108 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
Throughout its range, be it north or be it south, the Puma 
is a terrible foe to stock-ratf@fng of all kinds; and, although in 
North America it is reported only to attack such adult Horses 
and cattle as are maimed, feeble, or mired, the number of 
colts and calves it will destroy, to say nothing of Sheep, is 
almost incredible. In South America, however, Mr. Hudscn 
states that it not unfrequently kills full-grown Horses and 
cattle. Pigs are likewise killed in great numbers by these 
insatiate marauders. In certain districts, indeed, as in the 
Shasta County Hills of California, horse-breeding became at 
one time practically impossible owing to the ravages of Pumas ; 
and much the same state of affairs has been reported from parts 
of Patagonia. The enmity existing in South America between 
the Puma and the Jaguar, and how the latter is either killed or 
terribly mauled by its less powerful but more active antagonist, 
has been already alluded to under the heading of the species 
last named. 
In spite of its otherwise ferocious and bloodthirsty nature, 
the most curious trait in the habits of the animal under con- 
sideration is the rarity with which it attacks human beings, 
unless driven into a corner or otherwise provoked ; this being 
fully attested by observations made both in North and South 
America. This, however, is not all; for in the latter country, 
according to Mr. Hudson, it not only never attacks Man, but 
has been known to defend him against the assaults of other 
animals. In countries where trees and rocks abound, it is the 
general habit of the Puma to spring upon his prey from an 
elevation ; and if it fails to strike its victim at the first bound, 
the pursuit is generally atonce abandoned. From an elevation 
of twenty feet, one of these animals has been known to spring 
upon a Deer upwards of sixty feet distant at one bound ; the 
impetus knocking the quarry a distance of several yards 
farther. During the winter in the Northern United States, Dr, 
