ii THE FATHER OF GAME 51 



as a calf or deer are dragged away into the bushes, 

 the accounts in some books of its " flinging its prey 

 over its back," and galloping away with it, being 

 manifest exaggerations. Often he does not devour 

 the flesh at once, or only begins upon it, then drags 

 it away, covers it with leaves and brush, and waits 

 to finish his meal when he is more hungry. When 

 he has gorged himself, he retires a little distance 

 and lies down to sleep. Hunters, knowing this 

 habit, search the neighborhood of a " kill " as soon 

 as they learn of one, sure that the puma is near 

 by, and well aware that he is little to be feared in 

 that state. Few men would be foolhardy enough 

 to poke round in the brush in the hope of arousing 

 a leopard from his after-dinner nap ! 



There is a widespread notion that the puma 

 always lies in wait for prey upon the limbs of 

 trees, and thence leaps upon its back. It appears 

 that it may do and has done so in special 

 places, as at the salt-licks of Kentucky, and at cer- 

 tain springs in Texas, where deer regularly came 

 to drink, but certainly it is not a general, nor would 

 it be a profitable, habit. Indeed, this animal shows 

 a marked reluctance to climbing, rarely taking to 

 trees except when pursued by a pack of peccaries, 

 coyotes, or dogs, and then only for safety, and not 

 as a point for advantageous attack. It frequently 

 leaps from rocky elevations, however, and to an 

 astonishing distance. Merriam says that on level 

 ground a spring of twenty feet is by no means 



