THE WILD CAT OF MUSKOKA 193 



is like the kangaroo ! For a long time the 

 cougar was thought to be a lion ; the lioness 

 having something the same colour, and but little 

 mane. I have often heard this beast described as 

 an American lion. 



During the winter of 1890 and 1891 I spent 

 some time at the Indian River Hotel and also at 

 Lake Worth. On two occasions I saw the cougar. 

 The first time I disturbed him finishing a meal 

 of racoon, and when he saw me he bounded away 

 in such confusion and terror that his gestures 

 were absolutely ridiculous. My second adventure 

 was about five miles south of the hotel, near some 

 swampy land where I was on the watch for an 

 alligator. This brute must have been a male and 

 of a different metal. He did not show fight, but 

 sulkily sneaked off. I had only a shot-gun, and 

 remembering my experience in Muskoka I 

 decided I would not fire unless at a dozen yards. 

 I therefore followed the cougar for some miles. 

 He never changed his gait unless I hit him with 

 a stone, then he would rush away for some forty 

 or fifty yards and stop, turning his fierce face 

 toward me. The country he led me through 

 abounded with rattlesnakes, and after treading 

 accidentally upon one and feeling his slimy head 



13 



