274 MR. H. PRICHARD ON PATAGONIAN MAMMALS. [Apr. 15, 



In strong contradistinction to the habit of Felis onca, Felis 

 concolor puma, when hunting, kills a number of animals f lom a 

 flock or herd. To only one of these kills, however, does it return, 

 and it always makes some pretence of burying the victim singled 

 out for its meal, throwing up upon the body in many cases 

 merely a small bunch of thorns. This habit of the Puma is 

 frequently taken advantage of by the shepherds, who poison the 

 chosen carcase. The Puma, in ninety cases out of a hundred, 

 makes its first meal upon the entrails of the victim, or upon the 

 inside of the thigh by the groin. Another point in connection 

 with the predatory habits of the Puma is the fact that it will 

 travel a long distance, even as much as ten or twelve miles, after 

 killing. 



Its method of attack, judging from an examination of its kills, 

 appears to be to spring upon the shoulders of its quarry and to 

 break the neck. The destruction wrought by Pumas among 

 flocks of sheep is immense. One Puma is said to have killed 

 from a single flock upwards of 100, its total for a night amounting 

 to 14. Oases are reported of Pumas having attacked horses ; and 

 sometimes a herd of cows, with their calves, take up the trail of a 

 Puma with a great deal of lowing, but do not follow it far. Felis 

 concolor puma usually selects a tempestuous night for its depreda- 

 tions upon the herds. Authentic instances of their having 

 attacked man are few. Dr. F. P. Moreno tells me that on the 

 bank of the Eiver Leona, not far from Lake Yiedma, he was 

 attacked by a Puma. He was walking, wrapped up in a Ouanaco 

 skin capa, and he fancies the animal mistook him for a Ouanaco. 

 The Puma was killed by his companions, and was found to be in 

 milk. Its cubs, however, were not discovered. Mr. Arenberg, 

 of the Argentine Boundary Oommission, was also attacked by one 

 of these animals in the neighbourhood of Lake Buenos Aires. 

 I have no details of the occurrence beyond the fact that he was 

 wounded in the face. These two instances must be regarded as 

 exceptional, for the Puma is ordinarily a very cowardly animal,- 

 and many are killed yearly with the holas or lasso. 



The Puma can easily be galloped down, as it rarely runs more 

 than 300 yards or a quarter of a mile when pursued on horseback. 

 It invariably stands at bay with its back to a bush or rock. 



Darwin writes that " the Puma is a very silent animal, uttering 

 no cry even when wounded, and only rarely during the breeding- 

 season," In the forests upon the slopes of Mount Buenos Aires 

 near Lake Argentino, one moonlight night, two Pumas circled 

 round our camp, and for upwards of an hour kept uttering their 

 peculiar cry. On no other occasion during our marches, although 

 Pumas often stampeded the horses and left plain tracks of their 

 presence close to the camp, did I hear them break silence. ■ 



3. Pearson's Puma. {Felis concolor j^earsoni.) 

 On my return from Patagonia, I brought with me a skin of a 

 Puma, which seemed to me to differ in some essential respects 



