34 o THE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



grey, some dark brown, and others grey, or even whitish ; while, as an individual 

 variation, black pumas are met with in the tropical forest regions. A light-hued 

 race from Patagonia is characterised by the backs of the ears being pale-coloured 

 instead of black. Young and old animals are very different in colouring, newly 

 born pumas showing rows of large, oblong, blackish brown spots along the body, 

 and rings of the same colour round the tail. This marking remains distinct for 

 the first six months, and traces of it may be detected even in full-grown animals, 

 especially when seen in certain lights, and a few individuals retain this spotting 

 throughout life. 



In South America the puma is found on the grassy, treeless pampas of 

 Argentina, as well as in the primeval forests on the Amazons ; and not only at 

 the level of the sea, but even up to heights of 10,000 feet, as is the case in the 

 Cordilleras of Chile. In the Peruvian highlands, where it inhabits the highest 

 forests, the puma is occasionally found up to the snow-line, and in the mountain- 

 forests of Central America it generally ascends to heights of 8000 or 9000 feet. 

 In the northern portions of its range the puma has to endure very severe winters, 

 and find its food in the snow ; but it is equally at home in the hot swamps and 

 reed-beds fringing the banks of the large rivers in the south. In the Rocky 

 Mountains it is said to range up to the heights inhabited by the bighorn 

 sheep, and on Mount Persephone in California it has been observed at a height 

 of 3000 feet above the sea. In Mexico it dwells in the most isolated spots among 

 impenetrable thickets or in caves, while in the pampas it probably hides among 

 the high grass or on the banks of the rivers. Here it feeds chiefly on the larger 

 animals such as guanaco, deer, tapirs, peccaries, and rheas. The number of 

 guanaco which fall a victim to the puma is evident from the skeletons of these 

 animals found on the pampas with the necks broken. 



In North America, among the animals which the puma chooses for its prey, 

 deer are the largest ; but these form by no means its principal article of food in 

 other districts. In the forests of the Amazons and the Orinoco, for instance, the 

 puma is said to have accommodated itself to a more or less arboreal life, like so 

 many other mammals indigenous to these latitudes. It is stated to jump from branch 

 to branch, and from tree to tree, in pursuit of monkeys on which in those parts 

 it probably chiefly preys. The North American puma is, however, said to disdain 

 scarcely anything, and to devour mammals from the size of a deer to that of a 

 mouse, as well as fishes and even snails. Instead of the rhea, or American ostrich, 

 which it pursues in South America, in New Mexico and Arizona the puma stalks 

 the wild turkey. South American pumas are so partial to horse-flesh that in some 

 parts of Patagonia the breeding of horses is impossible, on account of all the colts 

 being devoured by these marauders. To some extent this also holds good for 

 the half-wild horses of South America. Not only colts, but also fully grown 

 horses fall victims to the voracity of the puma ; and, although calves are taken by 

 preference, cows are also killed and eaten. Pumas are likewise particularly fond 

 of sheep, which in many districts form their chief food. They generally wander 

 forth at night or in the morning and evening twilight, like other large cats, and 

 stalk their prey in the same stealthy manner. They slink up close to deer, and when 

 near enough advance in a series of leaps, if not able to reach them by a single 



