PANTHERS, AND OUR OTHER CATS. 415 



wild cat or panther. The hair "roughs," as the hunters 

 term it, that is, stands on end over the back and tail ; and 

 their cry becomes a sort of eager growl. The drivers 

 understand these signs well, and when beating for deer or 

 fox they immediately call the dogs off the dangerous scent. 



As a hunter, the bay lynx exhibits a good deal of cunning 

 and sagacity quite as much, it would appear, as Reynard 

 himself. Dr. Bachman gives some curious relations upon 

 this head. One incident, which occurred at the plantation 

 of Dr. Desel, in South Carolina, is worth giving. It seems 

 that "the drove of geese were nightly lodged near the 

 house in an enclosure which was rendered apparently safe 

 by a very high fence. As an additional security, several 

 watch dogs were let loose about the premises; besides, an 

 excellent pack of hounds, which, by an occasional bark or 

 howl during the night, sounded the alarm in case any 

 marauder, whether biped or quadruped, approached. Not- 

 withstanding these precautions, a goose disappeared almost 

 every night, and no trace of the ingress or egress of the 

 robber could be discovered. Slow in attaching suspicion to 

 to his servants, the Doctor waited for time and watchfulness 

 to solve the mystery. At length, the feathers and other 

 remains of his geese were discovered in a marsh, about a 

 quarter of a mile from the house, and strong suspicion was 

 fastened on the wild cat ! Still, as he came at odd hours 

 of the night, all attempts to kill or shoot him proved, for a 

 time, unavailing. One morning, however, he came about 

 daylight, and having captured a good fat goose, was traced 

 by the keen noses of the hounds." 



The hounds tracked him up, and he was finally shot ; but 

 his subtle in-goings and out-comings sound to us very like 

 the German stories of the witch or weir-wolf. It was surely 

 ticklish walking, though his toes be padded, for the wary 

 plunderer amid so many foes. But his astuteness and 

 dexterity are quite as remarkable in those wild wood forays, 



