The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-03-25

AZ '"N - 'fN''"' F"At
Judge Crane. OF Port Jar
sis. -, not a striking example
of domestic devotion. Unlike the
hero 81 The popular ballad. he loves
Ia wdnGe~ fro;. his own fircSiGe. and
lie is more Fortunate than most fellows
in he ability 10 indulge his hayward
propensity. Most animals of our woods
are extremely local in their habits.
Th, wildcat Is tramp. 1t is customary
for him Il have two Iairs. 4 dozen way
side hauui> and perhaps as man! more
occasions! stopping places. Hi two
homes ar" frequently ten or Il dozen
miles apart. and mark two points or
the circumference of an approximate
circle which inclo-p> his stamping
ground.
lie starts from one Of his hahita-
tioms On his lonely %jaunt. covering in
The ti-st - hours five OF six mites on
The .....u Inc of his route. while his cN-
CURSE t. the right and left through
thick.j ard .WaTp comprise many
more milo. His route seems - II" crGt-
posed al ~tuHUmcrabic small circles and
eccentric fgrsrcS. When he rrHchrs
his scc..t residence he hunts tie az
accent c.yrrs until his wayward fancy
again asserts itself. Then he strikes
eff home. which he reaches by an alto
grthcr new route. or rather q series Of
routes. lie iS'not a creature of habit.
Occasionally he curls himself up like
I-,..r -r- ND .lt.r- ON tho uI-nInI
hunting usually by night. and m
times twC weeks MAY elap>e before he
regains his starting point. Without
doubt he keeps his rowing up all the
time. although it is only during the
the winter m"nths. when the snow
holds rae record Of his wanGerimgS.
that We can be sure of his movements.
For this reason. too. the winter is the
only timt we can hunt him scicntifical-
". # ne IS disturbed by man he Will
pike oil for the more distant home. per
hans running for eight miles in Il per
fcrfIv straight line. If YOU can sci a
GGo uucr his hot track he will take to
the nearest swamp or patch OF brIerS.
and wind and twist and turn until he
almost urScats the reason of the calm
est ard most calculating old hound
that ever followed Il trail. He will not
take IN Water or resort TO the other
methods of obliterating his trail that
= 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
10 win out and throw off the Fostering
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. Il is very difficult to tree a
wildcat. Sometimes. after being hunt
ed for hours in the way have II
Gated. n fresh and fast hound might
make him climb n tree. but this is rare.
The man who shoots Il 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 a cat.
"That cats come Dack from fden.
was the way Lew put it-Eden was
the second place Of residence of this
particular cat-'and he's on this side
of She Monticello road, now.
$50 I telephoned to Miles Sturtevant
TO come down from HARDWOOD the next
morning to meet me. | met his 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
ND 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 bound. and walked on in
the direction of Gray swamp. At the
head of Gray swamp we found the
tracks of a big cat. pointing toward the
swamp. and a few yards further IN we
came upon a 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-