White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-02-25
HOW It FEELS TO TRAP
HUGE MOUNTAIN LION

tain lionP" the old trapper was asked,
after he had related some of his ex-
p~erienees with eagles, antelope, coy
otes, lynxes and various other mem
bers of the great wild life families,
caught either by accident or design
in animal trap settings.
Nothing TO it, he declared.
After you have followed the trap
line for several years you get into
the habit of expecting the unusual
and are prepared for it. That, in
fact, constitutes the compelling fas.
cination of a trapper's life. After
you have trapped everything from a
wild burro to a %porcupine or field
mouse. IL is this expectancy that
buoys you up while covering the dis
lance between settings. While max
ing your rounds up until you come
TO your last setting you walk on air.
as il were, but after passing the last
one you are on earth again and your
ordinary daily worries come back to
disturb o for the first time.
ITO be unnerved by facing a huge
mountain lion in a trap will never
occur to the seasoned trapper a par
ticie more than If II were a Great
Dane or any breed of the canine spe-
eies. The dog may and probably viii
harm you, but the lion will only do
so in cas- 1t is unable to break away
and you come too close.
II had met lions in the woods be-
fore-a couple of them together
and placed a notch on my rifle for
n of them, but il was not until
last year, in Beaver county, Utah,
that | met a lion in a trap. / had
single-trap settings about every hun
dred yards for a distance up a certain
gulch and tributaries. They were set
for bobcats-real name bay lynxer-
and nothing else. | was batting them
with halves or thirds OF iackrabbits.
The day in mind | rode past the
mouth OF a side gulch. up the main
II a quarter of a mile. Every bait
had been taken and the traps sprung.
They were No. 4 Oneida jump traps,
secured mostly 10 imbedded roots of
live trees and TO saplings. Coming
back TO the side guleh and going =
few yards | saw a large yellow ami
NAL pacing back and forth the chain
length through n bunch of small CO.
dars. ! noted its color differing from
that of a bobeat and thought I could
see its long tail. In ono thing | was
fooled. | had long supposed and
been told that a saddle horse would
not approach a lion in a trap or any,
where within smelling distance. dead
or alive. / was riding am old sorrel
that had been grazed for years in
those woods and gulches. where
ions are numerous. and he never
batted an eye. OF Of him / slid
without approaching farther. fearing
that the lion was poorly caught and
In h great springing leap for
which the species is celebrated would
pull OF its toes or break the chain
and get away. so | fired hen and
There with my thirty-thirty carbine
and caught the big eat through the
loins. But it held its footing and
continued to pace, approached sew
eral yards and fred again. this time
getting Ii In the shoulders. Still Il
stood and paced. This time | walked
up within twelve feet, meanwhile
dropping the rein while the horse
ate grass c%ontentedly. The great
lion did not growl az bobcats do. Ii
paced and swung, but mostly faced
me. II showed its awful teeth. swung
out its huge Roman nose and Kissed.
Blood was running from four bullet
holes, both shots having gone
through. 1t did not leap or spring.
1t still paced and Kissed. Desiring TO
save a perfect skull for mounting |
leveled my rifle to its neck and this
time the giant fell in a heap.
while before this there seemed
nothing to get excited or nervous
about, | surely felt elated. II proved
to be caught by only one toe, which
would have pulled off had the lion
made even half of one leap, so nv
judgment in shooting at the first
glimpse when about thirty yards or
SO away proved to be correct.
"At the ranch where | was making
my headquarters were sheep shearera
at work, the crew being from Miners
vile, two of them county officials
and I was further gratihed to have
them personally see that I had d.
livered the goods"
If YOU WANT a fine watch or
1ewelry OF all kinds call Mt Iinds.