FELINF.S OF THE NFW WORLD. 



177 



adorned with two splendid brightly gleaming 

 eyes. Among all the mammals which I 

 know the seal alone can vie with the puma 

 in the beauty of this feature. 



But the proud and cft'ntlc expression of 



this eye is deceptive. Wherever it is found 

 (and its domain extends from Patagonia to 

 Canada), the puma has the reputation of 

 being a cruel and cowardly beast. Its size, 

 which is upwards of four feet, would enable 



Fig. 81.— The Puma or Cougar [Felis concolor). 



it to attack the largest tame and wild 

 animals of America; but it leaves the horses, 

 mules, and oxen unmolested, flees before 

 dogs and man, while it eagerly attacks sheep 

 and goats, as well as monkeys, peccaries, 

 armadillos, and all mammals, birds, reptiles, 

 and fish of comparatively small size. Like 

 all felines, it prefers cautiously to slink up 

 to its victim and surprise it with a bound, 

 but it pursues even the agile monkeys on 

 the trees with enormous and well-calculated 

 leaps. Every kind of habitat is alike to the 

 puma if only it can find a safe retreat to rest 

 in. The treeless Pampas please it just 

 as well as the tumbled rocks of the moun- 

 tains or the primeval forests. It swims across 

 rivers, and climbs to the highest tree-tops 

 with the greatest ease. 



The ravages which the puma commits 

 among the flocks have made him detested 

 everywhere. The jaguar kills only a single 

 animal, if it suffices to satisfy his hunger; but 

 the puma flies at the throat of an animal, and 

 sucks its blood without touching its flesh. 

 Pumas have been killed after they had 

 slaughtered twenty sheep immediately before, 

 and their stomachs have been found to con- 

 tain nothing but coagulated blood. One can 

 therefore easily understand that such butcheries 

 must cause the ravager to be pursued with 

 untiring zeal and bitter hatred, and the pur- 

 suit is all the easier since the animal may be 

 attacked without fear. In the Pampas the 

 Gauchos strangle him as they do the jaguar; 

 in the forests he is hunted with a couple of 

 dogs, on seeing which he immediately takes 



