Mountain lion

“ The mountain lion is usually nocturnal, but in regions where it is not hunted it not infrequently goes abroad by day. It is a tireless wanderer, often traveling many miles in a single night, sometimes in search of game and again in search of new hunting grounds. I have repeatedly followed its tracks for long distances along trails, and in northern Chihuahua I once tracked one for a couple of miles from a bare rocky hill straight across the open, grassy plain toward a treeless desert mountain, for which it was heading, some eight or ten miles away. ”

“ Although often engaged in hunting big game, I never saw a mountain lion at large 48 except when one has been rounded up by a pack of dogs. In their habits they are stealthy and secretive, carefully keeping concealed, and never willing to fight unless cornered, with no chance of escape. Occasionally, when the odds are overwhelmingly in its favor, a lion will provoke a battle, but this is not often the case. ”

“ In appearance the mountain lion is very similar to the African lioness, having a smooth, tawny skin, without any mane; a full-grown animal that will measure from seven to eight feet from its nose to the end of the tail and weighs about 180 pounds, is considered a large specimen. They seldom exceed this, and more frequently fall below it. ”

“ Their chief enemy is the mountain lion, which hunts them on the cliffs, apparently never about watering places. Lion tracks were not rare about the sheep runs. They are extremely wary about coming down for water, and take every precaution. Before leaving the cliffs to cross the valley to water they usually select some high ridge and descend along this, gazing constantly at the spring, usually halting ten or more minutes on every prominent rocky point. ”

“ I shall now tell you about other felines or animals of the Cat Tribe. The lion looks the grandest of all such animals—I suppose just because he has a mane.
Most lions live in Africa. There are some lions in Arabia and Persia, which are the two countries in Asia nearest to Africa. A few lions are also found in a jungle on the west side of India. These lions in the countries of Asia are not as big as the African lion.
Then there is also a species of lion in America, though he has no mane. He is called the puma; but people in the Western states often call him a cougar or mountain lion. ”

“ I found only the tracks of the hind feet of the lion; it was not hard to imagine that, his front claws were fastened in the shoulders of his prey, and that his terrible teeth had reached an artery in his victim's neck. Many such slaughters the soft snow revealed! Aroused by them, I determined to revenge the shy, innocent deer family. At every opportunity, I have taken toll of the lion tribe. As soon as the first new grass painted the meadows pale green, the sheep flocked down from their lofty winter resort: the sunshine in the hemmed-in valley was hot ”

“ It might have been intended as a chart of the neighboring fields of corn, and it is highly suggestive, if we adopt either of these explanations or interpretations, that a figure of the mountain lion is found near the depressions, which may provisionally be regarded as representing ancient reservoirs. Among the Tusayan Indians the mountain lion is looked on as a guardian of cultivated fields, which he is said to protect, and his stone image is sometimes placed there for the same purpose. ”

“ Where the control of mountain-lions is essential, the principal means employed is the use of trained hounds. Kentucky fox hounds and a cross between the Walker hound and the bloodhound have been found most satisfactory for trailing mountain-lions, though any good dog may tree one. The hunter must keep up with the pack, however, for a mountain-lion that fights at bay instead of treeing, may kill all the dogs. When it chooses to fight, it uses teeth and claws, backed by powerful neck and shoulder muscles, in a telling way.
The use of poisons in mountain-lion control is not recommended. ”

“ In any discussion concerning the mountain lion, or, for that matter, any living animal, hardly can the last word be said concerning the character of the individual of the species. Individuals vary, and now and then a mountain lion, as well as a human being, shows marked and peculiar traits. These may be the result of unusual alertness and sheer curiosity, or they may be subnormal, and cruel or murderous. ”

“ This sweeping prevents the snow from burying food beyond reach, and lessens the danger of these short-legged mountaineers becoming snowbound. They commonly endure wind-storms by crowding closely against the lee side of a ledge. Now and then they are so deeply drifted over with snow that many of the weaker ones perish, unable to wallow out. The [Pg 107] snow-slide, the white terror of the heights, occasionally carries off an entire flock of these bold, vigilant sheep.
The mountain lion is a prowler, a cowardly, rapacious slaughterer, and may visit the heights at any time. ”

“ A number of geographic races of the species have been developed by the varied character of its haunts. These are usually characterized by differences in size and by paler and grayer shades in the arid regions and by darker and browner ones in the humid areas.
The mountain lion, while powerful enough to be dangerous to man, is in reality extremely timid. Owing to its being a potentially dangerous animal, the popular conception of it is that of a fearsome beast, whose savage exploits are celebrated in the folk-lore of our frontier. ”

“ But so seldom is he seen, or even heard, that, were it not for his tracks and the deadly evidence of his presence, his existence could not be believed.
Though I have camped in his territory for weeks at a time, and ofttimes made special efforts to see him, the number of lions I have seen—except, of course, those treed by dogs—is small.
When a mountain lion is frightened, or when pursued by dogs, he is pretty certain to take refuge in a tree. This may be a small tree or a large one. He may be out on a large limb or up in the top of the tree.
The lion is a fair runner and a good swimmer. ”

“ Only mountain lion tracks led to it and from it. The following night I spent at a near-by ranch house, and the rancher informed me that on the previous day he had discovered a bear eating the carcass of this cow which he accused the bear of killing. The lion is a most capable raider of ranches, and colts, horses, sheep, pigs, and poultry are his prizes.
In northern New Mexico one day I saw a lion bounding across an opening carrying a tame sheep in its mouth. On another occasion I saw a lion carrying off a deer that apparently weighed much more than the lion itself. ”

“ And I think in this empty world there was room for me and a mountain lion
And I think in the world beyond, how easily we might spare a million or two of humans
And never miss them.
Yet what a gap in the world, the missing white frost face of that slim yellow mountain lion!
Lobo.
{190} THE RED WOLF
Over the heart of the west, the Taos desert
Circles an eagle,
And it’s dark between me and him.
The sun, as he waits a moment, huge and liquid
Standing without feet on the rim of the far-off mesa
Says: Look for a last long time then! Look! Look well! I am going. ”

“ In addition to years of camping in the wilds in all sorts of places and under all conditions of weather I have talked with careful frontiersmen, skillful hunters and trappers, and these people uniformly agreed with what I have found to be true—that the instances of mountain lions attacking human beings are exceedingly rare. In each of these cases the peculiar action of the lion and the comparative ineffectiveness of his attacks indicated that he was below normal mentally or nearly exhausted physically. ”

“ Moreover, the roar or cry of a beast of prey is accounted its Sá-wa-ni-k'ia, or magic medicine of destruction, which, heard by the game animals, is fatal to them, because it charms their senses, as does the breath their hearts. Since the mountain lion, for example, lives by the blood ("life fluid") and flesh of the game animals, and by these alone, he is endowed not only with the above powers, but with peculiar powers in the senses of sight and smell. ”

“ The sheep, lost in curiosity, fled without [Pg 80] looking where they leaped. The second bound landed them upon an icy pitch where everyone lost footing, fell, and slid several yards to the bottom of the slope. All regained their feet and in regular form ran off at high speed.
Accidents do befall them. Occasionally one tumbles to death or is crushed by falling stone. Sometimes the weaker ones are unable to get out of deep snow. On rare occasions a mountain lion comes upon them and slays one or several, while they are almost helpless from weakness or from crusted snow. ”

“ Because of their « 3 » remarkable endurance, hunting them takes stamina and strength. Biological Survey hunters on the fresh track of a mountain-lion have trailed the animal for 10 consecutive hours or longer before treeing it. ”

“ The upper portions of this range shelter the bighorn, or American moufflon, and the cougar, [95] the grizzly bear, and the wolf. The southern or Sweetwater range is vulgarly known as the Green-River Mountains: seen from the road, their naked, barren, and sandy flanks appear within cannon shot, but they are distant seven miles.
[95] Locally called the mountain lion. This animal (F. unicolor) is the largest and fiercest feline of the New World: it is a beast of many names—puma, cougar, American lion, panther or painter, etc. ”

“ Exploring often brings them in touch with strange wolves. With these there may be battles but more likely organized play, like the relay running of a deer or some other victim. When a number are together they are likely to make life miserable for a mountain lion in case they come upon the trail of one. They will even annoy a bear. ”

“ The Crows have only borrowed those horses and will pay for their use with others of their own. To-night I shall tell you why the Mountain lion is so long and thin and why he wears hair that looks singed. I shall also tell you why that person's nose is black, because it is part of the story.
"A long time ago the Mountain-lion was a short, thick-set person. I am sure you didn't guess that. He was always a great thief like OLD-man, but once he went too far, as you shall see.
"One day OLD-man was on a hilltop, and saw smoke curling up through the trees, away off on the far side of a gulch. ”

“ The lion probably is the game hog of the wilds. Often I have read his red records in the snow. On one occasion he killed nine mountain sheep in one attack. He ate a few pounds of one of them and never returned to the kill. On another occasion he killed eleven domestic sheep in one night. Inside of twenty-four hours a lion killed a doe, a fawn, a porcupine, a grouse, and was making a try for a mountain sheep when I appeared on snowshoes. He seems to prefer colts or horses for food. ”

“ Pa Heger scratched his gray head back of one ear, which Dan was to learn was a habit with him when he was puzzled.
[128]
“You say the mountain lion was crouched to spring at you? Then it must o’ been that she had some young near. They’re cowards when it comes to humans, them lions are. They kill sheep an’ calves an’ deer, an’ all the little wild critters, but they don’t often attack a man. They’ll trail ’em for hours, curious, sort of, I reckon, keepin’ out of sight. Makes you feel mighty uncomfortable to know one of them big critters is prowlin’ arter you, whatever his intentions may be. ”

“ Hewn out of the solid rock at the extreme margin of the mountain-plateau, he seems to raise his head in order that he may be the first to behold across the valley the rising of his father the Sun. Only the general outline of the lion can now be traced in his weather-worn body. The lower portion of the head-dress has fallen, so that the neck appears too slender to support the weight of the head. ”

“ There are thin slabs of sandstone standing on edge and lifting their heads a hundred feet high, on which the gods or witches have sculptured images of birds, animals, and moving caravans. A herculean lion is crouching on the peak of one, looking towards the north, where a bear and seal are eyeing each other from a lofty perch, uncertain of their safety, and undetermined whether to attack or retreat. ”

“ Three of the deer-like creatures they had hunted for food broke out of the green wall, fled past the men as if the latter was invisible. And behind them, the hunted now and not the hunter, came a lion, its strikingly marked black-and-white hide dramatic in the light of the morning. It showed fangs in a snarl and then was gone in one huge bound. ”

“ This animal, he says, owes its characteristics to climate alone. Lions only inhabit tropical countries, and among the denizens of hot latitudes they are “le plus fort, le plus fier, le plus terrible de tous.” On the Atlas Mountains, where snow sometimes falls, these beasts have neither the strength, size, courage, nor ferocity of those who roam the southern plains, and for the same reason, the lion of America, if it deserves that name, is but an inferior beast. ”

“ It is only in the deserts and rocky hills of Asia and Africa that they are met with.
Those who have visited a menagerie, and have seen a lion within the limits of a narrow iron cage, can form no idea of the majesty of the brute when roaming about freely on his native soil.
The voice of the lion is loud and strong. It is likely to strike terror to the bravest heart. ”