272 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



lions in California Avould therefore be 345 kittens per year. Death 

 from natural causes plus the toll taken by bounty hunters (wliich has 

 averaged 326 per year over a long period) together with observed facts 

 would indicate that the number of mountain lions in California is 

 gradually being reduced. 



The mountain lion or cougar is, in my estimation, the most impor- 

 tant natural enemy of deer in California. In one lot of 43 cougar 

 stomachs from all sections of California, 34, or 80 per cent, contained 

 remains of deer. Since the mountain lion in a natural state rarely if 

 ever eats carrion, practically all the deer meat and hair found in a 

 lion's stomach may be safely assumed to have been killed. 



If we accept 50 deer per year as the usual kill of the average adult 

 mountain lion, we find that this would about equal the number of deer 

 killed annually by the licensed hunters of California. 



Fig. 104. Remains of a California mule deer killed by a mountain lion and 

 the carcas.s later cleaned up by a coyote. Pilot Ridge, Mariposa County, January 

 15, 1921. Mus. Vert. Zool. No. 3429. 



WILDCAT 



AVildcats are known to kill deer in winter in deep snow. Out of 

 71 Avildcat stomachs that I have examined, from deer country in Cali- 

 fornia, only two contained remains of deer. Out of 186 wildcat stom- 

 achs from 62 localities in California, field examinations showed that 16 

 contained deer remains. As has been related in this paper in the sec- 

 tion, "Extent and causes of seasonal migration," an actual attempt of 

 a wildcat to kill a grown California mule deer doe was witnessed by Sam 

 Cookson and Joe Gann in Yosemite on February 2, 1932. 



During my study, which has extended over many years, I have 

 failed to find evidence to substantiate the general belief that wildcats 

 kill large numbers of j^oung mule deer fawns. 



