A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker.

  • Lyddeker, Richard, 1849-1915.
Date:
[1894]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    all respects with its relative. In his “Mammals of the Adiron- dack Region,” Dr. Hart Merriam writes that “ it preys upon the northern Hare and such other small animals as it can catch, and upon the Ruffed Grouse and Spruce-Partridge. It has also been known to devour pigs, lambs, and young fawns, but the accounts of its attacking full-grown Deer are not to be credited. Its haunts are in the deep forests and burnt dis- tricts, remote from the paths of Man; and consequently it rarely intrudes upon the barn-yard. Its ordinary gait when in a hurry is a long gallop, like that of the Hare ; and it is said to swim well. The female commonly has two young at a birth, her lair being usually located in a cavern or hollow tree.” After mentioning that it is found on the Mackenzie River as far north as latitude 66°, Sir John Richardson writes that this Lynx “ is a timid creature, incapable of attacking any of the larger quadrupeds, but well armed for the capture of the American Hare, on which it chiefly preys. Its large paws, slender loins, and long but thick hind-legs, with large buttocks, scarcely relieved by a short thick tail, give it an awkward, clumsy appearance. It makes a poor fight when it is surprised by a hunter on a tree, for though it spits like a Cat, and sets its hair up, it is easily destroyed by a blow on the back with a slender stick, and it never attacks a man. Its gait is by bounds, straightforward, with the back a little arched, and lighting on all the feet at once. It swims well, and can cross the arm of a lake two miles wide, but it is not swift on land. It breeds once a year, and has two young at a time. The natives eat its flesh, which is white and tender, but rather flavourless, much resembling that of the American Hare.” Every two to four years there appears a sudden increase in the number of Lynxes in parts of North America; these animals associating at such times in troops, and forsaking their favourite haunts to follow the Wood-Hare (Lepus sylvaiicus); and it is