FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Red phase. — Rather uniform rusty red sprinkled with black- 

 ish on back; head and legs not so reddish, browner; whitish 

 usually on lips and throat. 



Measurements. — Males somewhat larger than females. 

 Total length, about 42 inches; tail vertebrse, 20 inches; hind 

 foot, 5.5 inches. 



Geographical Distribution. — Southern in distribution and 

 reaching the United States only in extreme southern Texas. 



Food. — Small mammals, birds, and possibly some aquatic 

 life such as fish, frogs, etc. 



Enemies. — Probably very few because of ability to escape 

 the larger carnivores. 



******* 



Only one species of this group of Cats reaches the United 

 States, but to the southward the Jaguarundis are found 

 throughout Central America and a large part of South America. 



Bailey, in his Biological Survey of Texas, North American 

 Fauna, No. 25, p. 168, quoting a letter from F. B. Armstrong, 

 writes : 



"Eyra and yaguarundi cats inhabit the densest thickets 

 where the timber (mesquite) is not very high, but the under- 

 brush — catsclaw and granjeno — is very thick and impene- 

 trable for any large-sized animal. Their food is mice, rats, 

 birds, and rabbits. Their slender bodies and agile movements 

 enable them to capture their prey in the thickest of places. 

 They climb trees, as I have shot them out of trees at night by 

 'shining their eyes' while deer hunting. I captured them by 

 burying traps at intervals along the trails that run through 

 these thick places. I don't think they have any regular time 

 for breeding, as I have seen young in both summer and winter, 

 born probably in August and March. They move around a 

 good deal in daytime, as I have often seen them come down to 

 a pond to drink at midday, and often see them dart through 

 the brush in daytime. They are exceedingly hard to tame. 

 Their habitat is from the Rio Grande, 40 miles north of here 

 (Brownsville), as far as Tampico, Mexico. Beyond that I 

 don't know." 



Genus Lynx 

 Dentition: Incisors, f ; Canines, ^; Premolars, |; Molars, | = 28. 



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