engaged in foraging, they embrace him a little too tightly for his health—in short, "squeeze the breath out of him"—after which affectionate observance they cat him. But unless exasperated they never attack the human family, and are not regarded as dangerous under ordinary circumstances.
An animal which is ferocious, and not unfrequently met with in the mountains, is the cougar—an animal of the cat species, with a skin something like a leopard's, and a long, ringed tail, but a head with, a lion-like breadth. It is variously called the California lion and American panther. We saw one large specimen, which was lying dead by the roadside on the Calapooya Mountain, which measured seven feet from tip to tip. This animal seldom attacks a man, but is very destructive to calves and colts in the vicinity of the mountains, especially in the newly settled parts.
There are three species of the wolf in Oregon and Washington, of which the black is the largest and most ferocious. It stands two and a half or three feet high, and is five to six feet from tip to tip. Such was its destructiveness in the earliest settlement of the country that special means were resorted to for its extermination, until now it is rarely ever met with. It attacks young cattle and colts, as well as the cougar.
The white, or gray wolf, is another enemy to the stock-raiser, though it is satisfied with smaller game than the black wolf, contenting itself with full-grown sheep; and being more powerful than a dog, is a great destroyer of flocks in some localities, and so sagacious that it is very difficult to poison. The coyote, or barking wolf, is also a depredator, taking young pigs and lambs. One of these little animals has the voice of several, and can imitate the barking of a whole pack.
