4 o6 CARNIVORES. 



his struggle with the hunters and dogs raised a terrible cry, twice or thrice, to 

 express his rage, and perhaps also to give his family the notice of danger." 

 It would seem, therefore, that, although generally a silent creature, the puma 

 may on rare occasions and more especially when wounded give vent to a cry or 

 scream, which is described as being of the most weird and unearthly nature. 



When captured young, pumas thrive well in captivity, and are gentle and 

 affectionate in disposition towards human beings, although they but rarely overcome 

 their innate antipathy to dogs. If, however, not taken till adult, they appear in all 

 cases to pine and languish. Mr. Hudson writes that " the puma is, with the excep- 

 tion of some monkeys, the most playful animal in existence. The young of all the 

 Felidce spend a large portion of their time in characteristic gambols. The adults, 

 however, acquire a grave and dignified demeanour, only the female playing on 

 occasions with her offspring, but this she always does with a certain formality of 

 manner, as if the relaxation were indulged in not spontaneously but for the sake of 

 the young, and as being a necessary part of their education. . . . The puma at 

 heart is always a kitten, taking unmeasured .delight in its frolics ; and when, as 

 often happens, one lives alone in the desert, it will amuse itself by the hour fighting 

 mock battles, or playing at hide-and-seek with imaginary companions, and lying 

 in wait and putting all its wonderful strategy in practice to capture a passing 

 butterfly. Azara kept a young male for four months, which spent its whole time 

 playing with the slaves. This animal, he says, would not refuse any food offered 

 to it ; but when not hungry it would bury the meat in the sand, and when inclined 

 to eat it would dig it up, and, taking it to the water-trough, wash it clean. I have 

 only known one puma kept as a pet, and this animal, in seven or eight years, had 

 never shown a trace of ill-temper. When approached, he would lie down, purring 

 loudly, and twist himself about a person's legs, begging to be caressed. A string or 

 handkerchief drawn about was sufficient to keep him in a happy state of excitement 

 for an hour, and when one person was tired of playing with him he was ready 

 for a game with the next comer." 



A tame puma, of which the skeleton is now preserved in the Museum of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons, was kept as a pet by Edmund Kean, the actor. It would 

 follow its master loose, like a dog, and was often brought into his drawing-room 

 when visitors were present. Jardine, writing of this animal, states that it was 

 extremely gentle and playful, and showed no symptoms of ferocity to the strangers 

 who came to see it. Its motions were all free and graceful, and it exhibited the 

 greatest agility in leaping and swinging about the joists of a large unoccupied room 

 in the old college of Edinburgh. 



Fossil remains of the puma have been found in the superficial deposits of 

 several districts in the United States which probably belong to the Pleistocene 

 period. It may also be mentioned that fossil bones of the jaguar occur in the 

 celebrated caverns of Lagoa Santa, in Brazil, in company with those of a number 

 of gigantic extinct Mammals. Both these cats are, therefore, comparatively old 

 species. 



