MAMMALS DANGEROUS TO HUMAN BEINGS IC>3 



killed. They stopped construction for three weeks, the workmen having 

 fled from the scene in dismay. The two "devoured between them no less 

 than twenty-eight Indian coolies, in addition to scores of unfortunate 

 African natives of whom no official record was kept." 5 



The large mammals of North America are not ordinarily dangerous, 

 and seldom is anyone injured except by a wounded individual or one 

 that considers itself or its young in danger. However, as there are not 

 wholly wanting rare instances of apparently unprovoked attacks, it is 

 not safe to depend upon that general rule. There is considerable indi- 

 viduality in four-footed mammals, just as there is among men and 

 women. Furthermore, they may sometimes imagine they are being 

 attacked when they are not in any danger. Extreme hunger also may 

 impel them to attack people. 



It is very seldom that mountain lions have been known to attack 

 human beings except when they were being pursued, 6 but there is at 

 least one recent instance of one of these great cats killing a boy in 

 eastern Washington, apparently without the slightest provocation, 

 springing upon him unaware. 7 Concerning this case Bryant says: 

 'Those seeking dependable information have sought authentic instances 

 of the killing of human beings by mountain lions, with largely negative 

 results. This is apparently one of the first instances to be recorded of 

 an attack of this kind. This report should not lead people to believe 

 that the mountain lion is a dangerous animal. It should be remembered 

 that the common domestic dog claims many more victims annually than 

 mountain lions, and one of the safest places to live is in mountain dis- 

 tricts where mountain lions are abundant." 8 This is largely true, and 

 yet the fact that such a thing did occur is sufficient evidence that such 

 a powerful beast must not be considered harmless, especially to chil- 

 dren. There is another report of the killing of a seven-year-old boy in 

 California by a mountain lion. In another California case, a lion at- 

 tacked and badly wounded a boy, as well as a girl who rushed to his 

 rescue, and it was killed by a man who rushed to the scene with a rifle. 

 Both victims died, the girl with a clear case of hydrophobia and the boy 

 probably from the same cause. 9 It is well known that for years there has 



"Patterson, The lions that stopped a railroad, World's Work, Nov., 1908, and 

 Jan., 1909, pp. 10895-10906, 11147-11158. 



* Howell, N. Amer. Fauna, No. 45, p. 42, 1921. Roosevelt, With the cougar 

 hounds, Scribner's Magazine, xxx, 431-432, 1921. 



7 Finley, Journ. Mammalogy, vi, 197-199, 1925. 



8 Bryant, California Fish and Game, vi, 89-90, 1925. 



9 Morgan Hill Times, July 9, 1909. Storer, California Fish and Game, ix, 45- 

 48, 1923. 



