344 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 31, 1S8S. 



space permit it, to notice iu detail the contents of the 



hi in i .limine, 1ml -,w must content ourselves with refer- 

 ring the ornithologist to its pages, assuring him that he will 

 h one of them full of interest. 



•a of the 

 ng I his 

 idityby 



HABITS OF THE PANTHER. 



I WAS much interested, as 1 presume many oilier 

 in the carefully written, and. as I believe, 

 ally accurate account of the cougar, or panther < ffeUfci 

 tiy'Mr. Livingston Stone, in one of the reocnlnuniber 



•i.i r AND Stream. As any information regard 

 rare and formidable animal is usually read with a 

 those at all interested in the last disappearing denizens (if 

 our forests and mountains, T am tempted to add a few items 

 of my own observation upon the habits and characteristics 

 of this great cat, more especially as my experience in one or 

 two minor points differs somewhat from the conclusions of 

 Mr, Stone. 



Seldom found very abundantly in any portion of out 

 country, when compared with other wild animals of equal 

 size, and still more rarely killed, unless by poison, the pan- 

 1 1 1 • r is nevertheless usually the first animal who disappears 

 before the advance of civilization. They are extinct in most 

 localities long before the deer or bears have suffered any 

 serious diminution in numbers. Upon many portions of this 

 i ., ever, panthers are still frequently met with. It 

 has always been a perplexing matter to my mind why the 



pioneers, many of whom were well acquainted with the ani- 

 i 1 1 ii mnd in the Eastern forests, and knowing it there us 

 the cougar or panther, should have straightway set about 

 calling th e game animal which they found here the Califor- 

 nia or mountain lion. Certainly in appearance the two 

 panthers are so nearly alike that no one would dream, upon 

 Comparing them. Of regarding them as distinct species. 



As to their habits, my ignore 

 animal prevents me from "com 

 for. Only upon one point 1 e.i 

 as my knowledge extends, ant 



many old hunters and trappers 

 with them. The panthei of if 



for his own entertainment, in those tieicc. eat-like screams 

 with which his Eastern brother occasionally makes the 

 night hideous when hungry or lonely. I have heard their 

 savage yell as tar nest as the Raton Mountains on the Santa 

 l'Y tr.iil. but although I have hunted and camped for weeks 

 and months at a time all through the Sierra Nevada roast 



:'i I i i tde ranges, from Washington TVrriioryand Oregon 

 in the north to the Mexican line of San Diego "in the south, 

 in many parts of Which the panthers were so abundant that, 

 n trades could be seen daily. I have always lis- 

 tened in vain there for their characteristic cry. 



The more I learned of them in their native haunts the 

 more skeptical I became in regard to their ever willingly 

 al lacking a man. 1 have known them on several occasions 

 to follow persona II short distance, and 1 have seen wolves 

 do the same thing, especially when I have been packing in 

 freshly killed meat, but I do not believe that in either ease 

 they meditated an attack. In one instance, in the Cascades 

 near the Hood, I knew a panther to jump at a man as he lay 

 at night in his blankets, but as soon as the man partly arose 



B of those of the Eastern 

 iring them in that partieu- 



Speitk, and on that, so far 

 dso from the assert ions of 

 vho were perfectly familiar 

 ■ Weal coast never indul. 



and shouted f 

 brush and distt] 

 the conclusion 

 under his blaukt 

 midabie antago 

 vealed to him h 

 stories we read 

 horseback for se 



the 



id. In 



ist, and that wht 



job at 



bounded i 

 ■ver we all 

 en the mat 

 u for some 1 



deception v 



ito thf 



[Ally about their chasin 



I for I hose 

 n man on 



which the writer assures his 

 readers that he only escaped being devoured by being provi- 

 dentially mounted upon the fastest, horse in all that section 

 of the country, they appear so absurd to all hunters acquain- 

 ted with the animal in question that they are looked upon 

 al once as extracts from •'Dashing Dick of tlic Wild West," 

 in the dime novel series. 



That, the panther will run from and tree before the smallest 

 yelping cur that can be induced to follow his trail is true, 

 but 1 am satisfied that instinct in some mysterious manner 

 warns them of the hunter behind the dog, and that it is the 

 killer only which they hold in fear. This T have demon- 

 strated to my own satisfaction, and have had it corroborated 

 also by others. Upon one occasion 1 followed a panther 

 that was being chased by a. settler's ilogin the dense hemlock 

 and spruce forest through which the Claseaniue Hi ver, iu 

 Oregon, runs, and although the plucky little cur treed him 

 ai Least 8 dozen times, 1 did not succeed in obtaining the 

 slightest glimpse of the brute, and after chasing him from 

 early dawn until late in the afternoon through the most fcer- 

 (iflc wilderness of almost, impenetrable thickets, immense 

 fallen trees and giant ferns, I found myself so completely 

 used up that 1 was forced to relinquish the pursuit from sheer 

 fatigue. 



In this instance the panther must have paid but little atten 

 firm to the dog after he treed, but put in the time listening 

 for my approach, and as soon as that, was ascertained he 

 would jump at. once to the ground, continue his flight for 

 perhaps half a mile or more, when he would again take to a 

 tree and the same thing would be repeated. Two or three' 

 tiroes, where the ground was particularly favorable, 1 got 

 near enough to hear him as he left the tree, which he seemed 

 , , , , , ii a as readily as if there had been no dog there. 



nl to their maimer of climbing, they ascend the 



.iiiiii.i e trees near the month of the Columbia, which are 

 frequently 800 feel high, and 00, 80 or even 100 feet to the 

 tirsl limb, prec elj B cat would climb them, and when 

 wounded, will -om.-time-.golo the very lop. In one instance 

 I found in a small glade in the forest. "where from the sign 

 it, was evident that two or more of them had been gamboling 

 and like kittens scurrying around in the grass, and then 

 bounding against the trunk of a tree, at a point at, least ten 

 feet from the ground they had ascended apparently on the 

 run, tearing off great, pieces of bark, and leaving claw marks 

 a foot long on each side. 



Although they may iu some localities spend the day in 



lying upon the limb of a tree, I think they always prefer 



rocky ledges and caverns for that purpose, where such ore 



1 . In Sun Dieco. near the Arizona line, the rugged, 



TOCky ranges furnish admirable retreats for panthers, there 



, ii called mountain lions; ami although not so abun- 

 dant, that arc, I think, more frequently shot than they are 

 further north, for reasons that will soon be explained. Like 

 all of the eat, tribe, they are partial to warmth, and upon 

 days when it is rather cool in the shade, they frequently 

 come out of their lairs in the middle of the day and lie upon 

 the locks near by to bisk and drowse in the warm sun, and 

 as the range,: then- are generally very sparsely timbered, 

 i hey are occasionally discovered by hunters, when the 



chances of getting within shot are better than under almost 

 any oilier circumstances. Hut for all that, they arc animals 

 that are seldom shot, no matter how abundant they may be, 

 and their disappearing, so rapidly before the march of Civili- 

 zation is a mystery that I can only solve hv the conclusion 

 that, being such a lame and entirely carnivorous animal, 

 they are immediately affected by the' least thinning out of 

 the large game, and' are driven by hunger to seek places 

 where the rifle has not begun it's deadly work, unless, as 

 they seem to have done on the McCloud" River, they turn 

 then attention to the stock nf the settler. 



Manv of them are poisoned by the -beep and cattle men of 

 the southern counties When tl-eir visits to the flocks or herds 

 become loo frequent, and I have often seen their hides nailed 

 to the walls of the lonely cabins of the stockmen there, 

 and, upon inquiry, were found to have been poisoned iu 

 al least, three eases oul of four. 



1 entirely agree with Mr. Stone in the belief that a panther 

 would be no match for a grizzly. It is quite possible that 

 their superior agility might sometimes make them more than 

 a match for a black' bear, but, 1 can only conceive of their 

 being able to kill a grizzly by fastening upon him in a posi- 

 tion where the hear was unable to inflict, any injury upon 

 them, as a single, well-directed blow from the paw of" a full- 

 grown grizziy will crush in the ribs of an ox, and would, I 

 fancy, leave but little Sghl in any panther. 



With a single incident to illustrate the idea that it is the 

 hunter and not the dog the panther fears, 1 will close this al- 

 ready lengthy article.' In the summer of 1868 1 was in Port, 

 Camble. on i'uget Sound. A trail leading to Port Madison. 

 eight or ten miles distant, was the only land route open in 

 any direction, and that ran through an unbroken forest the 

 entire distance. One of (he workmen at the saw mill at 

 Gamble was returning along the trail from Madison one 

 afternoon, having with him a favorite little dog, who was 

 trolling along a few yards in advance, when" a panther 

 bounded suddenly from the brush, and, snatching up thcclog, 

 disappeared with the quickness of thought on the other side 

 side of the way. The man stated that it was so quickly 

 don.- rhat he seemed to t'ke the dog without stopping in a 

 flying leap across the trail. Forked Deer. 



Sak Fn.iNcisco, May 15, 



Cakui-Nai, Grosbeak in Locki'Out, N. Y. — While col- 

 lecting specimens last Saturday, my son shot a male cardinal 

 grosbeak and female rose-breasted grosbeak. There is no 

 doubt that the cardinal was ,; wild bird, as it showed no 

 signs of being caged. This is the first I have known to have 

 been taken so far north, and think it is a rare occurrence.—. 

 J. L. D. (Lockport, May 17, 1883.). 



Florida Gaixtni i.f. tn Niagara County.— On May 8 

 my son received a Florida galliuulc to he mounted which 

 w.is shot at Wilson, on Lake Ontario. Is it not unusual for 

 this species io lie found so far north and inland? — 1. I,. I). 

 (Lockport, May 17). [The Florida galliuulc frequently breeds 

 in Central New York. See Forest and Stream. Vol. vii., 

 p. 58; and elsewhere. ]_ 



A Black Eaoi.k.— Richmond, Vn., May 24.— On the 19th 

 inst. there, was shot at Dutch Gap, this State, a splendid 

 specimen of the black eagle, measuring six feet from tip to 

 tip of wing and three feet from beak to tipofta.il. It has 

 been preserved and mounted by W. E. Pnscy. a taxidermist 

 of (his oil y. -J. II. T. 



^mitff $irt ^flickei[ittgs. 



"That reminds me.'" 



iWIMlAT reminds me" of how Mac shot ducks on a little 

 X pond a few miles back of Nyack last fall. Mac and 

 a friend had just got down into the pond when they saw a 

 flock of some five' or six ducks sitting in the bushes a short 

 distance off which appeared to have taken no notice of their 

 boat ft did not take these mighty hunters long to lay their 

 plans for the battle, which were to tire two barrels "on the 

 "sit" and two when they arose. They both fired, but no 

 ducks flew up, but there was a great amount of splashing. 

 Of curse they thought they had knocked the. whole flock 

 out and i law commenced to shoot the cripples. Just as they 

 bad picked up their first two they were startled by loud 

 cries from the batik, and on looking up saw the vision of a 

 six-foot German woman, who was running about the bank 

 crying out excitedly about her duck. But here we must 

 draw "the Curtain, for mere shame sake, and 1 need only add 

 that they paid a dollar or two and did not get the ducks 

 either. Mac has not shot much since that trip. 



Niagara. 



Hero is a story of the New Foundland seal fishery which 

 illustrates the "hick'' of the business. There are many 

 steamships engaged iu the business off the Newfoundland 

 coast. Thev engage the fishermen to work on shares. The 

 fisherman is' to gel" one seal out of every three captured. 

 Tins looks io be a tine Ihing tea- the fisherman, but it, is not. 

 The fisherman is charged storage for his seal, he has to pay 

 a share for the boat he uses, for in many cases the fishermen 

 are poor and cannot provide their own "kit." Then he has 

 to pay four or five pounds for the loan of a gun. There is 

 still another way in which money is made out of the fisher- 

 man, lie has to [ray ten cents for every shot-hole he makes 

 iu (he pelt when killing the seal. There is a good story told 

 about this charge for holes. A fisherman one day shot a 

 seal, making twelve shot holes in its pelt, lie took the skin 

 to the company, and was told that it was worth $1.10. 

 When he came to set He up he found that he had been 

 charged $1.20 for the holes in (he skin, ami that he was in- 

 debted to the company to the extent of ten cents by the 

 transaction. II. S. S. 



1 met Richard Hoe the oilier day and asked him if he had 

 had any snipe shooting this spring. "Oh. yes. all I wanted. 

 but if there is any bird 1 can't hit it's a snipe. Had all the 

 shooting 1 wanted though. There was one snipe out our 

 way ami 1 have hunted' him all spring, until some darned 

 fool came along the other day and killed him." 



Mkihtauu:. 



IJLEVEI.ANU, Ohio. 



Ward had been hunting for nearly two hours, but with- 

 out sic. ess. Ilisold muzzle loader would not go off. After 

 snapping about twenty caps he saw water in the tube and 

 soon drew out, a large tobacco quid. W. K. P. 



Athens, Pa., May it. 



%m\\t <§?## m\d ffntj. 



GAME BESQRTB.~We are always glad to receive format- 



lication such notes of desirable aain'e resorts as mail be of help 

 to the readers of Forest and Stream. Will not oWr corre- 



sproulents favor us with such advice f 



AN ADIRONDACK EVENING. 



THE deer was walking along in the sand. Now he 

 stopped and lifted his head into the air, now walked on 

 again Noiselessly tlic canoe ran toward him, I could not 

 tell thai it was moving, nor could I hear the least Bound 

 from the paddle, which, sunk deep into the water, was 

 passing quickly to and fro. 1 well knew the skill of him 

 that held if, and that on me alone depended our success. 



Nearer and nearer we glided. The deer had not seen us 

 yet. It was dusk. The last hues of (he sunset were fading 

 in the west, and darkness was fast settling over the lake. 

 The boat was not yet plain from the shore, but I could 

 clearly see the outline of the deer, lie stopped and raised 

 his head again. He saw the canoe now. Intently he 

 watched us. Still nearer tve went lb- did not move yet. 

 A few rods more. He jumped back. It was a broadside. 

 I raised the rifle and pulled. He staggered an instant, then 

 plunged into the woods. Hank sent the canoe flying toward 

 the spot. There were the footprints where he had jumped, 

 sunk deep into the sand: and there was something else — yes. 

 it was blood. More on the grass, a drop on a birch leaf, 

 more on a fallen tree. A little further, and there the deer 

 lay dead, with a bullet, through his side. 



"By Jove, Hank, look at those horns." 



"Yes, Professor, he's a bigun." 



It was quite dark when we reached the pines. There 

 was no time to build a hut, but the night bid fair to be a 

 clear one; so after dressing and banging up the buck we 

 prepared supper. There was a spring on the point, a little 

 basin of clear, sparkling water, glittering sand upon its hot 

 lorn, bright moss hanging thickly upon its sides, and a little 

 Stream flowing to the lake. The wafer was cold i ad I' I 

 cious. The soil through which it rose impregnated it with 

 mineral properties. This was our beverage ; the flesh or the 

 defer Cut food. When we rolled ourselves in our blankets 

 it the foot of a lofty pine we were in no mood to sleep, W • 



lay and talked there." I tin' 



sparks rose high among the t 

 brand, I set fire to an old"" dead ti 

 the point. It had been a lofty pi 

 had shattered it, the wind had \ 

 one by one, and the old trunk h 



„ upon the fire till the 

 ■ees. then taking a blazing 

 unk that stood alone upon 

 :>e once, but the lightning 

 .-rested away its branches 

 1 been left standing thei 



to be the camp-fire of t.vo hunters, and a royal camp-tire it 

 was, the flames rising high into Iheair, and 'the sparks Hv 

 ing oul over the lake whose surface was lighted far around. 

 Long after Hank had fallen into slumber I lay there in rev 

 erie. The sky was clear and studded with stars. Here and 

 there, through the openwork canopy of pines, I could sec 

 them. 



How silent and peaceful the lake was as it rested then- in 

 the bosom of the wilderness just as it rested centuries be- 

 fore, just as it rested when Columbus discovered merical 



it looked to me as it looked to the Hurous years ago, as it 

 would have looked to Hendiick Hudson had he penetrated 

 to its solitude, or to Burgoyue when his army was marching 

 to its grave near by. Might it not have been (he same when 

 Troy fell? When Romulus laid low the walls of Home? 

 ■was murdered? When Paul preached at 



n thi 



Thus I mused as 1 gaz 

 water, illumined with wi 

 1 imagined it a lake of o 

 woods anil streams aroui 

 and the noble Eaquette t 

 god. Diana might In 



d the 



ear I 

 Fu 



ted hen 

 ■eluded waters. I fancied I saw the Drv 

 ees and glide silently away through tin 

 hoarse laughter of the satyrs, and thei 



of > 



old : 



ver 



and bathed in its 

 des come out of their 

 forest. I heaid the 

 Out of a lit t If crystal 

 ed away "over 



spring, rose a nymph of fairy grace who dai 

 the mosses. 



There appeared to me to be a new beauty in that old 

 mythology of the ancient, world, that idolatry whifli peopled 

 every mountain top. every winding stream and crystal fount, 

 every forest glen and coral cave of ocean with fair divinities. 

 1 did not marvel that the beautiful imagery and noble human- 

 ities were so deeply rooted in the Grecian heart. It was the 

 worship of God iu nature — a worship instinctive to man. 

 That old form of it has long since passed away. 1 stood in 

 imagination upon the Athenian Acropolis, and saw the ruins 

 of the Parthenon. In the calm beauty of the Grecian night, 

 the moon poured a flood of golden fight over the broken 

 columns, and the white faces of the pentelic statues seemed 

 to move, the dull, cold lips to speak, and all to say: "Great 

 Jupiter is dead." 



1 gazed out upon the mountain lake again, and there, in 

 the "deep silence of the Adirondack night, the water, the 

 trees, the hills, aye, the stars far above!" spoke to me and 

 said, "Jehovah endn rei.h forever." 



A QUEBEC HUNTING GROUND. 



T'HAT part of the Laurentian range in the Province of 

 Quebec, which is situated directly north of the ancient 

 city of Thre.- Rivers, is one Of great interest to the sports- 

 man. There are several lines of communication : one by 

 taking the railway I torn Three Hi vers to the Piles station; 

 others by driving directly iu a barouche from Lou isevi lie, 

 Yamachiche or Poiut.e du Lac, which places can he reached 

 from Montreal in three hour., by the North Shore Kail way. 

 or by driving direct from Three Rivers, passing by the St. 

 Maurice Forties. This latter place enjoys the distinction of 

 being the first place in Canada where iron ore was smelted. 

 this having occurred m 1787. 



The drive through this trifluvian district is very interest- 

 ing to the student of geology— many traces of the glacial 

 period are to be seen. The roads arc excellent, except in 

 the immediate vicinity of the villages above mentioned, 

 where the clayev nature of the soil causes Ihcm to be some- 

 what heavy in wet weather. A drive of twenty-live miles 

 brings the sportsman to the base of the Lanrenl ides, and in 

 close proximity to ihe lakes. .Here the barouche or buck 

 board will, of course, be found useless, and recourse must be 

 had to the canoe and to walking. 



The lakes are innumerable and are swarming with trout; 

 .lii-i in tilled with bass, mascalonge, pickerel, etc.. main 

 Of the lakes have never been fished at all, and brook trout 

 are caught weighing six pounds, while the "lakers" or lake 

 trout attain a weight of twenty. For about three weeks in 



