192 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
to conditions; and these exact extreme cau- 
tion. 
The mountain lion may be called sagacious 
rather than audacious. Settlers in his territory 
are aware of his presence through his hogging 
the wild game and his occasional or frequent 
killing of colts, horses, cattle, sheep, and chickens. 
But so seldom is he seen, or even heard, that, 
were it not for his tracks and the deadly evi- 
dence of his presence, his existence could not 
be believed. 
Though I have camped in his territory for 
weeks at a time, and ofttimes made special 
efforts to see him, the number of lions I have seen 
—except, of course, those treed by dogs—is small. 
When a mountain lion is frightened, or when 
pursued by dogs, he is pretty certain to take 
refuge in a tree. This may be a small tree or 
a large one. He may be out on a large limb 
or up in the top of the tree. 
The lion is a fair runner and:a good swimmer. 
Often he has been known to swim across lakes, 
or even arms of the sea, more than a mile wide. 
And he is an excellent tree climber, and often uses 
a living tree or a dead leaning one as a thorough- 
fare—as a part of his trail system on a steep 
mountain side. Twice I have seen him on a 
near-by limb at night watching me or my fire. 
Once I woke in the night and saw a lion upon 
