The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-19
THE WILDCATA HOME BODY
CURIOUS TACTICS sHoWN WIEN
% rs nv PURSUIT.

OUT nv AhhhN R'A'A " NhAA "
II. Gran. OF Port Jervis, ARE home-lovers.
That IA. thoy are devoted to tho locality where
they may have been born, or whore they have
come tn early domicilc. Abroad from that par
ticuIar range they feel as strange and uncom-
Portable as do human beings far from tseit own
homes aud friends. This Is. perhaps, not 80
marke ed in the bear. which Ia of n roaming dis
position naturally, and thinks nothing Of long
journoyings from its native swamp or den In
the rocks, but even the bear will turn Its head
h%omcward when trouble nssails, and endeavor
to reach the familiar places Of refuge that
abound there.
"In the wildcat we have q particularly strong
illustration OF tho homc-lovinR trait In Wild
beasts. Not that this willy creature clings to
the hole in the rocks where II perhaps was born,
or does not care to wander from it, own iireside,
so to speak. Its home Is its familiar range, and
this may be a circuit miles In area. One may
see a wildcat. or signs of one. at a certain local
iy on ono ridge, say this week. and next week
geo another on n ridge eight miles from that
spot. That is. LIS may think II Is another Wild
cat, but the chances are that 1t Is the one he
saw before. 1t Is the habit of tho wildcat to
prowl about ono locality a week or so. then
change its base to another u long d stance away.
moving thus at intervals until 1t reaches the
limit OF its range. when 1t will move back again
" NhN onAAO "
over the same trail, and sometimes on the oppo-
site side Of the circuit, until 1t Is once more at
its starting point.
"A wildcat hunt. TO an obseryant person. Is
an intensely interesting thing. For that matter,
/ don't sec how q hunt of any Kind can be OF
wholesome interest and real profit to any ono
who engages In IL with no sense Of anything
actuating him but tho prospect OF coming upon
his game MS quickly rs possible and Killing II.
" he does not see and appreciate the ever vary
ing tactics Of that game to outgeneral It's pur-
sucr. and study out means to circum vent 1t in
stead Of following bllndly and mechanically on
the trail. trusting to time and hull head luck
and persistence to win him the day; or IL he
does not take note of the manifold Incidents
which the woods and their restless, but
never purposeless, living things present to
him IA he steals along, or tarries here
and there for advantage in the chase. the
hunt to him, in my mind, is simply as pearls
cast before swine. There is nothing i~nsigniti-
cant in the woods or their creatures to the true
lover OF nature. even when wrapt in the excite
ment or expectancy OF the chase. remember
once / was waiting on n runway for the very
good chances OF the hounds driving a deer to
me. As | sat there listening for the first faint
cry Of the dogs on the ridge to warn me OF tn,
expected coming, l saw the gentle movement Of
q reed in an opening near me. where there were
many reeds. Looking closer | saw that the ngI-
tation was caused by a tiny field mouse which
had climbed the reed. 1t rested for a moment
there and then leaped to another reed, aud thus.
leaping from reed to reed, drew near to where
was. In front of me, not more than six feet
away. a deer In passing had left the deep Inn
preston of Its feet In the soft ground. and ono
of these indentations had filled with water.
The field mouse came on, making its way
At ~. ,-.t1 ia .-., N- -. ,I.. .ul
from the deer track. Then 1t dropped to the
ground. and came springing along until 1t
reached the tiny pool. Pausing for a moment,
the little creature stepped into the water-filled
track. and proceeded to take a bath. 1t scattered
the water about In sparkling drops until all was
gone. Then 1t stepped out again, dressed its
soft fur with its tongue and tiny hands. and
went tripping away again to the reeds, and was
gone. This was a tritling thing. but 1t seems TO
me that in my pleased contemplation of 1t the
deer and the hounds might have dashed past mo
without my knowing II. But perhaps not.
Another time | was on a runway, and. hav;
s sn t wH,siq my isDf at io full III fea a.fhs' o nay the uow Srou anI
my feet a few inches apart. Presently l ssw u
cnipmpns come COZ Looping alons directly toward
nuts or acorns there which it intended to stors
perfectly quiet. The chipnunk came on until
it reached my feet, and there between the two
II aug n llt petFapS three lUCnoS ueep. 1t then !
squeezed the contents Of its face pouch out into
the hole, replaced The dirt upon 1t, fitted back the
grass, and arranged it so that no person or thing
disturbed. ant s"ampeIcI away to gather more
stones and cache them somewhere else. But
the acorn the chipmunk buried between my
Feet could never have done 1t any good. for the
that my feet. which the calculating
to know again this location of that cache,
could not remain there to mark II,
and ! have no doubt that a more or less sturdy
.rep Atanna whara TINT GAnIa uua DnaAA |
the growth OF the chipmunk's planted acorn. l
never knew whether The deer game or not.
every other wild animal Of our woods except
or den or other place OF refuge when 1t hears the
dogs on its track. II Ia just the opposite with
' aS nj, wIld 4 eS,, 60 sSD ,Gng as se sss 1 %IiI a or SO Z, is d fol-
The manGuyres of a wildcat when a dog is on
It's trail would seem to Indicate hat instead OF
ost Is put in good humor By It. A dog on
= wildcats track shows to the EXTREMIST
suing, and It's almost uncomfortable de-
and anxiety to get at and rend IL.
Il, ih ,ov i l. T 70 ib sc Ttmo so P phe animal nina M nercr os ann 20
tself TO get far ahead OF the dog. and a great
Zeal of the time 1t is really behind the dog.
cad OF a dog. Then II will circle around and
ali back in the rear, where. from;the cover Of a
watch the excited, furious, and impatient dog
along on the trail, showing no trace of er-
Iitcinent or anxiety az 10 the outcome OF tbs
'hase. but manifesting q nonchalence that tho
popular opinion OF the nature OF the wildcat
Gould never give the animal credit for.
"When the dog has followed the track until
ia circultous route has brought the pursusr
more behind the, cat. the latter win
,ound forward To the limit 1t permits itself 10
10 In ad OF the dog, circles back again,
nd once more enjoys the dogs wild rage from
he rear. These tactics II would keep up inden-
'itely, | suppose, II II were not that in the mean
ime the hunter may come up on the trail and
the game. But when the wildcat discovers
hat the dog has tired Of the chase and has quit
r perhaps may have gone of on some other
rail il tarries no longer by the way, but
,ounds on In haste and does not stop until IL
Ias reached its den IN the rocks. which is usu-
lily Inaccessible 10 any other living thing,
Icept ono OF tho wildcats kind. When a wild
at hunter. therefore, hnds that his dog has
the trail he might as well give up
he hunt for that day,
ii had an interesting wildcat hunt the first
inter, although the ending OF lt was disap-
ointing not 30 much thst ! didn't XIII tho
Ilicat myself as In having 20 acknowledge
hat men may he mean and selfish even with
Ife-lonR example OF the generosity OF nature
nd the woods before them, Lew Boyd, who
YES Al HARDWOOD Park. sullivan county. sent
40 word one day that . big wildcat was in a
NRmp near there, and went mp 10 Join Lew
n a hunt for II. We found Its track in tho