PUMAS AND JAGUABS 85 



indeed does it fail to get the better in any light. It also 

 has a violent dislike to dogs, and in South America can 

 never see one without flying out to attack it, while the 

 grizzly bear is its deadly foe. But, on the other hand, in 

 the great continent of South America it shows its best 

 qualities. It loves man, and even when attacked by him 

 will not defend itself, while in puma-haunted districts 

 children may even sleep all night alone, without fear of 

 harm. And not only children, for travellers tell us a 

 puma has never been known to attack a sleeping man. 



It is a great pity that pumas are so fond of killing 

 tame and useful beasts, as they have many delightful 

 qualities as pets. Pumas are very playful, and very affec- 

 tionate and gentle to people and children ; but they are 

 rapidly being hunted down, as farmers find it quite 

 impossible to keep any cattle in their neighbourhood. 

 Between their courage and their wonderful powers of 

 jumping, no animals are safe from them. Some witnesses 

 have declared that pumas have been seen, when pursued 

 by dogs, to spring a clear twenty feet into the air for shelter 

 in a tree, while another leap of forty feet was measured 

 on the ground. In Patagonia, a farmer who had suffered 

 much from a puma's appetite shut all his sheep into a 

 huge fold, surrounded by a wooden paling fifteen feet high. 

 The only entrance was by a six-foot gate, and, to make all 

 secure, men and dogs were told off to watch. But the puma 

 was too clever for them all ! He seized his chance when 

 any clouds came up to make the darkness thicker, and every 

 morning one sheep at least was found with a dislocated 

 neck, and its breast eaten, for this is the way a puma 

 always kills its prey, and, except when very hungry, it 

 never eats the whole carcass. One night, the naturalist l 

 who tells the story was passing by the gate, when the 

 robber sprang right over his head, but it was too dark to 

 give chase, so the puma got away safely. Afterwards, it 



1 Hudson. 



