Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1895-06-12
THE CANYON WILDCATS.
Big. Fierce Animals That Even WOme
 Hunt In the Sierra Madre.

Big. Fierce Animals That Even Women
 Hunt In the Sierra BIadre.
 Hunting the wildcat is one of the favorite sports in southern Califor- mia, said Major Sam Garner "These savage, short tailed providers find just the sort of homes they like in the deep canyons of the Sierra Madre. The wildcat of the Sierra Madre's canyons is not to be con- founded with the bobcat of the east for our wildcat is nearly twice as big, bigger yet than the big Canada lynx and fieroer by far. They are hunted on horseback with packs of hounds trained for the purpose While ordinarily, like the eastern wildcat, this savage cat will not face a fight alone, but will rather sneak away and hide, two of them together will stand their ground and fight to the death, something that rarely comes to them before more than one hound out of a pack has been torn to pieces
 "A wildcat hunt in southern Cali fornia is generally organized after a rain, for then the scent of the cat is fresher on the trail, and if ono chooses to seek his game by the still hunt he can follow the trail easily by the paw marks of the animal in the soft ground Some old noun taineers profess to prefer n close combat with a mountain lion than with tho canyon wildcat of the Sierra Madre.
 1T remember one hunt I was on that brought out the qualities of the game in way that satisfied mo that the old hunters weren't far out of the way. The dogs had trailed a cat into narrow defile in the canyon. One side of the defile was a wall of rock. The other side was covered with a heavy growth of brush. A stream cOursed at tho bottom of the narrow space. The trail led the dogs into the thick brush on one side of the ravine, and they had scarcely disappeared in the thicket when an immense wildcat leaped out landed in the creek, crossed it and began to scramble up the wall of rock on the opposite side. In spite of the almost up and down character of the rocks, the animal found foothold in its crev- ices and on its jagged projections and was scaling the wall magnificcntly when one of the hunters interrupted her progress with a rife ball. She was perhaps 40 feet up the side of the defile. Turning with a savage snarl as she felt the wound, she leaped into the air, came down like R meteor, lit on the neck of the bron- cho the hunter was riding and dis mounted the rider instantly. Cling ing to the plunging broncho's neck with the long, hooked claws of her fore feet, she ripped and tore him with her frightful hind claws until his breast was laid open in great gashes, from which the blood gushed in streams. This was all done before any one had recovered from the sur prise the cats terrible leap and as- sault had caused.
 The dogs were the first to go to the broncho's aid. As they dashed upon the savage cat she loosened her hold on the horse and dropped down among the hounds. Before she was killed she had stretched three of them dead at her feet.
 There are wildcat hunting clubs in some places in southern Califor- nia, and women share in the exciting and often dangerous sport Some of the best shots of these clubs are among the wives and sweethearts of its members. The trophy of the wildcat hunt is not the brush, for the wildcat has no brush unless the three inches of stumpy tail that any thing but adorns the animal might be called @ brush by courtesy. The trophy of the wildcat hunt is the skin. The fur is coarse, but nicely marked and makes a handsome rug. The taking of this trophy is a high honor, and no part of the adornment or decoration of her home does the wildcat hunting woman of southern California exhibit with more pride than the rugs of this animal made from skins taken from cats she has herself slain. "-New York Sun.