ITS ENEMIES AND FOOD 135 



ural death, nor have I heard of any disease or 

 epidemic among them; and were it not for the 

 eternal war upon this fast-diminishing species, 

 especially by man, they would be as plentiful now 

 as fifty years ago. 



The first in the list of natural, enemies of the 

 turkey, if we admit the testimony and belief of 

 nearly every turkey hunter, is the common lynx 

 or wildcat, often known as bobcat. Many 

 hunters believe that of all the enemies of the wild 

 turkey the wildcat is the chief. In all my experi- 

 ence I have never seen a turkey attacked by a 

 cat, nor have I ever seen the skeleton of a turkey 

 which had been killed and eaten by cats. I have 

 never seen a cat crouching and creeping up on a 

 turkey, nor have I had one of them come to me 

 while calling, and I have had more than fifty 

 years' experience in turkey hunting in all the Gulf 

 States where the cat is common. Numerous per- 

 sons of undoubted veracity, however, have as- 

 sured me that they have seen cats creep up near 

 them while calling turkeys, and in some instances 

 the evidence seems conclusive that the cat had no 

 other business than to steal up and pounce upon 



