FELTS CONCOLOR. ^5 



cinity, feasting and fattening- upon the deer that were unable to 

 escape in the deep snow. 



An adult Panther stands about two and a half feet high at the shoul- 

 ders and is so slender that it generally appears to be very thin and 

 gaunt when in reality it ma}' be quite fat. Either the old males kill the 

 young males (which I do not think probable), or the females greatly 

 preponderate at birth ; for out of twenty-eight killed by, or through 

 the instrumentality of E. L. Sheppard, only five were males. 



The mother commonly has two kittens at a birth, sometimes one, 

 three, or even four. The period of gestation was ascertained to be 

 ninety-seven days in a female observed by the Zoological Society of 

 London. The )-oung are brought forth late in the winter or in early 

 spring, and the lair is usually in a shallow cavern on the face of some 

 inaccessible cliff or ledge of rocks. It is probable that they do not, 

 with us, have young oftener than every other year."' 



Some common fallacies concerning Panthers. 

 I St. Concerning the alleged Fierceness of the PantJier. 



Not only is it customary for the community at large to speak of the 

 terrible danger of encounterino- one of these dreadful and savaQ^e ani- 

 mals, but even many very respectable works upon Natural History con- 

 tain the most detailed and heart-rending accounts of the loss of human 



* William A. Conklin, Esq., Ph. D., has had the kindness to favor me with the following very 

 valuable note concerning the breeding of a female Panther, during a series of years, at the Central 

 Park Menagerie, of which he is director, in New York city. Mr. Conklin writes: " In my experi- 

 ence the period of gestation is thirteen weeks (gi days), and it occasionally, but rarely, exceeds that 

 time by one or two days. I have one Panther that has bred seven times, as follows: 



In her 1st litter were 4 kittens. In her 4th litter were 4 kittens. 



2d " " 4 " " 5lh " " 3 



" 3d " " 2 " " 6th " " 2 " 



In her 7th litter was i kitten. 



Her age, 16 years, at the time of her last litter, and the fact that this female came from Texas, 

 may have some bearing on the number of young produced at a birth. The cubs are born with the 

 eyelids closed; they open after eight or nine days. The incisors and canine teeth cut through the 

 gums in eighteen or twenty days. The body is at first spotted, the spots disappearing in about six 

 months. They are weaned when three months old. The mother carries the young about in her 

 mouth in the same way that a cat does her kittens." 



