THE MOUNTAIN LION, OCELOTS, LYNXES AND THEIR KIN 



633 



definitely, recall them to mind. I have seen several hides 

 brought in by Papago Indians of animals killed in the 

 mountains southwest of Tucson." 



The jaguar will prey upon any animal from a monkey 

 to a tapir, and in The Living Animals of the World we 

 read that "The jaguar is as savage as it is formidable, 

 but does not often attack men. Its headquarters are im- 

 mense forests running from Central America to South- 

 ern Brazil ; and as all great forests are little inhabited 

 the jaguar is seldom encountered by white men. By 

 the banks of 

 the great rivers 

 it is semi - 

 aquatic; it 

 swims and 

 climbs with 

 equal ease, and 

 will attack ani- 

 mals on board 

 boats anchored 

 in the rivers. 

 As there are 

 few animals 

 of great size 

 in these for- 

 ests, its great 

 strength is not 

 often seen ex- 

 ercised, as is 

 that of the 

 lion ; but it is 

 the personifica- 

 tion of concen- 

 trated force 

 and its ajjpearance is well worth studying from that point 

 of view. The spots are larger and squarer than in the leop- 

 ard, the head ponderous, the forearms and feet one mass 

 of muscles, knotted under the velvet skin. On the Ama- 

 zons it draws its food alike from the highest tree-tops and 

 the river-bed; in the former it catches monkeys in the 

 branches, fish in the shallows of the rivers, and scoops out 

 turtles' eggs from the sandbanks. Humboldt, who visited 

 these regions when the white population was scarce, de- 

 clared that 4,000 jaguars were killed annually, and 2,000 

 skins exported from Buenos Ayres alone. It was clearly 

 common on the Pampas in his day, and made as great 

 havoc among the cattle and horses as it does today." 



The Ocelot is a rarer animal in the fauna of this coun- 

 try than the jaguar in any event, certainly as rare. In 

 some localities, in Mexico and southward throughout 

 South America, they are more or less abundant ; but 

 Southern Texas is the extreme limits of their northern 

 range. In times both past and present travelers have 

 published excellent accounts of this, perhaps, most beau- 

 tiful of all existing cats. The rich and truly elegant 

 markings of its coat almost pass the powers of descrip- 

 tion, and have never failed to excite the wonder and ad- 

 miration of every one who has ever beheld them. Then 

 the animal possesses all the grace and playfulness of 



THIS CAT IS FOUND ONLY IN THE WEST 



The mountain lion or panther has not been seen in the mountains of New England for the 

 past fifty years and is now rarely if ever seen east of the Mississippi river. 



the more engaging representatives of the family to which 

 it belongs. 



As in the case of the jaguar it is largely nocturnal in 

 habit, and lives in the forest districts, particularly where 

 the timber skirts the borders of streams or bodies of 

 fresh water. It preys upon different species of birds and 

 mammals, and is the veriest terror of the entire monkey 

 tribe. Like most of the Felidae it climbs trees with ease 

 and agility, and when pushed by hunters and hounds it 

 will soon resort to that means of escape. 



When the 

 kittens are cap- 

 t u r e d alive 

 they are not 

 d i ffi c u 1 t to 

 rear; it is said 

 that they soon 

 become as 

 tame as house 

 cats, and fond 

 of their mas- 

 ter, with whom 

 they will play 

 and romp with 

 all the good 

 temper of the 

 best - natured 

 tabby. A writ- 

 er at hand 

 says : "A tame 

 Ocelot de- 

 scribed by 

 Wilson, the 

 American nat- 

 uralist, was most ])layful and affectionate, but when fed 

 with flesh was less tractable. It jumped onto the back 

 of a horse in the stable and tried to curl up on its hind- 

 ([uarters. The horse threw the Ocelot off and kicked 

 it, curing it of any disposition to ride. On seeing a 

 horse the Ocelot always ran off to its kennel afterwards. 

 When sent to England it caught hold of and threw down 

 a child of four years old, whom it rolled about with its 

 paws without hurting it." 



We very frequently see this beautiful creature in me- 

 nagerie collections. 



Apart from the sub-specific forms of lynxes in this 

 country the existence of some of which is very ques- 

 tionable we have, in the United States mammalian 

 fauna, two distinct types of these animals, namely the 

 Wild Cat also called Bob Cat Bay Lynx and Cata- 

 mount, and the Canada Lynx or "Loup Cervier." 

 Scientifically, the Wild Cat is classified by some 

 zoologists as Lynx rufus, and by others as Felts rufa. 

 Likewise, the Canadian Lynx is known both as Lynx and 

 as Felis canadensis. There is also still a division of 

 opinion whether 01 not our Canada Lynx and the Old 

 World species (Felis lynx) are the same race, being but 

 slightly modified by environment. Wherever we find 

 them, however, either in the New World or in the 01<, 



