ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
WHITE-TAILED DEER 
A southern form of the northern white-tailed deer 
Deer: The little red deer (brocket) is very 
abundant also, and lower down the white-tailed 
deer is found. Of course the best way to hunt 
these deer is with hounds. Nearly all the shots 
you will get will be running shots, which in my 
opinion adds much to the sport. My hounds 
often run a deer down and catch it. This of 
course takes several hours to do. When I find 
a deer at bay in some river, I can generally kill 
it with my hunting knife. 
Paca: The paca is an animal of which you 
hear very little. It is a rodent of about fifteen 
to twenty pounds in weight, short-legged and 
very plump, drab in color and spotted nearly like 
a fawn. In both young and old the flesh is very 
tender and is much sought after By all hunters. 
One seldom seeks them in the day time, as they 
are nocturnal in their habits. A dog is used to 
hunt them as they generally are found in caves, 
which invariably have an inlet and an outlet. 
They are good swimmers and readily take to 
the mountain streams. They can stay under 
water for quite a while when chased by dogs. 
I believe they have two young at a litter and 
they seem to breed all the year round. The 
natives bait their runways and watch with a 
jacklight for them after dark. The bait used is 
corn, bananas or a piece of pumpkin. 
This is one of the few animals that the natives 
have failed to tame. It is a most timid animal 
but when in a cave will fight a dog until killed. 
Their teeth are very long and sharp, and they 
cut up a dog pretty badly sometimes. 
I believe that animals and birds here in the 
tropics are much easier tamed than those of the 
northern hemisphere. 
I have seen natives with monkeys, peccaries, 
agouti, paca, tapir, parrots, (huecheche) a small 
wild duck, turkeys of three kinds and coati mun- 
dis, all so tame as to become a nuisance,—all 
except the paca. The latter must be kept in a 
wire pen. 
Coati Mundi: We have an animal here called 
the coati mundi. They go in bands of from ten 
to fifty. They look something like a raccoon 
and do great damage to a cornfield. They are 
greater fighters than a raccoon. 
When a coati mundi becomes very old, he 
leaves the herd and becomes, as the native hunter 
terms it, “a gato solo.” These old fellows get 
very fat and I will say that they are not bad 
for the table. 
Agouti: -Agouti are very abundant here, but 
they are not very good as food. They make a 
good chase for the hounds, very nearly as good 
as a grey fox. 
Quail: Down on the plains below Boquete 
are found the bob-white, a small quail; I think 
that it is called the Colinas minor. These birds 
go in bevies. Up here in the mountains we have 
the mountain quail but they do not seem to go 
in large bevies. You seldom see more than four 
or five together. 
1'urkeys: Turkeys of three varieties are 
found here in these mountains, but are very 
hard to hunt. 
Pigeon: The band-tailed pigeons are here in 
great numbers. They breed and stay here all 
the year ’round. 
Quetzal [Resplendent Trogon] : The quetzal 
is found here at an elevation of between four 
and seven thousand feet. They build their nests 
in holes in trees. The two long tail feathers of 
the male bird can be seen hanging out of the 
hole. The bird backs out of the hole so as not 
to injure its beautiful plumes. 
Hounds brought from the United States do 
not hunt well here. They do not get through 
the jungle as they should do, also, the tremen¬ 
dous barrancas stop them. The only good and 
really useful dogs that I have now are those 
that I have raised and trained myself. It is 
very hard to get a pack of hounds that will 
really fight and stick to the game. 
