150 
THE PUMA. 
accustomed, and which, was a positive terror to the rapacious animal. A caged leopard has 
displayed a similar uneasiness at a fixed gaze of a spectator, and has finally been so quelled 
that in its restless walk it dared not turn its face towards its persecutor. 
Although it is not an object of personal dread to the civilized inhabitants of the forest 
lands, the Puma is a pestilent neighbor to the farmer, committing sad havoc among his flocks 
and herds, and acting with such consummate craft, that it can seldom be arrested in the act of 
destruction, or precluded from achieving it. No less than fifty sheep have fallen victims 
to the Puma in a singlo night. It is not, however, the lot of every Puma to reside in the 
neighborhood of such easy prey as pigs, sheep, and poultry, and the greater number of these 
animals are forced to depend for their subsistence on their own success in chasing or surprising 
the various animals on which they feed. As is the case with the jaguar, the Puma is specially 
fond of the capybara and the peccary, and makes a meal on many smaller deer than even the 
latter animal. 
Such creatures as are unfortunate enough to please the taste of the Puma, are nearly always 
taken by surprise, and struck down before they are even aware of the vicinity of their tawny 
foe. The Puma loves to hide upon the branches of trees, and from that eminence to launch 
itself upon the doomed animal that may pass within reach of its active leap and its death- 
dealing paw. 
While thus lying upon the branches, the creature is almost invisible from below, as its fur 
harmonizes so well with the brown bark which covers the boughs, that the one can scarcely be 
distinguished from the other. Even when imprisoned within the limits of a cage, where the 
eye has no great range of objects for inspection, the Puma will often lie so closely pressed 
against a shelf, or flattened upon the thick boughs which are placed in its cell, that the cage 
appears at first sight to be empty, even though the spectator may have come to it with the 
express object of inspecting the inhabitants. It may therefore be easily imagined how 
treacherous a foe the Puma may be when ranging at will among the countless trees of an 
American forest. 
The flesh of this animal is said, by those who have made trial of it, to be a pleasant 
addition to the diet scale, being white, tender, and of good flavor. When taken young, 
the Puma is peculiarly susceptible of domestication, and has been known to follow its master 
just like a dog. The hunters of the Pampas are expert Puma slayers, and achieve their end 
either by catching the bewildered animal with a lasso, and then galloping oil with the poor 
creature hanging at the end of the leather cord, or by flinging the celebrated bolas — metal balls 
or stones fastened to a rope— at the Puma, and laying it senseless on the ground with a blow 
from the heavy weapon. 
The Puma is the largest and most powerful of the North American cats, if we except the 
jaguar, which is more properly a southern species, being found mostly in South America, and 
as far north, occasionally, as Eastern Texas. Its entire range is from the extreme south of 
the continent, at the Straits of Magellan, to the northern portion of the State of New 
York. It has been quite common along the great range of the Blue Ridge, and northward 
to the Catskills and Adirondacks, but is rarely found north of this region. Before the 
settlement of the country, it ranged over all the New England States. It reaches in size 
the dimensions of the largest dog, and weighs about 150 pounds, the heaviest recorded being 
200 pounds. It is cowardly, though possessing great strength and ferocity, approaching its 
prey stealthily. 
Some interesting facts are recorded by Dr. Merriam in his work on the Mammals of the 
Adirondacks. He says : £ ‘ The distance that a panther can pass over in a single leap is almost 
incredible. On level ground, a single spring of twenty feet is by no means uncommon, and 
on one occasion Mr. Sheppard measured a leap, over snow, of nearly forty feet. In this 
instance, there were three preliminary springs, and the panther struck his deer on the fourth. 
The longest leap measured by Mr. Sheppard was one of sixty feet, but here the panther 
jumped from a ledge of rocks about twenty feet above the level upon which the deer was 
standing. He struck it with such force as to knock it nearly a rod further 011.” 
Jn the winter, when snow is so deep as to obstruct the travelling of deer, the great feet of 
& 
