MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 133 



Indians only received half this sum. A non-preying young wolf or panther 

 was only worth half as much bounty as an adult. Lee. 



After the " Union of East and West Jersey," in 1702, the legislature passed 

 a law (1709) for the destruction of these animals. In 1730, the bounty on 

 wolves was made 20 shillings and on panthers 15 shillings, whelps 5 shillings. 

 This was soon increased to 60 shillings for adult wolves and 10 shillings for 

 whelps. The panther nuisance had undoubtedly greatly abated by that date- 

 Lee. 



Habits, etc. The following may be given as an epitome of the habits of an 

 animal never understood by the masses and concerning which so much has 

 been published of a fictitious character. The recent account of the Cougars 

 of Colorado, published in " Scribner's Magazine" (1901), by Theodore 

 Roosevelt, is one of the best from the standpoint of the hunter, and in some 

 respects, from that of the naturalist. He, however, minimizes too greatly the 

 ferocity of the beast on certain occasions, and seems to be unduly skeptical 

 as to their making an occasional unprovoked attack on man and their habit 

 of leaping from trees, rocks, logs or other vantage-points where they have laid 

 in wait for game. These habits of the animal have been testified of by ob- 

 servers whose competent judgment, experience and veracity are as much to 

 be relied upon as that of those who in these latter days are so ready to dis- 

 prove the statements of their ancestors in the chase, the laboratory and the 

 field of literature. 



The character of the cougar is eminently cowardly, sneaking, thievish, but 

 often courageous when with young. When starved, it is emboldened to fol- 

 low and (very rarely) attack a man. It may be fenced off when wounded by 

 the courageous use of a stick or gun barrel, but sometimes leaps upon its 

 assailant. It never seems to realize its power of offense or defense, and a 

 well-trained cur will inspire it with terror and quickly tree it. 



It hunts by lying in wait, prowling and stalking. The larger game, as deer, 

 are approached until within 15 or 20 yards and then overtaken by a succes- 

 sion of quick bounds, sometimes clearing 20 to 30 feet at a leap, springing on 

 the back, clasping the neck and shoulders, and biting the neck until the ani- 

 mal falls. Smaller animals are struck down by the paw and throttled. It 

 drags its prey when unable to carry it clear of the ground in its mouth, hiding 

 it after the first meal and returning nightly to it for food. Sometimes, when 

 game is plenty, they kill and suck the blood of several without eating the 

 carcass. Their favorite food is the deer, but they kill heifers, colts, calves, 

 sheep, hogs, larger game, birds, fish, porcupines, skunks, opossums, in fact 

 any animal large enough to claim attention. Their favorite haunts are in 

 mountains where rock caverns and ledges abound, but all primeval situations 

 afford them the requirements of a habitat. They do not hibernate. The 

 young, born in March, are laid in a bed of leaves in a cavern or hollow log, 



