St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-11-24
THE COUGAR.
Some Short Stories About the Cali
forni0 Lion,
Thrilling Encounters ers-COur.gcoas Action
Ofa Mare ia Isrfe ense of Her FOal-An
Inwelcen Critic-Surprisfng
Display OF Nerve.

Thrilling Eneounters -COurng gcous ActiOa
Ofa Mare in Defense of Her Fosl-An
Un~elceMe eCritic-Surprising
e;isplay OF Nerve.
On the Pacific coast the cougar (our
panther. in the East is called 1.-THE
California !i0h;" while in the interior
1t is rnOrs generally known as ''the
mounty.in lion" People who have seen
THE animal (the most formidable Of the
cat species on this continent excepting
only the jaguar). or who have encOun-
tered it, have related 10 me experiences
which may prove interesting to Others
But few years since. these lions were
abundant in the mountain-ranges back
of Santa Barbara. and many still prOwl
around, chiefly at night, in search Of
prey. As a rule. they are extremely
ely and cowardly. The hunter, with
out trained dogs, rarely sees them,
even though the signs Of them are
plentiful. 1t Is probable, however.
that from covcrts the hunter himself
is well watched. Hunger leads them
to occasional reckless ventures in
search of foc;.
A few years ago, one of these i'm
mense cats. weak and emaciatcd, made
its way into the heart of the city of
Santa Barbara, and looked into the
bTeakfast-rcom windows of fine brick
dwelling. The poor beast received n
lump of cold lead instead Of a piece of
hot steak. 1t could scarcely expect
any better treatment, however, for all
its kind have justly earned a very bad
reputation. One has been known to
kill fifty sheep in single night, SO in
satiablc il this providers thirst for
blood. Pigs. calves. lambs. colts. aud
even cows and bullocks !; re devOured
by these lions. and therefore they are
well hated by the ranchmen. Every
means is used to destroy them, and
many annually are poisoned.
This willy and agile beast when
closely pursued by dogs takes to q
tree, like a wildcat. A friend who
owns a ranch in the Santa Inez valley
told me of the narrow escape Of boy
employed by him. The dogs had
treed lion not far from the house.
So the boy, who was known by the
classic name of "Prospero," procured
. gun from the house and with
more courage than discretion add
vanced boldly and fired. The
wounded animal sprang toward him.
and a second leap would have
brought 1t TO the boy. but the hounds
diverted its attention. A terrible
fight followed. and it might have
been one of doubtful issue had It not
been for the fact that the lion was
growing weak from loss of blood. At
last the lion sOugh: again to climb the
tree, but the bog succeeded in drag
ging it down and killed it. Had it not
been for the hounds. undoubtedly the
boy would have been torn to pieces:
for the cougar of this region is enOr.
mo:..iy strong. and its ferocity is ter
rible when it is injured or compelled
70 fight
A short time since, another lion
was captured near this ranch
in a manner which illustrates the
remarkable skill acquired by Western
cattle-raisers in the use of the lariat. A
mounted rauchmau was proceeding
along the Santa Inez road. when his
dogs started this lion in the open
ground. 1t bounded away. seeking
tall tree. but the ranehman was too
near ard too quick for it. Spurring
his horse in pursuit. he threw his un-
erriug lasso. just Is the animal sprang
to climb the tree. The moose fell over
Its head, one shoulder and one leg.
First sheering of, to tighten the fatal
moose, the ranchman never relaxed
his speed . moment; but kept on.
out into the road, then . half-mile to
the ford of the Santa Ines river, and
across the river to the further bank.
The end Of the lariat was fastened to
the strong pommel Of tho Mexican sad-
die. and the suarling. writhing lion
was dragged pell-mell along the dusty
highway. and through the rapid
stream. The ranchman, however.
knew that the creature had the pro-
verbal nine lives of q cat; so, having
70 fre-arm, he was puzzled how "a
dispatch the beast without danger to
himself or his horse. A tree, standing
by itself. gave him the opportunity he
sought At . gallop he dragged his
victim TO the foot of the tree, where
upon the animal made such effort to
siins T. TIE trunk as It was stil ca,n..