34 



MAMMALIA. 



times for weeks, before overtakincf him, and could never ofct him 

 were it not for the fact that he remains near the spot where he kills 

 a deer till it is eaten. When the hunter has followed a Panther for 

 days, and has, perhaps, nearly come up with him, a heavy snow-storm 

 often sets in and obliterates all sicrns of the track. He is then obli<^ed 

 to make wide detours to ascertain in which direction the animal has 

 gone. On these long and tiresome snow-shoe tramps he is of course 

 obliged to sleep, without shelter, wherever night overtakes him. 

 The heavy walking makes it impossible for him to carry many days' 

 rations, and when his provisions give out he must strike for some 

 camp or settlement for a new supply — this of course consumes valu- 

 able time and enables the Panther to get still farther away. When 

 the beast is finally killed the event is celebrated by a feast, for Pan- 

 ther meat is not only palatable, but is really very fine eating. 



Most mammals are larger at the north than at the south, but with 

 the present species the reverse is true. Individuals from various 

 parts of the south and southwest average considerably larger than 

 those found in the Adirondacks. This is in obedience to the law, 

 clearly defined by Mr. J. A. Allen, that : " The maximum physical 

 development of the individual is attained where the conditions of 

 environment are most favorable to the life of the species." ''' 



In the Adirondacks, it is an uncommonly large Panther that meas- 

 sures eight feet from the end of its nose to the tip of its tail, and an 

 unusually heavy one that weighs a hundred and fifty pounds. Still, 

 on the 1 5th of February, 1877, Mr. Verplanck Colvin, Superintend- 

 ent of the Adirondack Survey, shot a male on Seventh Lake Moun- 

 tain, in Hamilton County, that weighed about two hundred pounds. 

 This is the heaviest Panther concerning which I have been able to 

 procure trustworthy information. It was killed near a deer " yard," 

 and the carcasses of two of its victims were found hard by. Hence 

 it is fair to infer that he had been for some time lurking in this vi- 



♦Rullotin of the U. S. (JeoK Survey, Aug., 1876, Vol. 11, No. 4, ]). 310. 



