The Coconino sun., 1927-06-10
KILLING AND CAPTURING MOUNTAIN
LIONS AS RELATED BY AN EXPERT

to deal with that am willing to take
chances on his close company to get
a picture.
| once saw a mountain lion kill
horse. Hunters and ranchers have ar
gued for years about the manner Of
the big cats murders, and the theory
has been widely supported that he
leaps down upon his prey from an
oyerhanging ledge or branch. | was
one day standing well up on the
side of a hill watching a bunch of
horses file down to a water hole. With
lightning suddenness from out of the
scrub growth lion bounded, landing
full on top of horse. He sank his
front claws in the horses shoulders
and his hind claws in its flanks and
bit the victim through the back Of
the neck until it was dead. All this
was done with swift sureness that
seemed to take less than minute.
TraeksAand marks around many of
the lion kills we have examined in
dicate that the usual method for the
lion is silently to slip behind his prey
and leap from the ground to its back
One leap is usually effective, although
we have seen where the lion had made
two or three leaps. Now and then
horse, and sometimes cattle or
deer, are able to shake the lion off,
but this happens rarely. have seen
horses with deep scratches from their
shoulders clear back to their tails,
indicating that they had jumped be-
fore the killer had gripped them, al
though the lion claws left their body
with long gashes.
Once his prey is dead the lion drags
or carries it under a bush or tree
where he can dine with less chance of
being seen. I have seen the carcass
of a 900-pound horse that had been |
dragged 80 feet through the snow. |
A smaller animal the lion will carry |
He will turn deer or big calf on its |
back, seize it by the brisket and with |
his own head held high walk off with !
the creatures four feet sticking up |
in the air.
His stomach full, he covers his kill |
with stones, sticks and leaves until
from two to six days later, when he
returns for more. ! have found 15
pound stones piled against a carcass
and sticks as big as my arm laid I
across it. The lions viii not often eat |
tainted meat.
A favorite lion delicacy is the por- /
cupine. From marks in the snow / |
believe he hooks the quillback under /
the chin with his big claws, turns it
over, bites it in the breast and eats
all the meat, leaving the skin of the
back quilts down and rolling the in
tesines neatly aside as he does with
all his kills.
We have found lion cubs every
month of the year at attitudes Of
three to seven thousand feet. From
one to four are deposited in shell
tered spot. Usually they remain with
their mother long after weaving. The
mother will nearly always desert
when dogs draw near.
| have raised a number of these
lion kittens as pets. One of a litter
may be always vicious and untractable
while another will be as docile and
gentle as a domestic cat, even when
full-grown. | raised one that became
an enthusiastic motorist. Whenever
the car was started he hurried for his
place on the radiator and would lie
there in full content for miles of trav-
ell. He is now resident of the Ma
tional Geological Park at the national
capital
Predatory animals destroy so much
livestock that the government main
tains men in several states to deal
with them. Here in Arizona | employ
eight hunters the year around, and
twenty in winter.s