48 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



beast. The female is by far the better hunter and 

 does not lose so many deer as the male." 



The puma by no means restricts himself to 

 venison, however, and latterly has been able to 

 get very little of it. He eats rabbits, ground- 

 squirrels, and all the small animals that come in 

 his way, including many sorts of birds, like par- 

 tridges, that nest upon the ground. " Cougars are 

 either particularly fond of porcupines," says Mer- 

 riam, " or else are frequently forced by hunger to 

 make a distasteful meal, for certain it is that large 

 numbers of these beasts are destroyed by them. 

 Indeed, it often happens that a panther is killed 

 whose mouth and lips, and sometimes other parts 

 also, fairly bristle with the quills of this formidable 

 rodent." Even mice are not despised. 



Like other cats it is fond of fish, and can some- 

 times catch them alive. Though not addicted to 

 bathing, it is by no means afraid of the water. 

 Dr. Suckley tells us that one exhibited for several 

 years in San Francisco, a generation ago, was capt- 

 ured by being noosed from a steamboat, while 

 swimming the Columbia River there, a mile and a 

 half wide. Probably reptiles are not refused at 

 a pinch, as the jaguar is known to eat iguanas, and 

 to be fond of the crocodile, which it seizes and con- 

 quers in its native element. Insects and snails, 

 even, do not come amiss. Carrion, however, seems 

 never to be touched, though hunters agree that an 

 animal lately killed by other hands, will be accepted, 



