The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-06-27
HUNT FOR Fl WILDCAT
A Doy's Sport In Tangled
Sullivan County SWoDps

/ HE pay lynx, OF WliUcdt, Sdlu
Judge Crane, of Port Jar
Wis, sis not a striking example
of domestic devotion. Unlike the
hero of the popular ballad, he loves
to wander from his own fireside, and
he is more fortunate than most fellows
IN the ability to indulge his wayward
propensity. Most animals of our woods
are extremely local in their habits.
The wildcat is a tramp. tits customary
for him to have two lairs, dozen way
side haunts and perhaps as many more
occasional stopping places. His two
homes are frequently ten or dozen
miles apart, and mark two points on
the circumference of an approximate
circle which incloses his stamping
ground.
HE starts from one of his habita-
tions on his lonely jaunt, covering in
the first "a hours five or six miles on
the main line of his route, while his ex-
cursions to the right and left through
thicket and swamp comprise many
more miles. His route seems to be COM
posed of innumerable small circles and
eccentric figures. When he reaches
his second residence he hunts the ad-
tacent covers until his wayward fancy
again asserts itself Then he strikes
off home, which he reaches by an alto
gether new route, or rather series OF
routes. He is not creature of habit.
Occasionally he curls himself up like
house cat and sleeps on the ground,
hunting usually by night, and some
times two weeks may elapse before he
regains his starting point. Without
doubt he keeps his rowing up all the
time, although it is only during the
the winter months, when the snow
holds the record Of his wanderings,
that we can be sure Of his movements.
For this reason, too, the winter is the
only time we can hunt him scientifcal-
ly. If he is disturbed by man he will
| pike off for the more distant home, per-
haps running for eight miles in per-
fectly straight line. If you can set a
| dog upon his hot track he will take to
the nearest swamp or patch Of briers
and wind and twist and turn until he
almost unseats the reason of the calm
est and most calculating old hound
| that ever followed trail. He will not
take to water or resort to the Other
methods of obliterating his trail thai
deer adopts. He simply goes around
and around in the thickest brush he
can find, depending all the time OF
mere strength of grit and endurance
to win out and throw off the pesterins
hound. He Is not afraid of the dog, but
the latter bores him by his persistency
| and he resorts to the same measure!
adopted by the man who owes you ter
dollars. It is very difficult to tree ,
wildcat. Sometimes, after being hunt
ed for hours in the way have indi
Gated, fresh and fast hound nigh
make him climb tree, but this is rare
The man who shoots wildcat with
out understanding these principles il
| luckv-
f'Last week Lew Boyd, the presiding
genius of the hunt at HARDWOOD, tele
phoned to me that he had found thu
fresh track of cat.
"That cats come back from Eden,
was the way Lew put it-Eden wa
the second place of residence of thi
particular. cat-'and he's on this sid
of the Monticello road, now
$50 I telephoned to Miles Sturtevan
to come down from HARDWOOD the mex
morning to meet me. met his wagol
on the road four miles from town. w
bumped our way over the turnpike t
the top of Sullivan county, and thel
turned into the old Texas road, pickin,
up Lew Boyd and his hound on tn
way. Three miles further on the Ora.
road strikes out to the east at righ
angles. Here we dismissed the Wagon
chained the bound, and walked on il
the direction of Gray swamp. At tn
head of Gray swamp we found tn
tracks of big cat pointing toward tn
swamp, and a few yards further on w
came upon a similar track crossin!
the road in the opposite direction. LIE,
asserted confidently that the tw
, tracks were made that day, and by tn
same animal. and the question re
t mained to be decided on which side c
! the road he was at that moment. II
: was of the opinion that the cat was i
Long swamp. So we trudged throug
the woods for three miles along the to
of a low ridge.
Eve passed innumerab1e deer track
on the way. AS we neared Long swan