TEXAS NATUEE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 261 



object to shooting these long-eared 

 and injurious field marauders 

 and often haa the writer been 

 urged to hunt them at a 

 certain large pasture along the 

 picturesque Olmos Valley settle- 

 ment, where in former years, lots 

 of plover and some curlew, doves, 

 quail and squirrels abounded in 

 large numbers, as well as the dread- 

 ed crotalus horridus, in the re- 

 mote brushy hills and the old- 

 time pasture fences. 



Lately, during a trip to those 

 regions, at the request of a farmer 

 "to shoot as many of the 'mule- 



bed ''his long-eared master of the 

 prairie-plains" by the neck, lifted 

 it up, and dragged it away beyond 

 the woodpile. Then the other 

 growling cat tackled the heavy 

 rabbit; and in these positions the 

 enclosed illustrations were quickly 

 taken by the writer. 



The rabbits were so heavy, it 

 took all the strength of the 13- 

 year old child of the farmer (seen 

 in rear of one of the photos) to 

 lift it up, and it was a queer sight 

 to behold, how the large and growl- 

 ing, black tomcat, with uplifted 

 right foot and big yellow and 



Large Black Tom Cat With Uplifted Paw Defying Its Growling Antagonist 

 To Tackle The Game On The Ground 



ear rabbits as possibly we could," 

 was duly complied with, and in 

 a very short time, five of them were 

 "rolled over," or "in.s Gaars ge- 

 bissen," as the German nimrods ex- 

 press it. 



Packing the best one to camp, 

 the others were taken to the far- 

 mer's house for disposal (in some 

 way) and whilst talking "town 

 topics" to the farmer, we were 

 surprised to see two of the far- 

 mer's big tomcats getting away 

 with one of the long-eared prairie- 

 trotters, in front some woodpiles; 

 i. e. first one of the two cats grab- 



glittering eyes, first tackled the 

 long-eared lepus and afterward the 

 other, panther-like, sneaking and 

 growling cat managed to snatch it 

 away. The first photo-view shows 

 the cat in the act of lifting the 

 rabbit up, which it carried a great 

 distance away for its meal, in 

 company, later, with the farm dogs. 

 These large tomcats are unusually 

 strong and of attractive appear- 

 ance, and the farmer told us that 

 besides hundreds of prairie rats 

 and mice, they also cleared the 

 farm of ground squirrels and other 

 night marauding animals. 



