Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-04-29
BIGGEST OF AMERICAN CATS.
Tho Mountain Lions Uncomfortable
Way of Following Men About.

Way Of Following Men About.
With a step as noiseless as falling
leaf, huge tawny beast glides like a
ray Of light among the pines. over the
boulders, across canyons, and up the
cliffs Of the mountains Of southern
California. Books say it is a puma,
scientists say it is Felis concolor, but
to the men with the bark on" who
study animals from life only through
the sights Of a rifle, 1t Is mountain
lion.
It is never called painter" or cata-
mount west Of the Arkansas. Some
men hold that the panther Of the
southern and middle western states Is
identical with the mountain lion Of
the Sierra Madras, and the Rockies,
but that is not true. The panther Is
short bodied, short-legged, proper
tionately heavier, though not so large,
Is slightly darker in color, and is the
more ferocious Of the two.
1t is to be regretted that for the in
formation Of posterity those who write
natural histories for their information
are not more correct in the statement
Of what they allege to be facts. A
standard author has written that the
size of the full grown mountain lion,
or puma, is: Height, feet: length, 6
feet; weight, trifle over 100 pounds,
according to its condition" Not long
ago a mountain lion was killed near
Campo, in southern California, that
was nearly a foot taller, over two feet
longer, and weighed nearly 200 pounds.
Many have been killed that were eight
feet In length and weighed about $50
pounds.
They have recently been reported
quite numerous in the hills at the
northern extremity Of the coast range,
so numerous in fact, that the ranchers
are organizing a "drive"-think of
that!-mountain lion drive. They are
also numerous in the st. Bernard
range, and on down through the noun
tains Of the peninsula or Lower Cali
fornia 1t is difficult to account for the
increase, unless it Is owing to the dis
appearance Of grizzly bears.
There Is a mortal feud between the
two, and a grizzly will remove small
part of a mountain to get at the cubs
of lioness. Indians say that a noun
tain lion can kill a grizzly. 1t is not
oh n
of the old monsters to death, but for
one or two or three lions to do 1t is
not credible.
They are huge cats, and have all the
characteristics Of cats. They are night
providers, but start off on their excur-
sions before night in order to be near
water holes by the time other animals
come to drink. In the mountains away
from the ranches, where they must de-
pend on the chase and not on thievery
for their food, they follow deer, wild
sheep. and other game up and into the
mountains as the summer advances
and return with them when the higher
ranges are covered with snow. At
whelping time they generally hunt
some secluded place high up. an al
most inaccessible cliff. II there are
bears in the vicinity. a cave, If they
can find one. Once an old lioness and
her cubs were found in the hollow
caused by the uprooting Of a sugar
pine. Drifting leaves and spruce
needles had almost filled the hollow,
making an excellent bed.
In hunting grizzly it Is nine to one
that when found he will fight. In
hunting a mountain lion there Is an
element Of uncertainty about 1t wheth-
er there will be a fight or a chase.
Surprise them at their "kill" when they
are hungry and they will fight for It.
If their cubs are in the vicinity or II
they are cornered there Is apt to be a
quick, hot and dangerous fight on your
hands, possibly before the hunter is
ready for it. At such times he must
not be crowded, nor yet should a
chance be waited for as with the griz-
clear about twenty feet on a level.
Any part of his body is more vulnera-
BILE than that Of grizzly, so, II lion
is coming on at leaps and bounds,
hunters do not wait for head or a
heart shot, but shoot at the forequar-
ters If they can, but they must shoot
and shoot quick. But, as rule, they
are cowardly brutes despite their size
and strength.
They have one uncanny characteris-
tic in common with the smaller men,
bers Of the feline family. On de-
serted street late at night one often
notices he is being accompanied by a
house cat. Not at his heels as a dog,
but first on one side and then on the
other, sometimes ahead, sometimes be-
hind, slipping along in the shadows Of
the buildings, or quickly across a ray
Of light from some window; he does
the same, apparently not noticing. but
surely keeping company.
A mountain lion will do the same
in the hills. Up in the Cajon country,
in San Bernandino county, an old
hunter left a prospect he had found
and started for camp one evening just
about sundown. The camp was a good
four miles away down the canyon.
Up near the head of the canyon
where he was it was not over twenty
yards wide, with deep, sloping walls
covered with chaparral. He had not
gone one-third Of a mile when he saw
long, yellow body slipping Though
the bushes on his left, and all the
weapon he had was a small poll PICK
For over two miles the big brute kept
him company, first on one side AMI
then on the other, sometimes ahead,