Swinging his rifle round he
shot the first one in the brain, and it dropped motionless, whereat the
second halted, wheeled, and bounded into the woods. His companion was
not in the least hurt or even frightened, though greatly amazed. The
cougars were not full grown, but young of the year.
Now in this case I do not believe the beasts had any real intention
of attacking the men. They were young animals, bold, stupid, and very
hungry. The smell of the raw meat excited them beyond control, and they
probably could not make out clearly what the men were, as they walked
bent under their burdens, with the deer skins on their backs. Evidently
the cougars were only trying to get at the venison.
In 1886 a cougar killed an Indian near Flathead Lake. Two Indians were
hunting together on horseback when they came on the cougar. It fell at
once to their shots, and they dismounted and ran towards it. Just as
they reached it it came to, and seized one, killing him instantly with a
couple of savage bites in the throat and chest; it then raced after the
other, and, as he sprung on his horse, struck him across the buttocks,
inflicting a deep but not dangerous scratch.
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