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<h2> CHAPTER XXIX Yowler and His Cousin Tufty </h2>
<p>Jumper the Hare arrived at school a little late and quite out of breath
from hurrying. His big soft eyes were shining with excitement. "You look
as though you had had an adventure, Jumper," said Old Mother Nature.</p>
<p>"I have," replied Jumper. "It is a wonder I am here at all; I came to near
furnishing Yowler the Bob Cat a breakfast that it makes me shiver just to
think of it. I guess if I hadn't been thinking about him, he would have
caught me."</p>
<p>"Tell us all about it," demanded Old Mother Nature.</p>
<p>"Seeing Black Pussy over here yesterday, and knowing that to-day's lesson
was to be about Yowler, I couldn't get cats out of my mind all day
yesterday," began Jumper. "Black Pussy doesn't worry me, but I must
confess that if there is any one I fear, it is Yowler the Bob Cat. Just
thinking about him make me nervous. The more I tried not to think about
him, the more I did think about him, and the more I thought about him, the
more nervous I got. Then just before dark, on the bank of the Laughing
Brook, I found some tracks in the mud. Those tracks were almost round, and
that fact was enough to tell me who had made them. They were Yowler's
footprints, and they hadn't been made very long.</p>
<p>"Of course, seeing those footprints made me more nervous than ever, and
every time I saw a leaf move I jumped inside. My heart felt as if it were
up in my throat most of the time. I had a feeling that Yowler wasn't far
away. I hate that Cat! I hate the way he hunts! He goes sneaking about,
without making a sound, or else he lies in wait, ready to spring without
warning on the first one who happens along. A fellow never knows where to
watch out for Yowler.</p>
<p>"I spent nearly all night sitting under a little hemlock tree with
branches very close to the ground. I sat there because I didn't dare do
anything else. As long as I stayed there I felt reasonably safe, because
Yowler would have to find me, and to do that he would have to cross an
open place where I could see him. I knew that if I went roaming about I
might walk right into his clutches.</p>
<p>"It was lucky I had sense enough to stay there. You know the moon was very
bright last night. It made that open place in front of where I was hiding
almost as light as day. Once I closed my eyes for just a minute. When I
opened them, there was Yowler sneaking across that open place. Where he
had come from, I don't know. He hadn't made a sound. Not a leaf rustled
under his big feet. Right in the middle of that open place, where the
moonlight was brightest, he stopped to listen, and I simply held my
breath."</p>
<p>"Tell us how he looked," prompted Old Mother Nature.</p>
<p>"He looked just like what he is—a big Cat with a short tail,"
replied Jumper. "Just to look at him any one would know he was own cousin
to Black Pussy. He had a round head, rather long legs, and was about twice
as big as Black Pussy. His feet looked big, even for him. On the tips of
his ears were a few long black hairs. His coat was yellowish to
reddish-brown, with dark spots on it. His chin and throat were white, and
underneath he was white spotted with black. There were spots all down his
legs. He didn't have enough of a tail to call it a tail. It was whitish on
the under side and had black stripes on the upper side, and all the time
he kept twitching it just the way Black Pussy twitches her tail when she
is out hunting. All of a sudden he opened his mouth and gave such a yell
that it is a wonder I didn't jump out of my skin. It frightened me so that
I couldn't have moved if I had wanted to, which was a lucky thing for me.
The instant he yelled he cocked his head on one side and listened. That
yell must have wakened somebody and caused them to move, for Yowler turned
suddenly and crept swiftly and without a sound out of sight. A minute
later I heard a jump, and then I heard a fluttering. I think he caught one
of the Grouse family."</p>
<p>"Yelling that way is one of Yowler's tricks," explained Old Mother Nature.
"He does it for the same reason Hooty the Owl hoots. He hopes that it will
startle some sleeper so that they will move. If they do, his keen ears are
sure to hear it. Was that all of your adventure, Jumper?"</p>
<p>"No," replied Jumper. "I remained right where I was for the rest of the
night. Just as daylight was beginning to steal through the Green Forest, I
decided that it was safe to leave my hiding place and come over here.
Half-way here I stopped for a few minutes in a thick clump of ferns. I was
just about to start on again when I caught sight of something moving just
back of an old stump. It was that foolish looking tail of Yowler's. Had he
kept it still I wouldn't have seen him at all; but he was twitching it
back and forth. He was crouched down close to the ground with all four
feet drawn close together under him. There he crouched, and there I sat
for the longest time. I didn't move, and he didn't move, save that foolish
looking tail of his. I had begun to think that I would have to stay in
that clump of ferns all day when suddenly Yowler sprang like a flash.
There was a little squeak, and then I saw Yowler trot away with a Mouse in
his mouth. I guess he must have seen that Mouse go in a hole and knew that
if he waited long enough it would come out again. As soon as Yowler
disappeared I hurried over here. That's all."</p>
<p>"That was a splendid account of Yowler and his way of hunting," said Old
Mother Nature. "He does most of his hunting in just that way, sneaking
about on the chance of surprising a Rabbit, Bird or Mouse, or else
patiently watching and waiting beside a hole in which he knows some one
has taken refuge. He hunts in the Green Forest exactly as Black Pussy,
Farmer Brown's Cat, hunts Mice in the barn or Birds in the Old Orchard. In
the spring Yowler destroys many eggs and young birds, not only those found
in nests on the ground, but also those in nests in trees, for he is a
splendid climber.</p>
<p>"Yowler is found in nearly all of the swampy, brushy and wooded parts of
the whole country, excepting in the great forests of the Far North, where
his cousin Tufty the Lynx lives. Yowler is himself a Lynx, the Bay Lynx.
In some places he is called simply Wild Cat. In others he is called the
Catamount. He is not so fond of the thick forests as he is of swamps,
brush-grown hillsides, old pastures and places where there are great
masses of briars. Rocky ledges where there are caves in which to hide and
plenty of brush also suit him. He is a coward, but when cornered will
fight, though he will run from a little Dog half his size and take to a
tree. In the South he is quite common and there often steals Chickens and
Turkeys, even young Pigs. He prefers to hunt at night, but sometimes is
seen in broad daylight. Mrs. Yowler's kittens are born in a cave or in a
hollow tree. Despite the fact that he is an expert climber, Yowler spends
most of his time on the ground and is one of the worst enemies of Rabbits,
Mice, Squirrels and ground Birds.</p>
<p>"In the great forests of the Far North lives Yowler's cousin, Tufty the
Canada Lynx, also called Loup Cervier and Lucivee. He is nearly a third
larger than Yowler. From the tip of each ear long tufts of black hair
stand up. On each side of his face is a ruff of long hair. His tail is
even shorter than Yowler's, and the tip of it is always wholly black. His
general color is gray, mottled with brown. His face ruff is white with
black border. Yowler's feet are large, but Tufty's are immense for his
size. This is because Tufty lives where the snow lies deep for many
months, and these big, broad feet enable him to travel about on the snow
without breaking through. He can travel with ease where Reddy Fox, not
half his size and weight, would break through at every step. Tufty's ways
are much like those of his cousin, Yowler, save that he is a dweller in
the deep woods. Anything he can catch is food for Tufty, but his principal
food is the Northern Hare. The color of his coat blends with the shadows
so that he seems like a living shadow himself. In summer food is
plentiful, and Tufty lives well, but in winder Tufty has hard work to get
enough. Rarely does he know what a full stomach means then. Like Howler he
can go a surprising length of time without food and still retain his
strength. At that time of year he is a great traveler. He has to be, in
order to live.</p>
<p>"There is no fiercer looking animal in all the Green Forest than Tufty the
Lynx, but despite this he is, like most Cats, cowardly. Only when cornered
will he fight. He is possessed of a lively curiosity, and often he will
stealthily follow a hunter or trapper for miles. The fur of his coat is
very long and handsome, and he is hunted and trapped for this. As he lives
for the most part far from the homes of men, he does less damage to man
than does his cousin, Yowler the Bob Cat. Tufty must depend wholly for his
living on the little people of the Green Forest. Sometimes he will attack
a Fox. The pretty little spotted babies of Lightfoot the Deer are victims
whenever he can find them.</p>
<p>"The darker and deeper the Green Forest, the better Tufty likes it. He
makes his den under great tangles of fallen trees or similar places. Mr.
And Mrs. Tufty often hunt together, and in early winter the whole family
often join in the hunt.</p>
<p>"Yowler and Tufty are the only members of the Cat family now found in the
eastern part of the country. Formerly, their big cousin, Puma the Panther,
lived in the East, but he has been so hunted by man that now he is found
only in the mountains of the Far West and in a few of the wildest places
in the South. I will tell you about him to-morrow."</p>
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