Cougar Chase: Predator Clash 1929

This 1929 silent film, The Cougar Hunt, examines predator control in the Mountain states, likely Utah’s rugged ranges. A cougar stalks from a tree limb, eyeing sheep scattered across a grassy hillside near woods, while wild horses and turkeys roam nearby. A rancher on a white horse finds two dead animals, bewildered, then a Western Union telegram from Salt Lake City to Salina reports twelve sheep lost. Cowboys in hats set large metal traps and unleash barking hounds to track lion prints. The hunt climaxes as dogs corner the cougar in a tree, and a rifle shot fells it—a stark 1920s tale of man versus beast.