Hints on Mountain-Lion Trapping

Part 1

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HINTS ON MOUNTAIN-LION TRAPPING

Issued April, 1933

HINTS ON MOUNTAIN-LION TRAPPING

By Stanley P. Young, Principal Biologist, in Charge, Division of Predatory Animal and Rodent Control, Bureau of Biological Survey

THE AMERICAN MOUNTAIN-LION (Felis concolor) is one of the largest predatory animals of the United States, sometimes weighing more than 200 pounds. Game conservationists recognize it as the greatest natural enemy of deer. Stockmen learn to their sorrow that when game is scarce the mountain-lion attacks young domestic stock, particularly colts, lambs, and kids, and even full-grown horses and cattle. In some western areas it is practically impossible to raise young colts or sheep on open stock ranges in the rough, rocky, and broken country that forms an ideal habitat for the mountain-lion.

The range of the mountain-lion, which is known also as cougar, panther, puma, and catamount, includes at present the large wilderness areas of the United States west of the one hundredth meridian. The heaviest infestation is in the Rocky Mountain States and southward through the desert mountain ranges of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. Farther westward mountain-lions are much less numerous, except in the coastal ranges of California, Oregon, and Washington, where they are somewhat abundant.

For the protection of domestic livestock and of large game in certain areas it is necessary to keep mountain-lions well under control. In spite of control measures, however, these predators will probably long continue to exist in the United States. There are many areas where normal hunting and the vicissitudes of the wild can be depended upon to keep their numbers within reasonable limits. There are also great stretches of wilderness areas that probably will never be touched by any mountain-lion-control campaigns.

This leaflet, intended to help stockmen and game protectors in local control of mountain-lions, is based on the experience of Biological Survey predatory-animal hunters. A similar publication (Leaflet No. 78) discusses control measures for such smaller members of the wild-cat family as the bobcat and the Canada lynx.

Natural Food and Feeding Habits of the Mountain Lion

Mountain lions find most of their prey near the rougher and more inaccessible canyons, and in such places they live and breed with least disturbance. One of the most striking things about these animals is the distance to which they will go for food. Many have been known to travel 25 miles or more in a night, apparently without resting for any appreciable length of time. Because of their 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.

Like the bobcat, the mountain-lion relies upon its senses of smell and sight in much of its foraging. Its smell is keener than that of the bobcat, though less so than in either wolf or coyote. It can see its prey for a long distance, but unquestionably it does much of its silent, cautious stalking by the sense of smell alone, taking advantage of every cover until within striking distance of its victim. Its sense of hearing also is acute.

In making a kill, the mountain-lion brings its victim to the ground with a stunning impact of its entire weight. It generally attacks at the throat and breast.

After making a kill and taking one meal, the mountain-lion will sometimes, though not always, bury the remainder of a carcass under leaves, litter, or other trash, to return for a later feast. Whether it will thus return depends to some extent upon weather conditions and on its ability to find prey elsewhere. Its killing and feeding habits vary in other ways also. In one instance, a lone lion attacked a herd of ewes and killed 192 in one night. Frequently more than one mountain-lion may feed on a single carcass. Near one cow carcass the writer once trapped six lions, of various sizes, evidently the parents and two litters of offspring.

The presence of a mountain-lion on a range may be indicated by its kill of deer or other game, even though domestic stock may not have been disturbed. If a kill is made in fall or winter, the meat may remain fresh for many weeks.

Control Methods

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. Hunting or trapping is more satisfactory, and it is unsafe to expose poisons on ranges where hunting dogs are being used.

Under certain conditions mountain-lions can easily be caught in traps of the sizes known as Nos. 14 and 4½. (Fig. 1.) Although some persons oppose the use of such traps as inhumane, no better or more practical device is yet available.

Where to Set Traps

Either of the traps recommended may be set on a known route of the mountain-lion, preferably at a point where the route narrows. Being a great wanderer, the animal generally has well-defined crossing points where it passes from one watershed to another in its search for food. Many of these are in the low saddles of divides, and at such crossings it is not uncommon to find "scratch hills," heaped up by the mountain-lion in covering its urine. The writer has seen as many as eight such hills in an area 4 feet square. They are sometimes 3 to 4 inches high and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Frequently old or fresh feces may be noticed near them. These hills make ideal places for setting traps, but should be left in a natural condition.

The mountain-lion is trapped as it comes through the saddle of the divide and stops to visit a scratch hill, being attracted either by the hill itself or by a catnip lure placed there as described at the top of page 5.

Figure 1.--Trap most suitable for mountain-lions (No. 4½), showing drag chain and double-pronged drag attached]

When the carcass of a domestic animal, deer, or other prey found in a control area shows unmistakably that a mountain-lion did the killing, at least three traps should be set around it, each 15 to 20 inches away. When the carcass is found lying on its side (Fig. 2.) one trap should be set, as later described, between the fore and hind legs, another near the rump, and a third near the back and parallel with the loin. These traps constitute a carcass set and require no lure other than the carcass. Frequently it is well to set a fourth trap 6 to 8 feet away if tracks show the exact route taken by the lion in approaching or leaving the carcass.

Caution.--Trappers, especially when using the No. 4½ trap, should take every needed precaution to safeguard livestock and valuable or harmless wild animals; and, where necessary, should post signs to warn human beings.

Use of Lures

Traps set along a trail and near an obstruction meant to divert the mountain-lion close to a scratch hill, are only partly successful. The trapper may, however, take advantage of the mountain-lion's keen sense of smell by dropping a few drops of oil of catnip in the center of the undisturbed scratch hill, as a lure.

Part 2

Why catnip is so attractive to members of the feline family is not yet fully known. Experiments have indicated that it produces sexual excitation and also that it has a soothing effect on the nervous system, similar to that of opiates on man. In some of the larger circuses catnip has been used for years in gentling animals of the cat family. The use of catnip oil in this country to lure members of this family within trapping distance has been remarkably effective.

Figure 2.--Quarry of mountain-lion. A carcass found on its side, as illustrated, furnishes an excellent opportunity for making a carcass set of three or more traps, 15 to 20 inches away]

When pure catnip oil is obtainable it should be used, diluted with pure petrolatum, in the proportion of 40 drops of the catnip oil to 2 ounces of petrolatum. A catnip lure so placed that it will last a long time has been experimented with by members of the Provincial Game Conservation Board of British Columbia, and later by the writer in the United States. Prepared as follows, it promises to increase the effectiveness of trapping in mountain-lion control:

The petrolatum-diluted catnip oil is smeared thinly over a piece of cotton batting about 8 inches square, and this is covered with another piece of the same size. The catnip-oil sandwich thus made is placed on an ordinary tin pie plate, brown in color, so that the bottom will be inconspicuous against the bark of a tree. Two or three feet from the ground a tree is blazed to make the sap flow, the cut being made in the shape of the plate. The plate is spiked over this blaze, with the batting next to the tree so that the cotton will be kept moist by the sap. To prevent its being torn out by a bear, the plate should fit snugly into the cut, the lower edge flush with the bark. The bottom of the plate should be perforated with small holes made with a shingle nail, so that the scent will escape slowly. The plate should be shaded from the sun as much as possible.

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