THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS 



413 



once trailed one of these great cats to the spot 

 where it had killed a deer a short time before, 

 and could plainly read in the trail the story of 

 the admirable skill with which it had moved 

 from cover to cover until it reached a knoll at 

 one side of the little glade where the deer was 

 feeding. Then a great leap carried it to the 

 deer's back and struck the victim to the ground 

 with such violence that it slid lo or 12 feet 

 across the sloping ground, apparently having 

 been killed on the instant. 



Another trail followed in the snow on the 

 high mountains of New Mexico led to the top 

 of a projecting ledge from which the lion had 

 leaped out and down over 20 feet, landing on 

 the back of a deer and sliding with it 50 feet 

 or more down the snowy slope. 



The mountain lion often kills calves, but is 

 especially fond of young horses. In many 

 range districts of the Western States and on 

 the table-land of Mexico, owing to the depre- 

 dations of this animal, it is impossible to raise 

 horses. Unfortunately the predatory habits of 

 this splendid cat are such that it can not con- 

 tinue to occupy the same territory as civilized 

 man and so is destined to disappear before 

 him. 



JAGUAR (Felis hernandesi and its sub- 

 species) 



The jaguar, or "el tigre," as it is generally 

 known throughout Spanish America, is the 

 largest and handsomest of American cats. Its 

 size and deep yellow color, profusely marked 

 with black spots and rosettes, give it a close 

 resemblance to the African leopard. It is, 

 however, a heavier and more powerful animal. 

 In parts of the dense tropical forests of South 

 America coal-black jaguars occur, and while 

 representing merely a color phase, they are pop- 

 ularly supposed to be much fiercer than the 

 ordinary animal. 



Jaguars are characteristic animals of the 

 tropics in both Americas, frequenting alike the 

 low jungle of arid parts as well as the great 

 forests of the humid regions. In addition, they 

 range south into Argentina and north into the 

 southwestern United States. Although less nu- 

 merous within our borders than formerly, they 

 still occur as rare visitants as far north as 

 middle Texas, middle New Mexico, and north- 

 ern Arizona. They are so strictly nocturnal 

 that their presence in our territory is usually 

 not suspected until, after depredations on stock 

 usually attributed to mountain lions, a trap or 

 poison is put out and reveals a jaguar as the 

 offender. Several have been killed in this way 

 within our border during the last ten years, 

 including one not far from the tourist hotel at 

 the Grand Canyon of Arizona. 



Although so large and powerful, the jaguar 

 has none of the truculent ferocity of the Afri- 

 can leopard. During the years I spent in its 

 country, mainly in the open, I made careful 

 inquiry without hearing of a single case where 

 one had attacked human beings. So far as I 

 could learn, it has practically the same shy and 

 cowardly nature as the mountain Hon. Despite 



this, the natives throughout its tropical home 

 have a great fear of "el tigre," as I saw evi- 

 denced repeatedly in Mexico. Apparently this 

 fear is based wholly on its strength and poten- 

 tial ability to harm man if it so desired. 



Jaguars are very destructive to the larger 

 game birds and mammals of their domain and 

 to horses and cattle on ranches. On many 

 large tropical ranches a "tigrero," or tiger 

 hunter, with a small pack of mongrel dogs, is 

 maintaipedj whose duty it is immediately to 

 take up the trail when a "tigre" makes its pres- 

 ence know,n, usually by killing cattle. The 

 hunter steadily continues the pursuit, some- 

 times for many days, until the animal is either 

 killed or driven out of the district. It is ordi- 

 narily hunted with dogs, which noisily follow 

 the trail, but its speed through the jungle often 

 enables it to escape. When hard pressed it 

 takes to a tree and is easily killed. 



Few predatory animals are such wanderers 

 as the jaguar, which roams hundreds of miles 

 from its original home, as shown by its occa- 

 sional appearance far within our borders. In 

 the heavy tropical forest it so commonly fol- 

 lows the large wandering herds of white-lipped 

 peccaries that some of the Mexicans contend 

 that every large herd is trailed by a tiger to 

 pick up stragglers. Along the Mexican coast 

 in spring, when sea turtles crawl up the beaches 

 to bury their eggs in the sand, the rising sun 

 often reveals the fresh tracks of the jaguar 

 where it has traveled for miles along the shore 

 in search of these savory deposits. 



In one locality on the Pacific coast of' Guer- 

 rero I found that the hardier natives had an 

 interesting method of hunting the "tigre" dur- 

 ing the mating period. At such times the male 

 has the habit of leaving its lair near the head 

 of a small Canyon in the foothills early in the 

 evening and following down the canyon for 

 some distance, at intervals utterins; a subdued 

 roar. On moonhght nights at this time the 

 hunter places an expert native with a short 

 wooden trumpet near the mouth of the canyon 

 to imitate 'the "tigre's" call as soon as it is 

 heard and to repeat the cry at proper intervals. 

 After placing the caller, the hunter ascends the 

 canyon several hundred yards and, gun in 

 hand, awaits the approach of the animal. The 

 natives have many amusing tales of the sudden 

 exit of untried hunters when the approaching 

 animal unexpectedly uttered its roar at close 

 quarters. 



JAGUARUNDI CAT, OR EYRA (Felis 

 cacomitli and its subspecies) 



The eyra differs greatly in general appear- 

 ance from any of our other cats, although it is 

 one of the most characteristic of the American 

 members of this widely spread family. It is 

 larger than an otter, with a small flattened 

 head, long body, long tail, and short legs, thus 

 having a distinctly otterlike form. It is char- 

 acterized by two color phases — one a dull gray 

 or dusky, and the other some shade of rusty 

 rufous. Animals of these different colors were 

 long supposed to represent distinct species, but 



