The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-11-07

Maine. The man. so the story goes. was nm.
armed, and assembled a small tree. bat the ami.
mai running up another in the immAdiats
vicinity, spFang again and again from that noe
sition upon the lower part Of his BODY. and
succeeded IN desperately wOunding him before
he was driven off, This may be true but the
only comment which it seems desirable 10 make
upon it is to the effect that the mere an ac.
quaiutance with the literature Of wild beasts
or with the animals themselves, increases, tha
greater does the disinclinatiOn to doubt their
capabilities become, until at length there is .
tendency to deny nothing which is not mani.
testify impossible.
Here, as in Europe, those peculiarities which
nave been noted among lynxes are, al Prof
Nilsson observes, mainly attributable TO age,
sex, and the season Of the year" In effect,
THESE circumstances, with that natural Varia-
ton which belongs to the Elasticity Of life, and
whlch under certain con itiOns is propagated
Dy incredibly, covers almost all the diVersities
belonging to those spoken Of
IN RELATION TO IT'S TEMPER AND HARr-
tubes
it will be conformable with the best aceounsa
that have been given, to say that the former in
fierce and unsOcial, and that being nearly "A
large as wolf, and well provided with means
of Ofiense, the creature might readily become =
dangerous antagonist even to a man. 10 Is for
the most part nocturnal in its habits, like
the forest IN search Of prey at all hours Usu-
ally its retreat is in the depths Of virgin forests
and 1t prefers those which clOthe the sides OF
mountains. During the pairing season the
male wanders widely in search Of a mate. buk
| having found one the pair, with their subse-
quent family, which remain till nearly full
grown with the mother, commonly coDdne
| themselves to GER ain locality. and DO not
leave it unless compelled. The adult lynx ia
an expert climber, be is not habitually arbo-
real and the tales of his martin-eat and squirrel
| hunting among the branches Of trees are with
out foundation. When in pursuit Of prey the
| lynx, II he does not stalk his game usually
crouches on a ledge Of rock, a boWlder or
/ stump or low limb, and springs upon the pass
ing animal from thence; but the mode Of his
attack differs with the creature assailed If is
| Is light enough 70 be oveTthFOwn By the mo-
mentum Of his spring. it is rolled over, the
throat and chest are torn open, its blood Tapped,
and the ylscera-heaTt, lungs, ETC., are eaten
while the flesh is often reserved ranOther meal
| Should deer be attacked, the lynx fastens
/ upon its shoulders so firmly that no exertion
no frantic rushing beneath overhanging bOuRhs,
can dlslOdge It, and in this position the neck II
| Iacerated By the claws until pain and exhaust
| ION bring the quarry to the ground when the
| victor proceeds as stated above. Ekstrom OBJ
serves that whatever parts are left after the
/ hrst repast the lynx invariably hides, either
/ in some dense brake OF in the cTevices among
rocks, or amid the higher branches Of trees Il
also said by Observers that this animal possesses
the principal domestic virtues, that he IS faith
ful to his consort, and that both be and his mate
are tender and attentive parents. On the other
| hand he IS very ferOciOus. and his useless
destructiVeness can scarcely be exceeded. Ac-
cording to Lloyd "the lynx is, beyond doubt,
the most destructive beast that ranges the
northern forests" Skoldberg reports an in
stance OF female lynx with her two cubs
! killing % sheep on one occasion, ali Of which
/ they left untouched, with the exception Of
/ small portion of the neck in one or two animals
Lloyd reiterates Capt. Baldwin's assertion with
regard to the facility with which the FeIis
| borealls may be tanned when taken young but
/ 1t would appear from the accounts given Of
their experiments by these gentlemen, that
they never kept any specimens after they were
young. Oterdaal states that when dogs ara
used in lynx hunting the loss Of life among
them IS heavy, but so far as the present writer's
acquain lance with the subject goes, there Is
no authentic case of man having been attacked
and killed By lynx.