The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-05-11
THE MOUNTAIN, LION.
TIMES WIEN THIS USUALLY TlMID
BEAST WILL Alta OK A t,AN.

uunEcr-A Tragedy In the Foothills OF
the Sierra Ncvadas.
"As rule the mountain lion is n shy
beast, which retreats from the presence of
man and rarely will attack him even when
wounded" said a. III. Davis, formerly n
prospcctor and hunter on the Pacific slope
al have brought one down from a tree
with a bullet, and on striking the ground,
instead of showing fight, the creature tried
10 crawl away To escape. Owing TO the
acuteness of its senses the mountain lion
is usually foIewarned Of the approach OF
man in time TO take itself out OF the way
unseen. and when confronted with hu.
manity In the wilds it often displays sim
gular confidence and geDtleness. But therc
are two conditions which completely
change the mountain lions ordinary dis
position toward man and render this ami
NAL his inveterate and dangerous foe.
The one is tho approach of man toward a
female lion with cubs; the other Is when
the lion is half falnished and fierce with
hunger At such times the lion 3 fear and
tolerance of mankind alike vanish, and it
does not hesitate to attack him, even when
the odds seem greatly against its success.
Then it's innate ferocity, strength and
of teeth and claws, make it truly formi-
dable enemy.
sin 20 years hunting and prospecting
along tho Sierra Nevada and Cascade
ranges i have personally known of in
stances in which the mountain lion at
tackled man without provocation, and in
each of these instances 1t appeared TO have
done so because of hunger. The first was
many years ago in Oregon. Two men
were driving herd Of hogs from the in
terror toward the coast when, while pass
ing through wild canyon, huge noun
tain lion sprang from a tree upon the
shoulders of the foremost man and tried
to tear his throat. 1t being cold weather
the man had an ovcrcoat Of California
oyeralls stuff, as strong almost as canvas,
with the wide collar turned up about his
ears, and this saved his neck from the
lions teeth The other man had no fire
arms, but he ran to his companions aid
with the long black snake whip used in
herding. A blow from the long lash OF
such whip i'm the hands of a man who
can use it cuts through hair and skin like
"A knife, and with his black snake he whip
ped the lion till it dropped from the mans
shoulders and retreated The drovers took
their herd along to the next town, where
they told their story, and party OF hunt
ers went out next day and found and
killed the lion, which measured 10 feet
from nose to tail This is foot longer
than any mountain lion / have ever seen,
but the statement as to its length was
made to me on excellent authority, and
do not doubt its truth.
'The worst instance knew of noun
tain lions attacking man resulted in a
tragedy. A party of five of us were in the
Sierra Nevadas in November hunting.
The peaks were already white with snow,
and every snowfall drove the deer farther
down into the valleys which were our
hunting grounds. Deer were scarce that
year, and for that reason all the carnivo-
rous animals that prey on them were un.
usually bold and hungry, and the ranch.
men already were complaining Of losses of
stock through bears and wolves. There
came morning with light snow, fallen
the night before just deep enough to track
a deer in well, and three of us set out
among the foothills in the morning. One
of our three was a young fellow named
Tillman, not long out of college.
"In the course of the day we got sepa-
rated. About the middle of the afternoon
my partner, Ferguson, and l came togeth-
he might have got lost, we went in search
of him. We came at last upon his tracks,
and following them up, we came, just al
dusk, upon Tillman lying lifeloss in the
snow, his throat torn and his clothes part
1y stripped from his body We ut frs,
thought il was the work Of a bear, but tn,
tracks In the snow showed it TO have beer
mountain lion, which had lcaped upor
him from "a thicEct CT mountain cedar
The fact that Tillman's rifle had not beer
discharged showed that the lion had beeI
The aggressor. After killing this young
man and tapping his blood the lion hat
dragged some brushwood over him ant
gone away. 1t was startling sight tC
come suddenly on, and after we had lait
poor Tillman's. body out in decent shap,
Ferguson and stood looking at each 9th
er undecided what we'd better do next.
"'It's five good miles to camp and II,
trail. We never can carry him there TO
night Ferguson said at last. III sta,
here and watch the body il you'll go Il
camp tonight and fetch the rest of the boy
out first thing In the morning.
$50 gave Ferguson what grub was II
my haversack and matches and the a,
and started for camp, leaving him cuttinl
wood for a fire. 1 got to camp all righ
before midnight, and told the boys wha
had happened, and next morning at carli
est daylight we were on the move for tn
scene Of the tragedy. When we got there
Ferguson was sitting by the fire, with Till
man lying there stark and stiff on tn
ground with handkerchief over his face
After we had talked bit Ferguson point
ed out TO us an opening in the bushes 2
yards away.
There's the murderer he said.
was mountain lion lying dead with
bullet hole in Its forehead. It was bi
and terrible looking brute, gaunt and lean
N II IL had been near starvation before th
bullet knocked IL over.
4 was looking for him to come sal
Ferguson. He came before midnigh
prowling about the camp. The fire KEEP
him back for awhile, but ne kept comm
nearer until at last I got fair chance (
aim by his eyes. One shot settled him. !
it hadn't
"well, 10 did not need be said wha
might have happe ned IL the shot had mere
ly wounded the lion, for the brute wa