THE LARGER MAMMALS OF PATAGONIA 255- 



FitzRoy. They extended in a wide track down the hillside and to 

 the edge of the water. At Lake Viedma the margins of the 

 lake, near the outflow of the Leona, were covered with their skins 

 and bones. The meaning of this I gathered from Mr. Ernest 

 Cattle. He told me that in the winter of 1899 enormous numbers 

 of guanaco sought Lake Argentino, and died of starvation upon 

 its shores. In the severities of winter they seek drinking-places, 

 where there are large masses of water likely to be unfrozen. 

 The few last winters in Patagonia have been so severe as to 

 work great havoc among the herds of guanaco. 



At nightfall guanacos gather into close order, a large herd col- 

 lecting in a small radius. They seem to choose open spaces in 

 which to pass the hours of darkness. In moments of danger also 

 they pack together densely. At the sound of a shot, the outlying 

 members of a herd will close up and sway their long necks almost 

 to the ground in unison. I see that Darwin says that guanaco are 

 "generally very wild and wary." In places where they are hunted 

 by the Indians this is undoubtedly the case, but on this point no 

 law can be laid down. In some districts the guanaco is very diffi- 

 cult of approach, in others extremely easy. The evidence that I 

 can adduce concerning this point I have given at length in another 

 chapter. Their instinct of curiosity is very largely developed. 

 During our wanderings I studied the habits of the guanaco with 

 ever-increasing interest. In cold weather they become extra- 

 ordinarily tame, and will permit a man to walk among them as a 

 shepherd walks among his sheep. 



The young are brought forth in the months of October, 

 November and the early part of December. In Southern Pata- 

 gonia some are born as late as the end of December. During 

 the period of copulation the bucks fight a good deal. I never 

 shot an old buck which was not seamed and scarred with the 

 marks of these contests. When fighting they give vent to loud 

 squeals of rage, they strike with their forefeet and bite savagely, 

 mostly at the neck of the antagonist. The marks of these bites 

 are often deep and long. The skin of the neck is luckily very 

 thick, so little harm is done. As has been noted before, the 

 guanacos drop all their dung in one spot, and near these spots 



