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SCIENCE 



[Vol. XIX. No. 477 



found in the most solitary places, generally where there were 

 thick bushes, and in the vicinity of rocky spots, affording 

 caverns for secure concealment, and in which to bring forth 

 their young." 



The puma seeks his prey chiefly at dawn and twilight and 

 under cover of night, but he also sometimes hunts by day. 

 The different species of Amei'ican deer are his principal 

 quarry, but he preys also upon smaller mammals. He will 

 even feed upon the different species of American porcupines, 

 despite their quills, which lacerate his mouth and face. 

 Audubon and Bachman state that raccoons and skunks, as 

 well as birds, form a part of his food, and that he will eat 

 carrion when hard pressed by hunger. To this list Brehm 

 adds the South American coati, agouti, and paca, and the 

 rhea, or American ostrich. Dr. Coues and Yarrow state 

 that in New Mexico and Arizona the puma kills hundreds of 

 wild turkeys and has indeed broken up many of the former 

 breeding-places. Pennant asserts that the wolf serves the 

 puma for prey. This is improbable. Nevertheless, he re- 

 ports that there was in the Museum of the Royal Society of 

 London the skin of a puma which was shot shortly after it 

 had killed a wolf. 



Of the larger domestic animals, such as the horse and cow, 

 the puma attacks only the young, but he will carry off 

 a full-grown sheep from the fold, and not unfrequently preys 

 upon tlie llama in South America. 



In the less settled portions of America the puma has proved 

 at times a great hindrance to stock raising. Kennerly states 

 that in Sonora, Mexico, it kills many colts and calves, and 

 is poisoned with strychnine by the herdsmen. Mr. C. H. 

 Townsend remarks, in 1887: "It is practically impossible to 

 xaise colts in the Shasta County hills, California, on account 

 of these pests. They destroy many hogs and young cattle 

 also, but do not present so serious an impediment to the 

 keeping of these animals as in the case of horses." I have 

 recently received similar reports from other sources. 



The puma does not ordinarily attack men, but, on the con- 

 trary, when surprised attempts to flee from them. Never- 

 theless it seems probable that some individuals, when strongly 

 pressed by hunger, or moved by other unusual circumstances, 

 may be emboldened to make such attacks. Hensel affirms 

 that such is the case. Darwin states that he had heard of 

 two men and a woman who were killed by pumas in Chili. 

 McMurtrie mentions that a woman was killed by a puma in 

 Pennsylvania, January, 1830. That the puma sometimes 

 kills the hunter who has wounded him is doubtless true, as 

 any wounded animal is likely to turn upon its persecutor, 

 but this is quite different from an unprovoked assault. 



It is the habit of the puma to spring upon his prey from 

 an eminence, such as a ledge of rock or a slight rise of 

 ground. If he fails to strike his victim, he seldom pursues 

 it for any considerable distance. In northern regions, how- 

 ever, he sometimes pursues the deer when they are almost 

 helpless in the deep snow. It was reported to Darwin that 

 the puma killed its prey by jumping upon the shoulder and 

 turning the head back with its paw until the vertebrae of the 

 neck are broken or dislocated. Azara ascribes the same habit 

 to the jaguar. 



The female brings forth her young in some secluded spot. 

 In the Adirondacks, according to Dr. Merriam, " the lair is 

 usually in a shallow cavern on the face of some inaccessible 

 cliff or ledge of rocks." "In the Southern States," says 

 Audubon, " where there are no caves or rocks, the lair of the 

 cougar is generally in a very dense thicket or in a cane-brake. 

 It is a rude sort of bed of sticks, weeds, leaves, and grasses 



or mosses, and where the canes arch over it, as they are ever- 

 green, their long pointed leaves turn the rain at all seasons 

 of the year. 



From two to five young are born at a time. Bartlett states 

 that in captivity the number is usually two, but sometimes 

 one. Their young are reared without difficulty. They are 

 brought forth at the close of winter or early in spring in the 

 northern parts of the United States, and at the beginning of 

 summer in South America, that is at the end of December. 

 The period of gestation is from thirteen to fourteen weeks. 

 The young first open their eyes when nine or ten days old. 

 Their total length when born is from 10 to 12 inches. Dr. 

 Merriam is of the opinion that in the Adirondacks the puma 

 does not breed oftener than once in two years. 



The age which the puma attains in the state of nature is 

 unknown. It may be remarked, however, that one lived in 

 the Zoological Garden at Frankfort. Germany, sixteen years, 

 one month, and nine days. It died from injuries received 

 by accident, Oct. 13, 1878. Dr. W. A. Conklin states that 

 the various species of cats live in captivity fifteen or sixteen 

 years, but show signs of decay at twelve years. 



Authoritative writers upon the habits of the puma in North 

 America agi-ee that the adults do not commonly or frequently 

 make use of trees except when traversing precipitous cliffs 

 or when pursued by dogs. Under the latter circumstances 

 they do not climb into a tree, but jump upon the nearest 

 branch, even though it be at a considerable distance from the 

 ground. Eengger, in his "Travels in Paraguay," however, 

 states that both the puma and the ocelot climb well, and 

 that in the forest they make their flight not only on the 

 ground, but also by springing from tree to tree. He tells us 

 in another place that he once saw a puma chase a troop of 

 monkeys through the forest by jumping from bough to 

 bough among the trees. However incredible this may at first 

 appear, it becomes less so when we consider the wonderful 

 denseness of the South American forests, described by Hum- 

 boldt and other writers. 



The puma, like the cat, has the habit of scratching the 

 bark of trees with its claws, for the purpose of sharpening or 

 smoothing them. Having mentioned this habit as possessed 

 by the jaguar, Darwin writes: "Some such habit must also 

 be common to the puma, for on the bare, hard soil of Pata- 

 gonia I have frequently seen scores so deep that no other 

 animal could have made them." 



Many reliable authorities are agreed that the puma does 

 not ordinarily emit loud cries or screams, but Kennerly, one 

 of the naturalists of the Mexican boundary survey, states 

 that on one or two occasions the cry of the puma was heard 

 at a distance, and Schott writes as follows: "After dark his 

 mournful note is heard resounding through the solitudes of 

 the deserts. The note, listened to once attentively, is apt to 

 make a deep, lasting impression. The different native names, 

 as pronounced in Spanish, sound very appropriately to the 

 note, and it is likely that the cry of the animal forms the 

 base of its names. The note itself is often several times re- 

 peated, with intervals of from two to four minutes. As 

 night advances the cry is heard but rarely." He also writes: 

 " A puma was killed on the Rio Bravo, between Fort Dun- 

 can and Laredo. During his struggle with the hunters and 

 dogs he raised a terrible cry, twice or thrice, to express his 

 rage, and perhaps also to give his family the notice of dan- 

 ger." Dr. J. A. Allen reports that he once heard the puma's 

 cry near his camp in Montgomery, Colorado. Eliot like- 

 wise states that he heard the cry of the puma at night, while 

 camping on the St. John's River, Florida. He did not, how- 



