io THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



There are many points in the habits of the Puma which are 

 of especial interest. One of them is its reluctance, even when 

 hunted down, to attack man. W. H. Hudson, in his charming 

 book The Naturalist in La Plata, writes as follows in this con- 

 nection: " It does not attack man, and Azara is perfectly correct 

 when he affirms that it never hurts, or threatens to hurt, man 

 or child, even when it finds them sleeping. This, however, is 

 not a full statement of the facts; the Puma will not even defend 

 itself against man." In spite of this apparent timidity, however, 

 the Puma is a hunter of no mean capacity, and attacks large 

 animals in preference to small. Horseflesh is a particularly 

 favourite article of diet, and introduced horses maintain them- 

 selves with such extreme difficulty in the puma-haunted regions 

 of America, that Hudson thinks this throws some light upon 

 the remarkable fact that the wild horses, which were once so 

 common on the American continent as indigenous forms, all 

 became extinct despite the favourable conditions as regards food 

 and climate. The Puma is further of interest as being an example 

 of an animal possessing a wide geographical range, in this case 

 practically the whole of America, and its habits vary according 

 to the nature of the surroundings. For the most part it pursues 

 animals which live upon the ground, but in the forest regions 

 of South America has been seen chasing monkeys among the 

 trees. 



While the largest of the Cat Family, i.e. the Lion and Tiger, 

 either do not climb at all, or do so to a very small extent, and 

 the Puma is not a thorough -going climber, there are a large 

 number of allied species both large and small which largely ex- 

 tend their sphere of operations by the assumption of a climbing 

 habit. Here are included such forms as the Jaguars of the 

 New World, and the Leopards, Lynxes, and Small Cats of the 

 Old. In all these cases the fur is more or less spotted or mottled 

 in such a way as to harmonize with foliage, and render the animals 

 inconspicuous (fig. 306). All the members of the Cat Family so 

 far mentioned, when attacking prey possessed of great powers 

 of speed, mainly rely upon a stealthy approach terminating in a 

 sudden rush or spring ; but the Cheetahs or Hitnting Leopards 

 (fig. 308) pursue different tactics. It is true that these long-legged 

 creatures approach to within a reasonable distance of such animals 

 as antelopes or deer by stalking them, but so fleet are they them- 



