SCIENCE 



NEW YORK, MARCH 25, 1892. 



THE PUMA, OR AMERICAN LION.' 



The puma is the only large, unspotted, native American 

 cat. The general color of the fur is tawny, but on the under 

 surfaces of the body it is whitish. The color of the central 

 line of the back is darker than that of the sides and the end 

 of the tail is dusky brown. The ears are black externally, 

 with a central whitish area. The upper lip is white from 

 the nostrils to the middle of the mouth, and at the latter 

 point is a prominent black spot. The nostrils are flesh-col- 

 ored. Baird compares the color of the puma to that of the 

 Virginia deer, and states that it varies with the seasons as it 

 does in the deer; that is, the summer coat is reddish and the 

 winter coat grayish. 



There is much variation in color among individuals of 

 this species, but it has not been proven that this is correlated 

 with the varying climatic conditions of its range. The oc- 

 currence of albino pumas in the Alleghany Mountains and 

 in New Mexico has been reported, but not authoritatively. 



Burmeister remarks on this point: "Very rarely individ- 

 uals of this species of a brown, nearly black color have been 

 found, while differences in color between yellowish-brown 

 and yellowish-gray are-not rare. I am aware that individ- 

 uals nearly white and others nearly black have been ob- 

 served, but I have never seen such myself." 



New-born pumas are very different in appearance from 

 the adults. Instead of being of uniform color, the back and 

 legs are covered with large blackish-brown spots, and the 

 tail is ringed with the same color. According to Dr. W. A. 

 Conklin these markings disappear in about six months after 

 birth. 



The male puma in the National Museum is of the fol- 

 lowing dimensions: Head and body, measured along the 

 curves, 53 inches: tail, 26|^ inches; height at the shoulder," 

 22|- inches. Audubon and Bachman give the following 

 dimensions of a male killed by J. W. Audubon at Castroville, 

 Tex., Jan. 28, 1846. From point of nose to root of tail 

 (whether measured along curves, not stated), 5 feet 1 inch; 

 tail, 3 feet 1 inch ; height of ear posteriorly, 3 inches. 



The male puma measured by Azara was somewhat smaller, 

 the head and body being 51|^ inches and the tail 29 inches. 

 The system of measurement is not given. 



The average dimensions obtained from these three indi- 

 Tiduals are: For the head and body, 55^^ inches, and for the 

 tail, 30f inches; total, 85 inches. 



I have found no authentic record of any individuals 

 measured before skinning of which the dimensions were 

 greater than those of Audubon's specimen mentioned above. 

 The total length in that case was 8 feet 2 inches. There are, 

 however, records of measurements of flat skins of greater 

 size. I have myself measured a skin from Colorado in the 

 National Museum, No. 19,906, of which the total length in a 

 straight line is 8 feet 4 inches. Mr. Livingston Stone states 

 that the skin of a puma killed on the McCloud River, Cali- 

 fornia, " measured 8^ feet when stretched." The average 



1 Abstract o£ a paper In the latest Report of the National Museum. 



total length of nine flat skins of adults in the possession of 

 Mr. F. S. Webster of Washington is 7 feet 4 inches. 



The area over which the Puma ranges extends from New 

 England and British Columbia to the Straits of Magellan. On 

 the Atlantic coast of North America the species has appar- 

 ently not been found in the States of New Hampshire, Rhode 

 Island, New Jersey, or Delaware. On our northern boun- 

 dary I find no mention of its having been found in Michigan 

 or Indiana. In Ohio it was extirpated prior to 1838, and 

 probably more recently in Illinois and Indiana. I find no 

 record of its occurrence in Nevada, but as it has been found 

 in the surrounding States it seems improbable that it should 

 be entirely absent there. 



With these exceptions there are recorded instances, more 

 or less numerous, of the occurrence of the puma in every 

 State and Territory of the Union, dating from the beginning 

 of the century. Like many other large American animals, 

 however, the puma has retired before the advance of civili- 

 zation, and in many of the more thickly populated States it 

 is improbable that even stragglers could be found at the 

 present day. 



The puma occurs throughout Central America and in all 

 parts of South America to the Straits of Magellan. 



The first mention of the puma appears to be the remark 

 in the letter of Columbus regarding his fourth voyage in 

 1502. In the narrative of his exploration of the coast of 

 Honduras and Nicaragua he writes: " I saw some very large 

 fowls, the feathers of which resemble wool, lions [leones], 

 stags, fallow-deer, and birds." 



There are also references to the occurrence of the puma in 

 North America of very early date in the narratives of Lau- 

 donni^re, Hariot, Coronado, Hawkins, and others. 



The puma, regarded as a species, possesses in a remarkable 

 degree the power of adapting himself to varied surroundings. 

 He endures severe cold in the winter in the Adirondack 

 Mountains and other parts of our northern frontier, and 

 tracks his prey in the snow. He is equally at home in the 

 hot swamps and canebrakes along the river courses of our 

 southern States. In South America he inhabits the treeless, 

 grass-covered pampas as well as the forests. In the Ro?ky 

 Mountains, as I am informed by Mr. William T. Hornaday, 

 he ascends to the high altitudes in which the mount, an slieep 

 are found. Mr. Livingston Stone saw tracks of i he puma 

 on the summit of Mount Persephone in California, at an 

 elevation of 3,000 feet. Similarly, Darwin states thnt be saw 

 the footprints of the puma on the cordillera of central Chili, 

 at an elevation of at least 10,000 feet. According to Tscliudi, 

 the puma is found in Peru in the highest forests and even to 

 the snow-line (though seldom here). A writer in the "En- 

 cyclopaedia Britannica" states that "in Central America 

 it is still common in the dense forests whieli elotlie moun- 

 tain ranges as high as 8,000 or 9,000 feet above the sea- 

 level." 



In these different regions the puma always se!'-fts for his 

 abode such spots as afford some shelter, but we find him in 

 the thickets and copses, ratlier than in the t/o-.u forests. 

 " Those panthers that we have observed," wtiles "■ • of ll'o 

 naturalists of the Mexican Boundary burvpy, " \'.o:' ih\ lys 



