HABITS OF THE PUMA. 47 



Unlike the Jaguar, the Puma avoids water, although well able to swim when necessary. It is as 

 much at home in trees as on solid ground, and is a terror to the Capuchin and other Monkeys which 

 abound in the forests of South America. It is, however, a far more cowardly animal than the Jaguar, 

 and is not feared by the natives to anything like the same degree. Mr. Darwin, who had ample 

 opportunity of observing its habits, writes thus of it in his " Naturalist's Voyage" : 



" This animal has a wide geographical range, being found from the equatorial forests, throughout 

 the deserts of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cold latitudes (53 to 54) of Tierra del Fuego. 

 I have seen its footsteps in the Cordillera of Central Chili, at an elevation of at least 10,000 feet. In 

 La Plata the Puma preys chiefly on Deer, Ostriches, Bizcacha, and other quadrupeds. It there rarely 

 attacks cattle or Horses, and most rarely man. In Chili, however, it destroys other quadrupeds. I 

 heard, likewise, of two men and a woman who had been thus killed. It is asserted that the Puma 

 always kills its prey by springing on the shoulders, and then drawing back the head with one of its 

 paws until the vertebrae break. I have seen, in Patagonia, the skeletons of Guanacos. with their necks 

 thus dislocated. 



" The Puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass with many large bushes, and lies down to 

 watch it. This habit is often the cause of its being discovered ; for the Condors, wheeling in the air, 

 .every now and then descend to partake of the feast ; and being angrily driven away, rise all together on 

 the wing. The Chileno Guaso then knows there is a Lion [Puma] watching his pi'ey ; the word is given, 

 and men and Dogs hurry to the chase. Sir F. Head says that a Gaucho in the Pampas, upon merely 

 seeing some Condors wheeling in the air, cried, 'A Lion !' I could never myself meet with any one 

 who pretended to such powers of discrimination. It is asserted that if a Puma has once been 

 betrayed by thus watching a carcass, and has then been hunted, it never resumes this habit, but 

 that having gorged itself, it wanders far away. The Puma is easily killed. In an open country it 

 is first entangled with the bolas,* then lazoed, and dragged along the ground till rendered insen- 

 sible. At Tandil (south of the Plata), I was told that within three months one hundred were 

 thus destroyed. In Chili they are generally driven up bushes or trees, and are then either shot 

 or baited to death by Dogs. The Dogs employed in this chase belong to a particular breed, 

 called ' Leoneros.' They are weak, slight animals, Jike long-legged Terriers, but are born with a 

 peculiar instinct for this sport. The Puma is described as being very crafty. When pursued it 

 often returns on its former track, and then suddenly making a spring on one side, waits there 

 till the Dogs have passed by. It is a very silent animal, uttering no cry even when wounded, 

 and only rarely during the breeding season." 



The comparative silence of the Puma is very noticeable in the specimens at the Zoological 

 Gardens. They never roar like other large Cats, never, in fact, getting beyond a sort of hoarse grunt ; 

 but when angry, they spit and " swear " in precisely the same manner as furious Tom Cats. In 

 this respect they differ very markedly from the Lion and Tiger, and agree with the lesser Cats, 

 such as the Ocelot, Serval, Lynx, &c. 



The flesh of the Puma is often eaten by the Gauchos. Mr. Darwin, who tried it, pronounced 

 it to be very white, and to taste remarkably like veal. This is a curious circumstance, as the flesh of 

 most Carnivora is anything but palatable. While speaking of the Leopard, we mentioned its curious 

 habit of squatting instead of lying down to eat, and of only occasionally touching its food with its 

 paws. With the Puma this is still more remarkable ; it squats in the same manner as the Leopard, 

 but, although we have watched it many times, we never once saw it use its paws to assist in holding 

 its food. However difficult of manipulation the bone may be, however it may slip about and object to 

 be crunched, it never seems to occur to the animal that he might use his paws to steady it. 



In captivity, the Puma, at any rate when caught young, is a tolerably docile animal, and, like the 

 Domestic Cat, is fond of playing with inanimate objects ; the Pumas at the Zoological Gardens, for 

 instance, have a large wooden ball as a toy. They do not, however, appear to be always perfectly 

 amiable ; the female may often be seen swearing at her lord in a most reprehensible manner. 



* A weapon used by the Gauchos, and consisting of three cords, knotted together at one end, and having each a ball 

 or stone attached to the other. The smallest of these is held in the hand, and the Gaucho " whirls the other two round aud 

 round his head, then taking aim, sends them like chain shot rushing through the air." 



