THE YAGOUARONDI. 151 



the panther spread to such width that his locomotion is much the same as that of a man on 

 snow-shoes. 



It is observed that most mammals are larger in the north than in the southern parts of the 

 country. The reverse is true of the Panther. 



Fine specimens of the Puma are kept at the Zoological collection in Central Park. Several 

 litters of young have been raised there. Usually, however, the kittens die before they 

 are many weeks old. 



Mr. Conklin, Director of the Central Park Menagerie, informed us that one of the Pumas 

 in his collection has produced young seven times in confinement, having from two to four 

 kittens at a birth. Her present age is sixteen years. The period of gestation is thirteen 

 weeks. Though this is the largest of our northern carnivores, it is seldom seen, excepting by 

 hunters who penetrate the wilderness ; yet nearly an hundred examples have been killed since 

 1860 in the Adirondacks. 



Audubon says of him, as seen in the semi-tropical regions of Florida and Texas : " He is 

 sometimes found on the open prairies, and his tracks may be seen on almost every cattle- 

 crossing place on the sluggish bayous and creeks with their treacherous quicksands. At such 

 places the Cougar sometimes finds an unfortunate calf, or, perhaps, a cow or bullock, that has 

 become fast in the miry earth, and, from exhaustion, has given up its stragglings and been 

 drowned, or suffocated. Such a case happened, when the specimen he figures was shot in the 

 act of dragging the heifer from the mud. For the size, the Puma has extraordinary strength. 

 The Cougar is ordinarily, however, compelled to hunt up smaller animals, as the prey is not 

 always at hand." 



Audubon adds his personal testimony to others in favor of the alleged cowardice, or, 

 rather, want of prowess. He says : "On our way to school, as a boy, a Cougar crossed our 

 path, not ten yards in front of us. When the animal saw us, it commenced a hurried retreat. 

 A small terrier that accompanied us gave chase to the animal, which, after running about 

 an hundred yards, mounted an oak and rested upon one of its limbs, about twenty feet from 

 the ground. We approached and gave a loud whoop, when it dropped upon the ground and 

 soon made its escape. 



" Among the mountains of the head waters of the Juniata, the Puma is hunted system- 

 atically with a kind of half-breed dogs, the full bloods lacking the courage to attack such 

 a large animal. The tales related of the cry of this animal resembling the human voice are not 

 true ; their cry is like that of the common cat — much louder, naturally." 



In 1865, we saw the tracks of a Puma on the sands of the Florida Reef. On Plantation 

 Key we traced these tracks to a cabin where a wrecker or fisherman lived. During the previous 

 night the man had lost a valuable brace of puppies, and not being familiar with this cat, 

 he was in great doubt and terror. The tracks were four inches by four and a half in extent, 

 and impressed our lonely wrecker with wonderful sentiments of the powers of such a beast. 

 On crossing to Metacombe Key, a half-mile eastward, separated by a deep channel, we found 

 the same kind of tracks, beginning at the high-water mark and continuing along the beach 

 until they reached another cabin. Here the fisherman's hog had lost an ear ; the Puma, 

 which proved to be the invader, had not been able to get at the hog, and was obliged to be 

 satisfied with what was in reach. Our party planned a still hunt for that night, judging 

 wisely, that the Puma would not forget to come back for the remainder of the hog. The 

 Puma came, and met the usual greeting from extended arms. 



The Puma is not the only example of a pardine animal which is destitute of the usual 

 pardine spots and stripes. 



The Yagouakondi possesses a fur of a nearly uniform color, without either spots or streaks. 

 Its color is rather a variable brown, sometimes charged with a deep black tinge, and sometimes 

 dashed with a slight freckling of white. When the animal is angry, the white grizzly tinge 

 becomes more conspicuous than when its temper is undisturbed. The reason for this curious 

 change of hue is, that each hair is alternately dark and white, the tips being all black 

 H, therefore, the Yagouarondi is in a placid humor, its fur lies closely to the body, and only 



