THE OCELOT CAT 



" I have wisht them farther off, when I have met them in the 

 woods because their aspect appears so very stately and fierce." 



Capt. William Dampier on the Ocelot, A.D. 1729. 



Clever and cunning, strong-limbed and handsome, 

 the beautiful ocelot of Central and South America 

 occupies a place amongst its furred brethren com- 

 parable only to that held by the sable antelope 

 amongst ungulates, or by the Prevost squirrel 

 amongst the rodentia. As the clouded tiger is the 

 smallest of the big cats, so is the ocelot the biggest 

 of the small cats; and is indeed by no means an 

 animal to be lightly tackled, some individuals being 

 as large as a small leopard. It varies in size with 

 its geographical distribution, being small near the 

 Equator, and attaining its largest dimensions north 

 and south of that line. The small ocelots are about as 

 large as a European wild cat : as regards markings, 

 there are no two the same, and in addition each 

 individual, like the Cape hunting-dog, is differently 

 patterned on either side of the body. 



The ocelot (Felis pardalis], though resembling a 

 leopard, has the legs and tail of variable length; the 

 latter, however, always measures less than the head 

 and body combined. Some specimens are stoutly 

 built, with broad heads and short legs; others are 

 "lanky, long, and lean." Wonderfully instable in 



