Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/561

Rh away, it was plain he did not taste it, as he still did his own slaughtering when there was opportunity, and the shots fired into the brush never hit him. At length, however, he must have been tempted, and poison beginning its work, Mr. Lion made his last leap into the corral, killed two sheep, and died by their side. The men placed him in a wagon and brought him to the house for exhibition. He measured nine feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, and had a catshaped head and ears, tremendous paws, and a dull-yellow color. It is said the mountain-lions of the Black Hills are striped with white, particularly on the face, but this was not the case with the one of which I write, the only one I have ever seen. It seems a misnomer to call this creature a lion, even with the prefix mountain. He does not have a den, but "lies around" wherever he can make himself comfortable, sometimes living chiefly in an abandoned "wichey-up," a deserted shanty in the brush, among the rocks, or in a "coolie," and always on the watch. It is said they will not attack a person unless cornered, but I think one who trusted this certificate of character might have cause to repent. Stealthy animals with such characteristics are not to be trusted. Our lion, set up by a taxidermist, was one of the attractions of the park last summer, and is probably one of the largest specimens of his race. Sheep-owners have much to contend with in this part of the country, and wild animals seem to have ways of their own, with a ready adaptation of habits of mischief to circumstances. The home corral outside the yard fence, and but a little way from the house, contained at one time some two thousand sheep. There was a fence around it, as well as about the house. Temporarily a few valuable sheep were placed at night in the yard. The bears came down at night, like the Assyrians of old, but instead of going to the outside corral, which was far the handiest for them, they boldly under cover of the darkness, came into the yard. The dogs gave the alarm, waking every one on the place, but, before the men could get out, the bears had killed seven sheep, and it seemed in pure wantonness mangled others so that they afterward died. It was rather an uncommon thing for these animals to venture so near a house.

The sheep-dogs deserve more than a passing mention. Their intelligence and quick apprehension of what is required of them, and faithful performance of duty, are wonderful; without them, the working force for sheep would require to be more than doubled. They appreciate kind treatment, and take to heart scolding and abuse. No surly or cross man to the dogs should be allowed among sheep. A foreman of a sheep-ranch told me that, in sending out a new man, he assigned an old dog to him, thinking, if the man did not know his duty, the dog did. He charged the would-be herder to be kind to the dog, and said, "He will not stay with you if you are not." In two days the dog was at home again. The foreman visited the man, taking another dog, and said to him: "You were cross to the old dog, and I told you