The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-09-17

con ranch had been the only one Wis
| tied by him, and he had been killing
two steers or horses week since ear.
ly in the spring. Maurice estimated
that the beast had eaten not less thar
$500 worth Of Rfncon horse and COW
flesh.
The habits of this animal differed
from those of his kind in many ways
Ordinarily the cougar feeds at night
and lies during the day in any cave
or tangle of thicket cactus that comes
handy. He is the most difficult of ami
mails to still hunt, either Sinking away
noiselessly when he detects the pur-
suit, or lying perdu when the hunter is
passing within ten yards Of him. So
great is his power Of secretiveness and
so perfectly does his dun hide match
with his surroundings that his killing
by man, unaided by dogs, unless he is
accidentally stumbled upon, as will
sometimes happen, is one of the rarest
of occurrences. He is cowardiy, and
gets his game by attacking it from be-
hind, almost invariably still hunting
it or lying in wait for it near the
edge of pool. He is a great roamer
travelling sometimes $50 miles in a
week. His common food consists of
foxes, raccoon, rabbits, birds and even
mice. He will sometimes kill lynx.
He seizes his prey by the throat, rare
ly by the haunch or flank as is the
VOLTS habit. 1t is his custom to STAY
the smaller things of his larder-young
deer, sheep, pigs, etc.-with single
slap of the paw. The paw used is al
ways the right. There are no left
paved cougars. The female has from
one to three kittens at litter, and the
father will kill the young males unless
fought off. They are brought forth al
most always in caves, though some
times the lying-in occurs under dead
log in almost impossible chapparal. A
mother who has young to care for be-
comes doubly destructive The young
begin killing early, capturing large
game for themselves in the fall sue
ceeding birth, but they are clumsy and
foolishly bold. More of them are slain
at This age than at any other. Like
all members of the cat tribe they are
easily trapped.
Individuals of the cougar species diff
fer greatly in size, strength and fe-
rocity, and the one slain last week
was the chief of his clan. He was a
day feeder and did not seem to care
particularly to hide himself. His kills
were made in the open valleys and he
was seen probably a dozen times. When
interrupted in his work he would re-
tire at a slow trot, carrying his head
six inches lower than his shoulders, |
glancing back in anger and switching
his long tail violently from side to
side. More than once he was followed |
for some miles by unarmed cowboys, |
anxious to find his lair. In every in |
stance when the pursuit ceased he
would turn in his tracks and follow
mis- pursuer back within a mile of the |
ranch. He would never return to a
carcass after making one meal. He
seems to have captured his game by
urking along the brush-lined edges of
he hills and small precipices, spring.
ng down upon the animals and reach
ng them in a couple of bounds, cover
ng, sometimes, twenty-five feet in a
cap.
Invariably his victims were killed by
,ne mighty right-handed blow deIiv-
red fairly between the ears or horns,
rushing in the skull as if it were
ggshell. Always the shoulders
bowed where his claws had given him
foothold and the sign told plainly
hat no animal ever had the chance
0 travel more than ten feet with him.
lie disposed of the largest steers and
1ares without trouble, on one occa-
lon, made crazy by success, Staying
our beeves in a day. He was a con-
rmed cattle killer, and it was believed
hat he had not dined on anything
mailer than a black-tailed deer in a
ear. He was the finest hunter that
yer walked on four feet, and when
HE'D was, for this season of the heat
season, remarkably fieshy. Owing
} his holiness and his habit of follow
Ig his trailers, the Mexicans of the
inches became frightened of him.
hey called him Eel Diablo TordiIlo."
the Gray Devil and said that he t
as not lion at all, but an evil spirit. a
II cougars, or panthers, are Mexican '
0ns' down here. e
''Viejo" was not afraid of him. A II
izzled old hunter, whose body was a
AIRED by twenty combats with man O
Id beast, and whose face, burned fl
arly to Jet blackness by the fierce S