Mower County transcript., 1899-06-14
HUNT FOR a WILDCAT
A Doy's Sport IN Tongied
Sullivan County Swomps
THE bay lynx, or wildcat" said
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" THE bay lynx, or wildcat" said
Judge Crane, of Port Jar
Wis, ''is not a striking example
of domestic Devotion Unlike the
hero of the popular ballad, he loves
to wander from his own freside, 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 tramp. tits customary
for him to have two lairs, dozen way
side haunts and perhaps az 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. -.
'eHe starts from one Of his hab&ta-
lions 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-
jacent covers until his wayward fancy
again asserts ITSELF Then he strikes
of home, which he reaches by an alto
gether new route, or rather a series OF
routes. He is not creature of habit,
Occasionally he curls himself up like
a 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 month"; 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 scientif1cal-
ly. If he is disturbed by man he will
pike of for the more distant home, per-
haps running for eight miles in per-
fectly straight line. If you can set
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 that
a deer adopts. He simply goes around
and around in the thickest brush he
can find, depending all the time on
mere strength Of grit and endurance
to win out and throw off the pestering
hound. He is not afraid of the dog. but
the latter bores him by his persistency,
and he resorts to the same measures
adopted by the man who owes you ten
dollars It is very difficult to tree a
wildcat Sometimes, after being hunt
ed for hours in the way l have indi-
Gated, a fresh and fast hound might
make him climb tree, but this is rare.
The man who shoots a wildcat with
out understanding these principles is
lucky.
last week Lew Boyd, the presiding
genius of the hunt at HARDWOOD. tele-
phoned to me that he had found the
fresh track of cat.
"Tbat cats come back from Eden,
was the way Lew put it-Eden was
the second place of residence Of this
particular cat-'and he's on this side
OF the Monticello road, now.'
$50 telephoned to Miles sturtevsnt
to come down from HARDWOOD the next
morning to meet me. met bis wagon
on the road four miles from town. We
bumped our way over the turnpike to
the top of Sullivan county, and then
turned into the old Texas road, picking
up Lew Boyd and his hound on the
way. Three miles further on the Gray
road strikes out to the east at right
angles. Here we dismissed the wagon,
chained the hound, and walked on In
the direction Of Gray swamp. Al tie
head of Gray swamp we found the
tracks of big cat pointing toward the
swamp, and few yards further on we
came upon similar track crossing
the road in the opposite direction. Lew
asserted confidently that the two
tracks were made that day, and by the
same animal. and the question re.
mained to be decided on which side Of
the road he was at that moment. He
was Of the opinion that the cat was in
Long swamp. So we trudged through
the woods for three miles along the top
OF low ridge.
I'VE passed innumerable deer tracks
On the way. Aswe neared Long swamp