MAMMALS. ,;<)-) 



The other of the Old- World cats must be summarily dismissed ; the 

 ounce, the various tiger-cats, the wild-cat, the jungle-cat, and all the rest, 

 can only be mentioned. Even domestic pussy can have but a few Lines. 

 It is uncertain from what wild species this form has descended. It was 

 tamed as long ago as any records extend, and it may be that the wild-cal 

 of the Old World was the ancestral form, though the probabilities are 

 against this view. It is a remarkable fact that the cats vary less in domes- 

 tication than does the dog. Of the latter animal the breeds arc numerous; 

 but with the cat there are but few distinct types, and sonic of these will not 

 breed true. Cats occasionally take to the forests, forget all the long line 

 of domesticated ancestors, and live a life as wild as any other form. 



Of the cats of America, the puma is the most widely distributed. It 

 ranges from Patagonia north to Hudson Bay. It has a list of names 

 almost as large as its range ; cougar, panther, painter, catamount, carcajou, 

 American lion, and a dozen others are applied to it. It figures largel} r in 

 all the romance of our American forests, and as a result no little exagger- 

 ation has been gathered about it. Dr. Merriam has some interesting notes 

 on these points. As to size, after giving some fabulous accounts, he says : 

 " To those that are inclined to credit such statements I have only to say : 

 measure off eleven feet on your floor ; place the largest panther you ever 

 saw on this line, and then tell me on what part of the beast you would 

 ' annex' or 'splice on' the three or more additional feet." He is equally 

 sceptical as to the celebrated scream of the panther ; its jumping from its 

 lurking-place in the branches of a tree to the back of a passing deer ; and 

 the oft-repeatepl stories of them carrying off their prey slung upon the 

 back. He also denies the ferocity of the beast, and truly adds that " it is 

 now well known that the panther is one of the most cowardly of beasts, 

 never attacking man unless wounded and cornered ; that it is unnecessary 

 to do more than contradict the popular impression to the contrary. 



In reality the puma steals upon its prey (largely deer) as closely as 

 possible, and then when thirty or forty feet away, begins its leaps. Usu- 

 ally there are one or two preliminary leaps before the final one, which is 

 sometimes of almost incredible length. Twenty feet is not an uncommon 

 spring on level ground, and leaps of nearly forty feet have been measured. 

 If the panther does not strike its game the first time, it but rarely makes 

 an attempt to follow it. 



A larger animal is the jaguar; indeed, it stands second only to the lion 

 and tiger in size and strength. Fortunately for us it does not range 

 farther north than Texas and Louisiana, but south of those states its 

 distribution is almost co-extensive with that of the puma. It is a fierce 

 animal, and its great strength makes it the terror of all tropical portions of 



