24 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



anteater in being exclusively a forest dweller ; it 

 chases its prey nimbly from tree to tree like a 

 miniature jaguar, and in the neighbourhoods of the 

 settlements makes havoc amongst the poultry. No 

 instance of even the large wild individuals attacking 

 man appears to have been recorded ; it is, however, 

 savage enough for its size, and children have been 

 severely mauled by "tame" ocelots. Moreover, if 

 two individuals are caged together the weaker one 

 is very liable to become the victim, and even the 

 repast of his cagemate ! These animals are said to 

 be daring enough to carry off game shot by a hunter 

 before his very eyes ; they seem to range with 

 impunity through very uncomfortable thickets, since 

 a specimen was obtained on the Rio Bravo whose 

 skin was fairly lined with cactus thorns, lying flat 

 and apparently setting up no inflammation. 



The ocelot appears to have been first mentioned 

 by the Spaniard Hernandez, who styled it the 

 "catus pardus Mexicanus." He gives tlacoozelotl 

 and thalocelotl as the Mexican name, of which the 

 word " ocelot" is said to be a corruption; in some 

 parts of America this cat is known as the zorrillero. 

 The first specimens all seem to have been observed 

 in Central America ; Linnaeus described the animal 

 in the I2th edition of his "Systema Naturae" under 

 the name of Felis pardalis, and notices a Mexican 

 example. Since then the ocelot has often been 

 imported alive into this country ; indeed, one or two 



