39 6 CARNIVORES. 



prey is invariable. Leaping to the back of the victim, the jaguar, by a rapid 

 movement of the fore-paws, twists its head round and breaks its neck. When 

 the islands they usually inhabit are flooded, as is frequently the case, jaguars 

 resort to the mainland to assuage their hunger, and are never so terrible as at such 

 periods. There is a story that one of these gaunt famished creatures finding the 

 door of the church of St. Fe open, went into the building. Two priests entering one 

 after the other were killed ; and a third, forewarned by the sounds of crunching 

 and growling, escaped by a miracle. No one daring to go into the church to destroy 

 the monster, a portion of the roof was taken off, and a deadly bullet aimed at him 

 through the breach. At such times jaguars also prey largely upon cattle and horses. 

 If driven from a carcase they will seldom return to it, preferring to hunt down 

 another animal. When on the Amazon, Bates records how he once surprised a 

 jaguar which had just made a meal off an alligator, the only parts of the reptile 

 which were left unconsumed being the head, fore-quarters, and the solid bony 

 armour. 



Referring to the habit of scoring the bark of trees with its claws, possessed by 

 the jaguar in common with other cats, Darwin observes that, "one day when 

 hunting on the Uruguay, I was shown certain trees to which these animals con- 

 stantly repair, for the purpose, it is said, of sharpening their claws. I saw three 

 well-known trees. In front the bark was worn smooth, as if by the breast of the 

 animal, and on each side there were deep scratches, or rather grooves, extending in 

 an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The scars were of different ages. A 

 common method of ascertaining whether a jaguar is in the neighbourhood, is by 

 examining these trees. I imagine that this habit of the jaguar is exactly similar to 

 that which may any day be seen in the common cat, as with outstretched leg and 

 extended claws it scrapes the legs of a chair. Some such habit must also be 

 common to the puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I have frequently seen 

 scars so deep that no other animal could have made them. The object of this 

 practice is, I believe, to tear off the ragged points of their claws, and not as the 

 Guachos think, to sharpen them." 



Like the other large cats, the jaguar takes to the water readily, and swims 

 well. Its cry, which cannot be correctly described as a roar, is loud, deep, 

 and hoarse, and has been compared to a series of repetitions of the syllables, pu, 

 pu, pu. From two to four cubs are produced at a birth, which takes place about 

 the end of the year. It is generally regarded as being of an utterly untamable 

 disposition, even when captured young. Lady Florence Dixie succeeded, however, 

 in rendering one of these animals perfectly docile, and even affectionate. 



A peculiar animosity to the jaguar is displayed in the pampas by its near 

 relative the puma, Mr. Hudson observing that, " it is well known that where the 

 two species inhabit the same district they are at enmity, the puma being the 

 persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following and harassing it as a tyrant-bird 

 harasses an eagle or hawk, moving about it with such rapidity as to confuse it, 

 and, when an opportunity occurs, springing upon its back, and inflicting terrible 

 wounds with teeth and claws. Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed, 

 and others, not long escaped from their tormentors, have been easily overcome by 

 the hunters." This is the more -remarkable since the puma is an animal of far 



