Boy Scouts Handbook Part 36

The cottontails do not turn white in winter. They are found in most parts of the United States, entering Canada only in the Ontario peninsula and southern Saskatchewan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cottontail]

Cougar or Panther (_Felis couguar_)

The cougar has been called the American lion; it is the largest cat in the western world except the jaguar or American {138} tiger. It is known by its unspotted brown coat, its long, heavy tail, and its size.

A male cougar weighs one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds; a few have been taken over that. The females are a third smaller. The young in first coat have black spots.

The cougar never attacks man but preys on deer, horses, calves, etc.

There are several different forms; one or other of these is (or was) found from Ottawa, Minnesota, and Vancouver Island to Patagonia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cougar]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lynx]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Wild cat or bob cat]

Wild Cat or Bob Cat (_Lynx rufus_)

This is somewhat like the Canada lynx but is more spotted, has smaller feet, and the tail has several dark bars above and is pure white on the under side of the tip.

There are several species of bob cats; they cover the timbered states and enter Canada in Ontario, going north to Lake Simcoe.

Fox (_Vulpes fulvus_)

The fox is about four feet from snout to tail tip; of this the tail is sixteen inches or more; it stands about fifteen inches at the shoulder. It rarely weighs over fifteen pounds and sometimes barely ten. The fox is known by its bright, sandy-red coat, black ears and paws, its white throat, and the white tip at the end of the tail. At a distance the fox's ears and tail look very large. The silver or black fox is a mere color freak with black coat and white tail tip. Red foxes are found throughout the heavily timbered parts of North America north of lat.i.tude thirty-five degrees.

Gray Wolf (_Canis occidentalis_)

The wolf is simply a big wild dog with exceptionally strong jaws and general gray color, becoming dirty white on the under part. The wolf is found in all parts of North America, except where settlement has driven it out, and varies in color with locality. The Florida wolves are black, Texan wolves are reddish, and Arctic wolves are white.

Wolves weigh from {139} seventy-five to one hundred and twenty pounds and are distinguishable from coyotes by the heavy muzzle and jaws, greater size, and comparatively small tail, which is often held aloft.

Wolves nowadays rarely molest man.

Coyote (_Canis latrans_)

The common coyote is like a small and delicate edition of the gray wolf. It is much smaller, weighing only twenty to thirty pounds, and is distinguished by its sharp, fox-like muzzle and large bushy tail, which is rarely raised to the level. In color it is much like the ordinary gray wolf but usually more tinged with yellow. It is found in all the interior country from Wisconsin to Oregon and from Mexico to Great Slave Lake. There are several different varieties. It never attacks man.

Otter (_Lutra canadensis_)

The otter is a large water weasel with close, dense, shiny fur and webbed feet. It is known by its color--dark brown above shaded into dark gray below and white on the cheeks without any markings--and by its size. It is about forty inches long and weighs about twenty pounds. It is found throughout North America within the limit of trees. Its fur is very valuable. It feeds on fish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Otter]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Weasel]

Weasel (_Putorius noveboracensis_)

The common weasel of New England is about the size of a big rat; that is, it is sixteen inches long and all brown with the exception of white chin, throat, breast, and paws, and black tip to the tail. In winter it turns white except the tail tip; that does not change.

The whole continent is inhabited by weasels of one kind or another. To the north there is a smaller kind with shorter tail; on the prairies a large kind with a very long tail; but all are of the same general style and habits. A very small one, {140} the least weasel, is only six inches long. It is found chiefly in Canada.

Mink (_Putorius vison_)

The mink is simply a water weasel. It is known by its size, larger than that of a common weasel, as it is twenty-four inches long of which the tail is seven inches; also by its deep brown color all over except the throat and chin which are pure white. Its fur is brown, harder and glossier than that of the marten, and worth about a quarter as much. It does not turn white in the winter. One form or another of mink is found over all the unarid parts of North America from the north limit of trees to the Gulf of Mexico.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mink]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Skunk]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Badger]

Skunk (_Mephitis mephitica_)

The skunk is known at once by its black coat with white stripes, its immense bushy tail tipped with white, and its size, nearly that of a cat. It weighs three to seven pounds. It ranges from Virginia to Hudson Bay. In the Northwest is a larger kind weighing twice as much and with black tip to tail. Various kinds range over the continent south of lat.i.tude 55 degrees. It is harmless and beautiful. The smell gun for which it is famous is a liquid musk; this is never used except in the extreme of self-defence.

Badger (_Taxidea taxus_)

The common badger is known by its general whitish-gray color, the black and white markings on the head, the black paws, and the strong claws for digging. It weighs from twelve to twenty-two pounds. That is, it is about the size of a 'c.o.o.n. {141} It is found in all the prairie and plains country from the Saskatchewan Valley to Mexico and from Wisconsin to the Pacific.

Racc.o.o.n (_Procyon lotor_)

The 'c.o.o.n looks like a small gray bear with a bushy ringed tail and a large black patch on each eye. Its paws look like hands, and it has the full number of five fingers or toes on each extremity. It is found in all wooded regions from Manitoba south to Mexico and from Atlantic to Pacific, except the desert and Rocky Mountain region.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rac.o.o.n]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Opossum]