112 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



of deer and other game combined, for each lion. The dogs are used in 

 pairs, allowing each pair to rest every second day, as a dog uses so much 

 energy in running, baying and wagging his tail during ten or twelve 

 hours of trailing that he needs one day's rest for each day of work. 

 Furthermore, a dog's feet will not stand continuous hunting. 



To be successful, lion hunting must be done intensively. Since a lion 

 does most of his prowling at night, the hunter must leave camp early 

 and travel fast, in order to find a fresh trail and have the most hours 

 of daylight to trail the lion down, as a person can neither travel to 

 advantage in the mountains after dark, nor see tracks when necessary 

 to help the dogs. A lion travels a regular beat over about 100 square 

 miles, usually making his round about every four or five days, so as 

 soon as some part of this beat is learned, the hunter has a clue to 





Fig. 53. Mountain lion scratches. 



work by. Since the dogs can smell only a reasonably fresh track, the 

 hunter can not depend entirely upon their sense of smell to find the 

 trail, but must always watch the ground carefully for any old signs 

 which would indicate the places where a lion hfid been traveling. 



,The signs left by lions are fresh or old kills, dung and tracks, and if 

 a male is traveling a beat the plainest sign will be marks about a quar- 

 ter to a half mile apart along the beat and apparently made by the 

 lion digging with his forepaws in the dead leaves near the base of a 

 tree or in the rotten wood near an old log (see figure 53) . These marks 

 are all alike and can not be mistaken for anything else when once 

 learned; they are made only by the male and are a sure indication to 



