382 AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



hanging on with his front paws, but was tearing away 

 with his hind claws so that the deer's hair appeared to 

 fill the air. As soon as Jackson appeared the panther 

 left the deer. He shot it, and the doe galloped off, 

 apparently without serious injury. 



I wish those who see cougars kill game, or who come 

 on game that they have killed, would study and record 

 the exact method employed in killing. Mr. Hornaday 

 sent me a photograph of a cougar killing a goat, which 

 he had seized high up on the back of the neck in his 

 jaws, not using his claws at all. I once found where one 

 had killed a big buck by seizing him by the throat; the 

 claws also having evidently been used to hold the buck 

 in the struggle. Another time I found a colt which had 

 been killed by a bite in the neck; and yet another time a 

 young doe which had been killed by a bite in the head. 

 In most cases where I came across the carcasses of deer 

 which had been killed by cougars they had been partially 

 eaten, and it was not possible to find out exactly how 

 they had been slain. In one instance at least the neck 

 had been broken, evidently in the struggle; but I could 

 not tell whether this had been done designedly, by the 

 use of the forepaws. Twice hunters I have known saw 

 cougars seize mountain sheep, in each case by the throat. 

 The information furnished me inclines me to believe that 

 most game is killed by cougars in this fashion. Most of 

 the carcasses of elk which had been killed by cougars 

 that I have examined showed fang marks round the 

 throat and neck; but one certainly did not, though it is 

 possible in this case that the elk died in some other way, 



