434 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



feeding on game, because it is a carnivore/but how can we be friendly 

 toward an animal' that can neither be seen nor heard? As far as'the 

 Yellowstone ' Park is: concerned, some people ardently interested in 

 wild life may feelthat the cougar might well be dispensed with, as 

 this is a region where he cannot actually be observed under natural 

 conditions. ' But his ; tracks at least may be seen occasionally in the 

 snows, of winter, and while there are ordinarily no great thrills to 

 be gotten out of observing spoor, the mere fact that such a great 

 beast, the largest of our cats .aiid self -suificient- in the' face of all 

 man's hunting arts, exists unseen in our Parks, adds a glamour that 

 pleases the imagination of all who love to camp or follow the wilder- 

 ness trails. A few cougars still exist in Yellowstone Tark and their 

 a'bsolute extermination may perhaps never be permitted ; nor need 

 this be regretted, for we do not yet know how valuable to' science 

 and interesting to the public any species of wild animal may prove 

 to be. And as any form of wild life once extirpated can never 

 be brought back, we should not deliberately press a campaign of 

 utter extermination. 



There is at least one place in the United States where the cougar 

 should be treated as a sporting animal and not poisoned as "vermin." 

 On the rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona he is hunted success- 

 fully with hounds by sportsmen. The cougar in that region furnishes 

 some of the grandest thrills to be had in the hunting field in America. 

 He, himself, is never dangerous, but following him on the rim of 

 those dizzy cliffs which mark the mile-deep canyon requires courage 

 and steady nerves. The cougar often takes refuge below the rim of 

 the canyon and the sportsmen who follow him must dismount and 

 descend the cliffs on foot and rout him out of his hiding place. Such 

 hunts take place amid the grandest canyon scenery in the world and 

 on a pine-forested plateau ranging from 6000 to 9000 feet in altitude. 



Mule deer are abundant in the forest bordering the canyon, and 

 the cougars seem by no means able to make any diminution in their 

 rapidlv increasing numbers. Sportsmen would be glad to see the 

 Government desist from attempting wholesale destruction of the 

 cougars and save them for the chase. Many come annually to hunt 

 mountain lions in this wonderful region of canyons. Resident guides 

 like Jim Owen, who piloted Colonel Roosevelt to the lairs of the 

 cougars on several of the Colonel's hunts, have trained hounds for 

 the purpose of assisting and encouraging such sport. AA'hy should 

 the Government spend its money in destroying a noble sport by 

 exterminating an animal that is economicallv harmless in a region 

 like the Grand Canyon where stock raising is not now i)ermitted 



