What happens
Ranger Bill and his old friend Stumpy track a cougar known as Ole Three Toes after it has been preying on sheep on Elmer and Ellis's ranch. Along the way they clash with George, a hunter working for the ranchers who has been hunting inside a protected cougar reservation. Bill argues that the protected area is legal and that deer overpopulation causes its own damage. Stumpy and Bill then set out with young Ellis to find the animal's trail, where they find a track that points to an old, slow cat. The hunt grows tense as the cougar stalks them, and the men must decide how to handle the situation.
The shady mountains and river valley, a sheep ranch near a cougar reservation, early in the year.
Characters: Ranger Bill, Stumpy, Ellis, Elmer, George, Alice
Listen for: The debate between Bill and the ranchers over the cougar reservation and the deer population, and the tracking of the cougar at the end.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.