408 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



drag them across a meadow and oyer a high fence into the 

 adjoining woods. This seems almost incredible; but many- 

 instances are on record, attested by indisputable evidence, 

 showing equally great feats of their strength. 



I was a witness of a battle between a Jersey cow and a 

 Cougar, in which, however, the cow held her own. When I 

 first occupied my ranch on the Sumas, in 1877, the country 

 was a wilderness, there being only five inhabitants in the 

 township. I was the possessor of five Jersey cows, and 

 one after the other fell victims to what I supposed were 

 Grizzly Bears, until only one was left. At last she disap- 

 peared, and I searched the woods far and near for two days, 

 but could find no trace of her. Early on the third morning 

 I was awakened by a loud bellowing, such as the cow only 

 makes when in extreme terror or distress. Hastily dress- 

 ing, I seized my rifle and ran up the hill into the fir grove 

 from whence the sounds came. Entering the grove, my 

 attention was at once attracted to a large Cougar, which was 

 slowly walking around the bellowing cow. She was backed 

 up against a large log, and a calf, apparently a day old, 

 was lying almost under the log, directly behind the cow. 

 Knowing that the Cougar could not escape me, I became 

 an interested spectator of the fight. Whenever the Cougar 

 approached too near, the cow, with a fearful bellow, would 

 charge the Cougar, which in turn would avoid her sharp 

 horns, and strike a heavy blow at her neck with his paw, 

 which the cow would dodge as quickly as it was given. I 

 could see that the Cougar intended to draw the cow away 

 some distance, and then rush up and seize the calf; but 

 the cow appeared to be aware of this design, as she would 

 only chase the brute a short distance, then return and take 

 her "position over her calf. At last the Cougar seemed 

 determined to end the battle. Walking to a convenient 

 distance for a spring, he crouched in front of the cow, but 

 as he was about to rise in the air, a Winchester bullet 

 entered his brain, and he fell, writhing in the throes of 

 death. The cow made a rush, planted her horns in the 



