THE YAGOUARONDL 
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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 sufiocated. 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 Y AGOTJAEOxm 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 
If, therefore, the Yagouarondi is in a placid humor, its fur lies closely to the body, and only 
