1 64 



THE FLESH EATERS 



the most beautiful of animals and ranges the dense 

 jungles of Asia, Africa, and the Indian Archipelago. The 

 black leopard is one of the most ferocious of the tribe, 

 almost the only cat that can not be tamed or is not amen- 

 able to kindness. 



The ounce is as large as the leopard and is an allied 

 form. In America the largest cat is the jaguar (Fig. 146), 

 the tiger of America, ranking third from the lion in size, 



power, and ferocity. 

 What the tiger is to In- 

 dia, this beautiful leop- 

 ardlike cat is to South 

 America, which is at its 

 best in the deep forests 

 of the Amazon, preying 

 upon all animals. It finds 

 its way into Texas and 

 New Mexico and as far 



Fig. 146, — The Jaguar. 



north as the Red River in Louisiana. Everywhere it is 

 dreaded by man and beast. 



The typical big cat of North America is the panther 

 (Fig. 147). It has a remarkable range from the far North 

 to Patagonia. In the East and in Florida, where I have 

 known it to swim out to small keys to steal the pigs of a 

 planter, it is the cougar. In the Adirondacks it is the 

 panther. In the Southwest it is the mountain lion, a 

 vigorous and cunning hunter, but more cowardly than 

 a lion when faced by man. Its principal prey is deer, to 

 obtain which it makes remarkable leaps of forty or fifty 

 feet from an elevation. 



Among the minor carnivora the ordinary cat and the 



