Hunt the Mountain Lion

by Gus Tavo

After he begins losing horses to mountain lion attacks, a rancher hires a father and son duo to kill as many cats as they can. Their top quarry is Old Murder, a crafty and elusive older lion with a crippled paw.

209 pages, Library Binding

First published September 22, 1959

About the author

Gus Tavo is the pseudonym for Martha and Gustave Ivan. Gustave Ivan was born in Budapest, Hungary. After he came to the United States, he worked mostly as a mural painter and traveled extensively throughout the country. Eventually, he became an art professor at Kilgore College, where he met and married Martha, then the chairman of the English Department. Following his retirement, they began to collaborate on novels for young people, beginning with the publication of Hunt the Mountain Lion.

Reviews

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just to be clear, the first word in the title is a verb, not a name. It was strange to read about the other, decidedly unsympathetic side of cougar hunts after reading Yellow Eyes. I still really enjoyed it, though. Despite the wanton killing of big cats, I appreciated the father/son bond and loved the descriptions of the boy's beloved colt, Bravo, and said colt's searing, violent hatred of the predators. I also appreciated that none of the dogs died.