296 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Foxes feed ; and during the whole of the winter these animals are 

 abundantly supplied with geese, brant and ducks, which, on being 

 wounded by the gunners, either die or are caught by the Foxes. They 

 likewise lie in ambush on the margins of the fresh water ponds, 

 where the ducks come to drink and feed at night, and destroy num- 

 bers. 



The Couguar or Panther inhabits Canada and Florida, and is some- 

 times seen in the states bordering on the lakes, and the Mississippi. 

 It has become a rare animal. Pennant observes that " it is the most 

 pernicious animal of North America. It lives in forests. Sometimes 

 purrs, at other times makes a great howling. Is extremely destruc- 

 tive to domestic animals, particularly to hogs. It preys also upon the 

 Moose and other Deer; falling on them from the tree it lurks in. It 

 will feed even on beasts of prey. I have seen the skin of one which 

 was shot just as it had killed a wolf."* 



The Lynx has pale yellow eyes; erect ears, tufted with long black 

 hair; its body is covered with soft and long fur, of a cinereous colour, 

 tinged with tawny, and marked with dusky spots, more or less visible 

 in different subjects, dependent on the age, or season in which the 

 animal is killed ; the legs are strong and thick; the claws large. This 

 animal is about three times the size of a domestic Cat; the tail is only 

 ,four inches long, tipt with black. 



The Lynx inhabits the great forests of North America. It is called 

 in Canada le Chat, ou le Lou/i-cervier, on account of its being so de- 

 structive to the deer. The English inhabitants call it the Wild Cat. 

 It is very destructive to their young pigs, poultry, and all kinds of 

 game. The skins are in high esteem for the softness and warmness 

 of the fur; and great numbers are annually imported into Europe. t 



Of that species of the Feline race, named Catamount, we have so 

 imperfect an account, that nothing conclusive or satisfactory can be 

 given. The animal described by Pennant under the name of the Moun- 

 tain Lynx, he supposed was the Cat-a-mountain of Lawson. Its length 

 from the nose to the tail was two feet and a half. But in Morse's 

 Geography an account is given of an animal, which is there named 

 Catamount, which is said to have been killed in New Hampshire, and 

 measured as follows : the length of its body, including the head, six 

 feet ; circumference of the body two feet, six inches ; length of its tail 

 three feet, and of its legs about one foot. The colour along its back 

 was nearly black ; of its sides, dark reddish brown; its feet were 

 black. 



Pike speaks of having seen an animal resembling the Panther, 

 though considerably larger. Is this the Brown Tiger? 



Skunk. This justly abhorred, and universally dreaded animal is 

 found over the chief part of North America. Its ears are small and 

 rounded; its general colour is black, marked with lines of yellowish 

 white; its tail is bushy and long. 



Nature has provided the Skunk with a singular, and very effica- 

 cious means of defence. On being irritated or attacked, it emits from 

 behind a fluid of so intolerably suffocating and fetid a nature, that the 

 boldest assailant will find himself compelled to a precipitate retreat. 

 Should the smallest drop of this liquid fall on one's clothes, no wash- 

 ing will remove the scent; in order to be purified they must be bu- 

 ried in the ground for several days. The stench of the Skunk may 



* Arctic Zoology, art. Puma. f Pennant, Arc. Zool. 



