THE WILD CAT OF MUSKOKA 207 



I determined to try for deer by lying in wait 

 beside a recently travelled game trail. The spot 

 I chose was a steep, pine-clad slope leading down 

 to a little mountain lake. I hid behind a breast- 

 work of rotten logs, with a few evergreens in 

 front an excellent ambush. A broad game- 

 trail slanted down the hill directly past me. I 

 lay perfectly quiet for about an hour, listening 

 to the murmur of the pine forests, and the 

 occasional call of a jay or woodpecker, and 

 gazing eagerly along the trail in the waning light 

 of the late afternoon. Suddenly, without noise 

 or warning of any kind, a cougar stood in the 

 trail before me. The unlooked-for and unheralded 

 approach of the beast was fairly ghost-like. With 

 its head lower than its shoulders, and its tail 

 twitching, it slouched down the path, treading 

 as softly as a kitten. I waited until it had passed, 

 and then fired into the short ribs, the bullet 

 ranging forward. Throwing its tail up in the 

 air, and giving a bound, the cougar galloped 

 off over a slight ridge. But it did not go far : 

 within a hundred yards I found it stretched on 

 its side, its jaws still working convulsively." 



After studying a dozen writers on the subject, 

 I think I may venture to record the following 



