150 THE PUMA. 



accustomed, and which was a positive terror to the rapacious animal. A caged leopard has 

 displayed a similar uneasiness at a fixed gaze of a spectator, and has finally been so quelled 

 that in its restless walk it dared not turn its face towards its persecutor. 



Although it is not an object of personal dread to the civilized inhabitants of the forest 

 lands, the Puma is a pestilent neighbor to the farmer, committing sad havoc among his flocks 

 and herds, and acting with such consummate craft, that it can seldom be arrested in the act of 

 destruction, or precluded from achieving it. No less than fifty sheep have fallen victims 

 to the Puma in a singlD night. It is not, however, the lot of every Puma to reside in the 

 neighborhood of such easy prey as pigs, sheep, and poultry, and the greater number of these 

 animals are forced to depend for their subsistence on their own success in chasing or surprising 

 the various animals on which they feed. As is the case with the jaguar, the Puma is specially 

 fond of the capybara and the peccary, and makes a meal on many smaller deer than even the 

 latter animal. 



Such creatures as are unfortunate enough to please the taste of the Puma, are nearly always 

 taken by surprise, and struck down before they are even aware of the vicinity of their tawny 

 foe. The Puma loves to hide upon the branches of trees, and from that eminence to launch 

 itself upon the doomed animal that may pass within reach of its active laap and its death- 

 dealing paw. 



While thus lying upon the branches, the creature is almost invisible from below, as its fur 

 harmonizes so well with the brown bark which covers the boughs, that the one can scarcely be 

 distinguished from the other. Even when imprisoned within the limits of a cage, where the 

 eye has no great range of objects for inspection, the Puma will often lie so closely pressed 

 against a shelf, or flattened upon the thick boughs which are placed in its cell, that the cage 

 appears at first sight to be empty, even though the spectator may have come to it with the 

 express object of inspecting the inhabitants. It may therefore be easily imagined how 

 treacherous a foe the Puma may be when ranging at will among the countless trees of an 

 American forest. 



The flesh of this animal is said, by those who have made trial of it, .to be a pleasant 

 addition to the diet scale, being white, tender, and of good flavor. When taken young, 

 the Puma is peculiarly susceptible of domestication, and has been known to follow its master 

 just like a dog. The hunters of the Pampas are expert Puma slayers, and achieve their end 

 either by catching the bewildered animal with a lasso, and then galloping off with the poor 

 creature hanging at the end of the leather cord, or by flinging the celebrated bolas metal balls 

 or stones fastened to a rope at the Puma, and laying it senseless on the ground with a blow 

 from the heavy weapon. 



The Puma is the largest and most powerful of the North American cats, if we except the 

 jaguar, which is more properly a southern species, being found mostly in South America, and 

 as far north, occasionally, as Eastern Texas. Its entire range is from the extreme south of 

 the continent, at the Straits of Magellan, to the northern portion of the State of New 

 York. It has been quite common along the great range of the Blue Ridge, and northward 

 to the Catskills and Adirondacks, but is rarely found north of this region. Before the 

 settlement of the country, it ranged over all the New England States. It reaches in size 

 the dimensions of the largest dog, and weighs about 150 pounds, the heaviest recorded being 

 200 pounds. It is cowardly, though possessing great strength and ferocity, approaching its 

 prey stealthily. 



Some interesting facts are recorded by Dr. Merriam in his work on the Mammals of the 

 Adirondacks. He says : " The distance that a panther can pass over in a single leap is almost 

 incredible. On level ground, a single spring of twenty feet is by no means uncommon, and 

 on one occasion Mr. Sheppard measured a leap, over snow, of nearly forty feet. In this 

 instance, there were three preliminary springs, and the panther struck his deer on the fourth. 

 The longest leap measured by Mr. Sheppard was one of sixty feet, but here the panther 

 jumped from a ledge of rocks about twenty feet above the level \ipon which the deer was 

 standing. He struck it with such force as to knock it nearly a rod further off." 



In the winter, when snow is so deep as to obstruct the travelling of deer, the great feet of 



