i 912 ] Swarth: Birds and Mammals from Vancouver Island 97 



the wilder parts of Vancouver Island, and frequently seen near 

 many of the smaller towns also. Everywhere we went we heard 

 accounts of panthers seen nearby, but none was encountered by 

 any member of our party. They are shy and secretive, of course, 

 and in the dense growths of ferns and other underbrush that 

 obscure everything during the summer months, are easily able to 

 avoid observation. 



A good specimen, skin and skull, of an adult male I no. 

 12449) shot in the vicinity of Parksville on April 24, was pur- 

 chased from the man who killed it. In the Beaver Creek Valley, 

 near Alberni, they are evidently abundant, as one farmer resid- 

 ing a few miles from where we camped bad killed thirteen 

 during the previous winter. He shot two more during the 

 month we were there, but we were unable to obtain either of 

 them from him. He had two good dogs, by which the panthers 

 were all treed, and held at bay until the hunter 'arrived. The 

 dogs were apparently very small for such work, one of them 

 about the size of a fox terrier, and the other somewhat larger, 

 and it seems curious that an animal the size of a panther should 

 run from such small assailants, the more so as they have the 

 reputation of preferring dog meat to almost anything else as a 

 diet, and are said to carry dogs away from the ranches fre- 

 quently. The panthers probably fear the man, who they realize 

 is apt to be near at hand, more than they do the dogs, but it 

 may be that the fearless and noisy onslaught of the latter is also 

 not without its demoralizing effect on animals that prefer to 

 hunt in the dark and in absolute quiet. 



At Beaver Creek a panther got into a beaver trap one night, 

 but broke the chain by which it wa.s fastened and went off with 

 the trap. Fresh sign was seen several times in the vicinity of 

 the Golden Eagle Basin and on the China Creek road, between 

 that point and Alberni. I saw several skins in the store at 

 Friendly Cove and was told that many were killed about Nootka 

 Sound during the winter months. I obtained four skulls here 

 (nos. 12450-12453), two at Friendly Cove and two at the Tahsis 

 Canal. 



The specimen secured at Parksville was iu good condition, 

 and, according to the man who shot it, with a thick covering of 



