188 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



lar, around the old Alazan Creek, 

 in the dense chapai-ral and along 

 the ravines of the Leona, and also 

 in various other favored jungle 

 districts around our present met- 

 ropolis. 



Being night niMT-auders, these 

 wildcats had done a great deal of 

 harm to poultry and birds; and 



ing trip in the jungles, the wild- 

 cat, similar to most other wild 

 beasts, hardly ever shows fight 

 direct, unless there may be some 

 interfering hunting dog; when 

 Mr. and Mrs. Bobcat surely will 

 fight. When thus disturbed, or 

 wounded in their lairs, or hemmed 

 in by dogs, the wildcat then be- 



Pet Wild Cat Owned by Mr. Ed. Beere 



the increased attention of late 

 years to the preservation of game, 

 has caused their exfinetion around 

 all inhabited places; but the cun- 

 ning wildcat is still there in vari- 

 ous remote districts, and it may be 

 quite a long time before the last of 

 its race is entirelv extinguished. 

 When met with during a hunt- 



comes a most ferocious beast — 

 every hair on its body, like a.mad 

 boar, bristles with rage, and, like 

 an enraged tiger, it will spring 

 at its foes and claw or bite des- 

 perately. 



Occasionally in the woods, jun- 

 gles, caverns and ravines, or a 

 hollow tree, where these animals 



