THE COT^GAR. 407 



creatures they are, spotted, and sometimes striped like the 

 turquoise-shell cat. The den they are born in is usually a 

 cave in the rock on the mountain-side, or a hollow tree in 

 some dense thicket. The Cougar is a very affectionate 

 mother, and will fight to the death in defense of her young. 



The Cougar is stated by naturalists to be a nocturnal 

 animal, but in this they are .also mistaken. He may be 

 nocturnal in a measure, but he is also diurnal, and seeks 

 his prey by day as well as night, as many a poor rancher 

 can testify, through losses of colts, sheep, calves, and cattle, 

 day-victims to this greedy marauder. Neither is it the 

 cowardly animal that the above-named gentlemen term it, 

 but it will fight boldly in defense of its young or its prey. 

 In another place I will relate several instances where it has 

 attacked people in daylight, and, on the other hand, I have 

 never known it to attack a person at night. 



The food of the Cougar consists of Deer, Elk, sheep, 

 hogs, birds, snails, fish, rabbits, rats, and mice. He is 

 very destructive, often killing, apparently, for the mere 

 delight of destroying. While I write this, my feet rest on 

 the skin of a Cougar that killed nineteen sheei) the morn- 

 ing that his skin became mine. The Bear delights to feast 

 from the quivering flesh of its living i)rey, while tlie Cou- 

 gar will not begin its meal until its victim is dead, and that 

 death is usually instantaneous. A flash of lightning could 

 not be more sudden in its work than is the leap of Felts 

 concolor. A swoop of that great, muscular paw, and if the 

 victim's neck is not broken, the white, glistening, ivory 

 fangs cut through the neck and sever the spinal cord. But 

 there are exceptions to this method, as in the case of fawns 

 and children These the Cougar seizes and carries away as 

 a cat does a mouse. But the favorite food of the Cougar 

 appears to be liorse-flesh, and the younger the colt, the more 

 to his taste. If the mare fight in defense of her colt, she 

 will also become a victim, for the Cougar is a determined 

 brute, and only interference on the part of some powerful 

 enemy will divert him from his prey. I have known a 

 Cougar to kill a good-sized Indian pony and its colt, and 



