The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25
DANGEROUS MOUNTAIN LIONS.

DANGEROUS MOUNTAIN LIONS.
Times when This Usually Timid Beast VIII
Attack Man with G;rcnt Fury.
"As a rule tho mountain lion is n shy beast,
which retreats from the presence Of man and
rarely will attack him even when wounded"
said A. H.. Davis, formerly a prospcctor and
hunter on tho Pacific slope. 81 have brought
one down from n tree with n bullet. and on
striking the ground instead OF showing fight
the creature tried to crawl away to escape.
Owing to tho acutcncss OF its senses the noun
tain lion is usually forcwarncd Of the approach
Of man In timo to take itself out Of the way I'M
seen; and when confronted with humanity
In tho wilds 1t often displays a singu-
lar confidence and gentlcness. But there
are two conditions which completely
change the mountain lions ordinary disposition
toward man and render this animal his inveter-
ate and dangerous foe. Tho one Is the approach
Of man toward a female lion W tn cubs; the
other is when the lion is half famishcd and fierce
with hunger. At such times the lions fear and
tolerance Of mankind alike vanish, and II does
not hesitate to attack him, even when the odds
sccm greatly against Its success. Then its In
nate ferocity. strength. md agility, backed by
its terrible equipment of teeth and claws, make
IL n truly formidable enemy.
I'm twenty years hunting and prospecting
along the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges. I
have personally known Of three Instances in
which the mountain lion attacked man without
provocation. and in each OF these instances It
appeared to have done so because OF hunger.
Tho first was many years ago in Oregon. Two
men were driving n herd OF hogs from the in.
terror toward the coast when, while passing
through n wild cahon. n huge mountain lion
eprang from a tree upon tho shoulders of tho
being cold weather the man had an ovcrcoat OF
California .ovcralls stuff, rs strong almost ms
his ears. and this saved his neck from the
lions teeth. The other man had no fire.
arms with sFt the ran innr to s, htj SGSmpnn MSis
used in ~herding, A blow from the long lash Of
such n whip in the hands Of mnn who can use
with his hlncksnake he whipped the lion till 1t
dropped from the mans shoulders and retreated.
town. when they told their story. and a party Of
hunters went nnt. next day. and found and killed
tail. This Is a foot longer. than any mountain
lion have ever seen, but the statement os to It's
length was made to me on excellent authority.
The worst instance I knew Of a mountain
lions nttnckins a man resulted in a tragedy. A
party OF five Of us were In the Sierra Nevadas
white with snow. and every snowfall drove the
our hunting grounds. Deer wore scarce that
year. md; for that reason. all tho carniyoroms
and hungry. and tho ranchmen already were
complaining OF losses OF stock through bears and
snaw' fallen rhe the G ninSt H E %Sr" Ing, S T,sn s a liEhss
to track a deer in well. end three Of MS set
put " GnS ~ tho " foothills in the morn.
fellow ma Named Tiilma,nn.' eg not "f long oH S4"" of
college. In the course q the day We go. sepa.
TTiIlmnn did no. turn up. Fearing he miSht
cnmc Mt last upon his tracks. and. following
them un; We came. inst at dusk, upon Tillman
shs his %lis''e Clothes in tho nsrt fnow str, his b th front torn bIs
solE OF we at so,a first ,nt thought , y !, was s the The
lion; which had lcepcd npon him from 2 thicket
Of Of: M hng tai , C sd" + .c The EFF f1ot that Tillm1p's
lion had been the agsrcs.or: After killing this
young man and tanning his blood; the lion had
away. 1t was q startling sight TO come sud
denly on. and after we had laid poor Tillman's
looking, at each other undecided what we'd
IT'S Ave good miles to camp. and no trail.
euson said Mt last. IN stay here and watch the
body. & you'll 90 to camp tonight and fetch the
$50 I gnvo Ferguson what grub was IN my
haversack. and matches, and tho axe. and started
Il,got to camp all right before midnight. and told
inc boys What i had hSppSned: and, next morn.
f"r the b s1 seem" Of Ti the tragedy we MtF' Wien FL ehS we mS pos
there Ferguson was sitting hy the fire with Til.
MN wi,h lying ! Sssb there s,HTk AND and f his on the ground nd
had talked . biz Ferguson pointed out TO us an
openlng In the bushes twenty Yards away
It's forehead. 1t was n big md terrible looking
starvation before the bullet knocked II over.
Yas looking for hin to come snid Fergu:
the camp. The fire kept him back for n while.
fir chance tanim by his eyes. One shot settled
We'll 1t did not need be said what might
have happened II the shot had merely wounded
and already had tasted human blood. We made
Q bier from %s9plings and got poor Tillman's body
thus orr hunting trip disastrously ended.
party that entered the Cascade Mountains in
the early spring on a prospecting trip. The
snow WIS heavy N tho mountains, although
HmnnG tho ,, foothills the valleys were green:
Day Tor a two days trio. intending to OK
line. At night we went into camp in tho
S6psn Nir; In ton q growth of large pine tim,
Meyican named Montoya lay wrapped in
his blankets. Some time near tho middle Of tho
can. mingled with the sound OF n fcrco s%nariing.
f h,r!l%s on MY hsa "a l M sSw IN the h hord ,Snr T. large g,t
teGRhy and "it claws "a at hSii his thpSat. h I Srs sfbHSr,nE nv w mH
revolver, which lay, always by my head whom I
slept in c camp; and sdu SSnt three shots into the
II loft the Mexican and started for me-. but fell
S S,nT i iii nn trisd fo W ding hsef T"y ava n rd SMs h. vs. +:
fore paws. I jumped cloar OF my blankets and
put q few yards more Of distance bot W me
and the beast, then fired two more shots that
finished II. 1t was a mountain lion, and one of
my first three shots had brokcn it's back. Like
the one In the Sierra Ncvndas 1t was n gaunt
beast, evidently half furnished, md without
doubt 1t had attacked the Mexican through
hunger. Montoya was scratched n little about
tho face, but otherwise was uninjurcd. for at tho
lions first onset no had instinctiycly, dmcked his
no time to tear them from him before l shot