THE COUGAR.
With the exception of the Jaguar, which will average a trifle larger,
the cougar is the largest representative of the cat tribe to be found
in America.
This animal is known locally under various names. In the mountainous
districts of the Eastern States, where they were once found in fair
numbers, they were known as the panther or "painter" from a fancied
resemblance to the panther of tropical Asia. In the far West they are
most commonly known as the mountain lion, and in other localities as
the cougar, while in the Southwest they are sometimes called the
Mexican lion. Throughout the whole of South America they are known as
the puma.
This animal has probably become extinct in the Eastern States, but
they are still found in the South, from Florida, westward throughout
the wild, swampy sections of the Gulf States, into the lowlands of
Texas, and southward. In the West they are found in all of the
mountainous portions from northern British Columbia southward, and in
South America are to be found as far south as southern Patagonia.
They have at all times been more abundant in the West than in the
East and are still plentiful in portions of British Columbia, Idaho,
Wyoming, and Colorado; also in the Pacific Coast States, especially
in northern California.
In size, the average, full grown cougar will perhaps measure seven
feet in length from the nose to the tip of the tail, certainly not
more, and large specimens will weigh from a hundred and fifty to a
hundred and seventy-five pounds. Occasionally larger specimens are
found, but they are exceptional. The tail will measure from two and a
half to three feet.
The color of the cougar is usually of a yellowish brown on the sides,
a trifle darker on the back and white on the throat and underparts.
The tip of the tail is dark, almost black in some specimens. This is
the prevailing color but some will have a grayish cast. While there
is very little difference in the specimens from the various sections,
some naturalists claim that the cougar of Florida and other parts of
the South is a distinct variety.
Cougars prey largely on deer, also in some sections on the wild sheep
and goats. They also kill small animals, and when pressed by hunger
they will not hesitate to attack larger animals than the deer; even
the moose is sometimes killed by the cougar. They are very
destructive to stock in many parts of the West, particularly to
horses, and many of the Western States, as well as the stockmen pay
bounty on cougars. In South America they kill large numbers of wild
cattle.
Their method of securing game is by creeping cautiously to within
springing distance, or by watching a runway from the branches of a
tree, or a ledge of rock from which position they spring upon the
unsuspecting victim, breaking its neck by a twist of the head. When
they can get plenty of food they only suck the blood of the captured
animal, and do not return to the carcass, When food is scarce they
make a meal of the flesh and cover the remains. In such cases they
may return for a second meal.
It was only after the panther became rare in the Eastern States that
the fabulous tales of their daring, and their inclination to attack
human beings, originated, and such stories are never credited by
those who are acquainted with the nature and habits of the animal.
While it would be an easy matter for the cougar to kill an unarmed
man, they are by nature, timid animals, and not to be feared by
human beings. While individual animals may attack man on rare
instances, such occurrences are very rare, and it is safe to say
that nine-tenths of the "panther stories" have no foundation
whatever. The western mountain men consider them very cowardly
animals.
In the mountainous districts the cougars live in natural dens, or
caves in the rocks, in places that are almost inaccessible to other
animals. In the swamps of the South they make their home in dense and
almost impenetrable thickets and canebrakes, where they make a nest
of sticks, grass, moss and leaves.
The young animals are born in early spring, there being from two to
four at a birth, but as a rule, only two. The mother animal displays
considerable anxiety for the safety and comfort of her kittens.
There is no method known by which the cougar may be successfully
trapped. Owing to their rambling habits one never knows where to
place a trap for them, and as they prefer to kill their own game,
they will seldom touch bait. As a rule they do not return to the
carcass of their victim, but if one can find an animal freshly
killed, it is a good plan to set a trap by the side of the remains,
and in case the animal should return for a second meal, its capture
is likely. Practically all of those which are trapped are taken in
this way. The No. 4 Newhouse trap is used but the No. 4 1/2 is
better, for being a larger and stronger trap it is more certain to
hold the animal. The trap should be fastened to a heavy clog, and the
trap and clog carefully concealed, for the cougar is wary and
suspicious.
On rare instances when the trapper has been certain that there were
cougars in the near vicinity, they have been captured by setting a
trap in a natural enclosure, placing a fresh, bloody bait behind the
trap, also by hanging the bait about five feet above a carefully
concealed trap.
They are most commonly hunted by the aid of dogs, and in this way the
capture is a comparatively easy matter. When pursued they usually
take to a tree and remain there until the arrival of the hunter when
a rifle bullet ends the game. The animal will take to a tree readily
for any dog which has the courage to follow it.
The skin of the mountain lion is not valuable as a fur, and is used
principally for rugs, but as before mentioned many of the states pay
bounties on the animals, so that hunting them may be made a
profitable business in certain localities.
The tracks of this animal resemble those of the wild cat but are much
larger. The footprints will measure about four inches in diameter.
[Illustration: The Wolverine.]