CARNIVORES
Including the Insectivores and Chiropterans
This group is distinguished from other animals by having canine teeth in both jaws. The function of these teeth is to catch and hold other animals, for carnivores are the predators. This is the most highly developed branch of the animal world and reaches a peak of specialization in man who, while lacking some of the physical qualifications of the other predators, has developed a brain which has enabled him to gain and keep ascendancy over all other animals. Considered with the group in this book are two other orders, the Insectivora and the Chiroptera. These orders embrace the mammals in North America that live principally on worms or insects rather than on other mammals. They are the shrews and bats, respectively.
Since carnivores are the hunters rather than the hunted, they enjoy far greater mobility than, for instance, the rodents. It is not necessary that they have a burrow in which to escape the attacks of other animals, for it is unusual for them to prey upon each other. Most of the predators remain in one area only from choice or, in the case of adult females, in order to rear the young. Few of them hibernate; bears and skunks do spend a considerable time during the cold weather in a torpor, but it is an uneasy sleep at best, as anyone who has disturbed these animals at this time can attest. As far as the Chiroptera are concerned, some species of bats hibernate and others migrate to a warmer climate to spend the winter. Since most of the predators are active all winter, while many of the rodents are in hibernation, this can be a period of famine for carnivores. At the same time, it is a season of increased danger for those species which are still active and upon which these predators prey.
Because these hunters are continually stalking other animals, their habitats are as varied as those of their quarries. Thus, the mountain lion is a creature of the rimrock, where he can most conveniently find deer browsing on mountain-mahogany; while his smaller cousin, the bobcat, stalks smaller animals in the slope chaparral. The wild dogs hunt plains and brushy country for ground squirrels and rabbits. In the weasel family we find the marten in the treetops pursuing squirrels, the weasel hunting mice in the meadow, and mink and otter pursuing prey near to or in the water, Some species, such as the bears, are omnivorous and may be encountered almost anywhere that a plentiful supply of food of any kind can be found. Practically all of the species, excepting bats and skunks, can be considered diurnal as well as nocturnal, but the majority are most active during the hours between dusk and sunrise.
Since the carnivores’ purpose in Nature’s scheme is to control the vegetable eaters, it follows that each predator must be somewhat superior, either physically or mentally, or both, to the species upon which it preys. The associations between pursuer and pursued may be casual with species such as the coyote, which preys on a great number of smaller species, or they may be sharply defined as with the lynx, which in certain localities depends almost entirely upon the snowshoe hare for food. The apparent ferocity with which some predators will kill, not only enough for a meal, but much more than they need, cannot as yet be explained. This habit is most pronounced in the weasel family. It may be that more than ordinary control is called for in the case of their host species, rodents in most cases. Whatever the reason, this wanton killing has not upset the balance which these species maintain. Man, the most ruthless and intelligent predator of all, is the only species which has been successful in exterminating others.
The predators hold a favored place in the esteem of most naturalists. At first, sympathy for the weak and indignation against the strong are perfectly natural human feelings. As the necessity for control and the wonderful way in which Nature attains a balance becomes apparent, the role of the predator becomes more and more appreciated by the student.
Mountain lion
Felis concolor (Latin: a cat of the same color; referring no doubt to the smooth blending of the body coloration)
Range: At present, mostly confined to the western United States and Canada, and all of Mexico south to the southern tip of South America. There are a number of mountain lions in Florida, and persistent reports indicate that they may be making a comeback in a number of other Eastern States.
Habitat: As the range indicates, habitats vary widely. Mountain lions in the Southwest show a preference for rimrock country in the Transition Life Zone or higher, but they are often seen in all the life zones.