66 
REPORT OF BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 
to the ground, where he was met by twelve hounds eager for a fight. All was 
excitement for a few minutes until I managed to bring him down with a couple 
of bullets from my Winchester. One of my dogs lay dead, while two more were 
bleeding from numerous gashes caused by the lion’s claws. I was very much pleased 
with my day’s work, as was a number of my neighbors. This lion had become quite 
a dread to the stockmen in this community, as in the last two years he had killed 
several colts and calves, besides a great number of small stock. 
Kindly thanking you for the generous bounty, I am, 
Most respectfully, 
P. A. Jones. 
MENDOCINO COUNTY. 
Point Arena, California, February 12, 1910. 
Fish and Game Commission , San Francisco , Cal. 
Gentlemen : I am shipping you to-day, February 12th, two panther hides, one 
small one weighing about 80 pounds and one large one weighing about 150 pounds. 
The large one was killed on the 8th instant and the smaller on the 10th. Both were 
treed with hounds. Although several carcasses of sheep were lying on the range, 
where they had killed them, one’s stomach was full of deer meat, and the other 
was entirely empty. I also found the carcasses of several deer in that vicinity, 
which shows that the deer is a favorite prey of the panther. 
Please return the hides by express to Point Arena. Unfortunately I broke several 
inches of the larger one’s tail, which decreases the length. Originally it was close 
to 10 feet. Have made out two affidavits, which I hope will be sufficient. Please 
send bounty to Point Arena. Any information I can give you in regard to the 
habits of the panther will be freely given. 
Yours respectfully, 
L. N. Campbell. 
TRINITY COUNTY. 
Bee Gum, California, April, 1910. 
To the Honorable Board of Fish Commissioners, San Francisco. 
Sirs : I am shipping you to-day the scalps of three lion kittens and the skins of 
two old ones. I would like to add a few words in regard to lions, but first would 
like to say that there was a report started by two men in this neighborhood last fall 
that your honorable Board had discontinued the paying of a bounty on lions, which 
saved the lives of several lions and caused the death of a great many deer, to say 
nothing of the stock they killed. I myself knew nothing to the contrary until I 
happened to meet Mr. J. It. Watson of Trinity County, and he showed me a letter 
he had from you last fall in contradiction of the matter. I had had two dogs on the 
chain for two months and it took some time to get them in shape again. 
These five lions represent a month’s hunting and a scope of perhaps 35 or 40 
miles of the roughest country in northern California. I have fine dogs. We got 
every lion that we found the sign of, with the single exception of the mother of the 
kittens, and I hope to get her yet. We hunted the largest of these lions, the male, 
fifteen days. His track was always too old for the dogs, but we finally struck it 
one morning fresh, and got him in an hour. In our hunt after this lion we found 
12 deer that he had killed. Some he had only taken one small feed out of and never 
returned to them. I know this to be a fact, as we went morning after morning, 
hoping to strike his track at the carcasses, but a male lion will not do this if he 
can get a fresh deer. When he is hungry he never comes back. When they have all 
they want—they take one feed in twenty-four hours—and a large lion will eat a 
deer in two or three days. These are facts, as I have been in the mountains most of 
my life, and have made something of a study of animal life of all kinds. On the 
other hand, a female lion with kittens, and they hunt for the kittens until they are 
over a year old, of which they have from two to four, and there has been cases 
where five were found, but most often two to three; she kills a deer and takes a 
feed out of it, and the kits stay and finish it up while she gets another. A female 
lion with two or three kits will eat a large deer in twenty-four hours. It is an easy 
matter to get the kits if one can find where they have a deer. 
It isn’t the hunters that is getting away with the deer, but the wild animals. With 
a few exceptions in this neighborhood, the game laws are strictly adhered to. Hoping 
you will excuse me for taking up your time with this string, I am, 
you will excuse me for taking up your time with this string, I am, 
[Signed.] W. R. McArthur. 
