THE WILD CAT OF MUSKOKA 205 



seriously. It is also a dreaded enemy of sheep, 

 pigs, calves, and especially colts, and when pressed 

 by hunger a big male will kill a full-grown horse 

 or cow, moose or wapiti. It is the special enemy 

 of the mountain sheep. In 1886," says the writer, 

 " while hunting wild goats north of Clarke's fork 

 of the Columba, in a region where cougar were 

 common, I found them preying as freely on goats 

 as on deer. It rarely catches antelopes, but is 

 quick to seize rabbits, and other small beasts, 

 and even porcupines. 



" No animal, not even a wolf, is so rarely seen 

 or so difficult to get without dogs. On the other 

 hand, no other beast of its size and power is so 

 easy to kill by the aid of dogs. There are many 

 contradictions in its character. Like the American 

 wolf, it is certainly very much afraid of man ; 

 yet it habitually follows the trail of the hunter 

 or solitary traveller, dogging his footsteps, itself 

 always unseen. When hungry, it will seize and 

 carry off any dog, yet it will sometimes go up a 

 tree when pursued even by a single small dog 

 wholly unable to do it the least harm. It is 

 small wonder that the average frontier settler 

 should grow to regard almost with superstition 

 the great furtive cat which he never sees, but 



