft fur of 

 clouded gray is so blended with various shades of pale 

 buff and tawny as to be extremely difficult to distinguish 

 in any light or against almost any background ; even in 

 the cruel publicity of a barred cage it is still indistinct, 

 and one might well fancy the cage empty at a little dis- 

 tance." 



When not alarmed, the Canada lynx prowls about 

 among the underbrush and brambles in a perfectly noise- 

 less and stealthy manner, hunting any mammal or bird 

 that it has the strength and agility to overpower. If 

 frightened or pursued, however, its action is entirely 

 different, for it will make off in elegant leaps or bounds ; 

 and if hunters and dogs push it too hard, it will rush up 

 the first available tree it comes to for safety. One of 

 them will fight a whole pack of hounds for its life, and, 

 everything being equal, will sometimes come out vic- 

 torious. 



As in the case of the Bay lynx, this species is a fair 

 swimmer, and it is remarkable how one of them can, 

 with safety, jump at an unusual height from a tree, and 

 make off upon coming in contact with terra firma; it is 

 said they sometimes capture their prey in this fashion. 

 Owing to the great spread of the feet of this animal, it 

 is able to get over the snow at a wonderful rate, and 

 a hare or a squirrel stands but little show with it for 

 a short distance. 



During the winter when game often becomes very 

 scarce, the Canada lynxes suffer severely from hunger, 

 and at such times they will eat anything that happens to 

 be eatable at all or comes their way. Lean and ravenous 

 they prowl through the woods in the bitter, wintry blasts 

 and heavy snows of the northern regions, once in a while 

 giving vent to one of their blood-curdling yells, ready 

 for anything from a fight to a freeze, but heartily wish- 

 ing all the time for the warmer days of spring to put in 

 an appearance. 



The female breeds once a year, and then brings 

 forth only two or three kittens pretty little fellows, but 

 (Cont'd on page 659) 



