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Page Seventy-four

formance of getting rid of these
killers.

From Dewar, well versed in the lore
of the bush and a dog trainer par ex-
cellence, I learned a lot about the
cougar problem and the cougar him-
self.

While a few are trapped, the ma-
jority are trailed with a pack of two
or three dogs. If steadily pursued Mr.
cat will eventually take to a tree and,
if the dogs stick around, he’ll stay put
until the hunter puts in an appear-
ance,

Real Danger for Impatient Dogs

Occasionally, one won’t tree—usu-
ally a female with kittens—and
dives into a patch of underbrush.
Here there is real danger for im-
patient dogs if they mix it, for the
cougar’s razor-like claws will slice
through the side of a dog, ribs and all.

When I called on him, Jimmy
Dewar had five fully trained dogs
ready to take the trail at a minute’s
notice, and seven partially trained.
Nine graduates have been sent out
to game wardens to work in the
field. The dogs are housed in ten
up-to-date kennels, each with it’s own
wired-in runway, 40 feet long and ten
feet wide.

These dogs are a special breed, a
cross of bloodhound and English fox-
hound. Most of the pack leaders were
bought from Lee Brothers in Tucson,
Arizona, cougar hunters themselves
and hound experts renowned through-
out the Southwest.

This cross gives the ideal trailing
hound, with a good voice, plenty of
stamina, good legs and feet, and above
all a good nose.

Training Starts at Five Months

Training starts at five months with
puppies, and should continue until
the dog is two years old.

For training the pups are taken out
over a simulated trail, and with a
world of enthusiasm the gangly
youngsters start out after a make-
believe cat.

“They've got a lot to learn the first
few months,” Dewar said, “and the
first thing they learn is to ignore deer.
You've got to teach them to stay at
the tree where the trail ends and not
get distracted and wander off. If they
do that, then Mr. Cat slips down
and he’s on his way again.”

Backward youngsters make up a
lot of ground by working in company
with older dogs. Dewar told me that
better dogs were needed for Van-
couver Island than other parts of the
province. Off the beaten track it’s a
rough country.

Dogs Cost $500 to $600

Some of the pack at Extension cost
the government five or six hundred
dollars. Not expensive compared to

some of the top sporting breeds show
at dog shows and field trials. An
these cougar hounds earn their kee

Dewar put it this way: “You ca
chase a house cat with a poodle-
sometimes. But when you want {
chase every cat you've got to haye
cat-chasing dog. It takes a one hu
dred per cent dog to trail a coug:
in the summer when the scent doesn
last.”

To Jimmy Dewar the technique ;
trailing is an open book. He’s bee
doing it for twenty years.

And knowing his dogs, he speal
of their exploits with a good deal ;
pride. Now and again in conversatio
he lets drop the term “sparing th

Specializing in Children’s Wear
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WESTVIEW

B.C.

Earl Jacobson Don Luther

Powell River Motors Ltd.

General Mctors Sales and Service
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3rd and Joyce Westview, B.C.

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FISH AND GAME — SUMMER ISSUE