INTRODUCTION 
FOR years the writer has heard the persistent under-current 
of rumors that Fclis Cat us, or some allied type of long- 
tailed wild cat was an early inhabitant of the Pennsylvania 
forests. Frankly he did hot believe these stories, thinking that 
the animals in question were either feral house cats or young 
of Fclis Couguar. The recent capture of a specimen in Tinicum 
Township, Bucks County, its description and photographing, all 
make it seem as if, after all, there was a long tailed wild cat in 
Pennsylvania, along with the Panther (Fclis Couguar), the 
Canada Lynx (Lynx Canadensis) and the Bob Cat (Lynx Refits). 
As the heathcock, the Carolina Paroquet and the Moose Jay 
("Camp Robber") were exterminated in Pennsylvania before 
they were generally included in our lists of wild life, and 
although the wolf lias been extinct less than a third of a century, 
not a skin or bone remains, it is possible that the long-tailed wild 
cat or 'coon cat, never a plentiful animal, and of nocturnal habits 
was wiped out of existence without being recorded in our natural 
history. Appended hereto are the contemporary newspaper ac- 
counts of the capture of the wild cat, taken from the "Bucks 
Count) News" of Doylestown, Pa., which seem to be unusually 
clear and comprehensive, while for frontispiece appears photo- 
graphs of the specimen, taken by State Game Warden Warren 
Fretz, of Doylestown. 
It seems a great pity that this animal was not kept alive, 
but it is hoped that if the mate is ever taken, its life will be 
spared for the benefit of science and the joy of nature-lovers. 
In this connection it may be well to quote statements of some 
competent Pennsylvania sportsmen and naturalists on the sub- 
ject of the coon-tailed wild cat in this State: 
C. H. Shearer, Artist, of Tuckerton, Berks County, born in 
1846, says: "When I was a boy the long-tailed wild cat inhabited 
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