It lives in the woods, and destroys an immense amount of small game and birds. It is a savage beast, but is capable of domestication, and may be put to good use as a mouser; it can never, however, be quite trusted, and always keeps up a more or less ferocious appearance. Still, it must be remembered that, in common with a large proportion of the wild Felidæ, it has never had a fair chance of showing its milder virtues. The Cats, almost without exception, are savage in the extreme, and practically untamable when caught in the adult state, but Mr. Bartlett informs us that there is hardly one of the group that may not be thoroughly domesticated, if taken young and properly treated.
THE COLOCOLO.[32]
This is another Central American Tiger-Cat, of equal ferocity with the last, but far less beautiful. The fur is rougher; the ground-colour is tawny; the spots are smaller than in the Ocelot, and not so exquisitely arranged. The whole body is some forty-one inches long, of which the tail takes up about fourteen.
The Colocolo is an extremely ferocious animal, and does great harm in the forests in which it lives, where, amongst other things, it feeds largely on Monkeys. “On the banks of a river in Guiana, an officer, having killed one of these Cats, stuffed it, and placed it to dry in the hinder part of the boat in which he was travelling. One day they passed under some great trees, the branches of which, hanging into the water, formed a resting-place for innumerable Monkeys, which approached the boat with great curiosity, and seemed to take pleasure in following it as far as the trees would permit. On this particular voyage, the Monkeys ran towards the boat as usual, but the sight of the stuffed fur inspired them with such terror that they precipitately took flight, uttering cries of rage and terror. This observation shows clearly enough that Monkeys look upon the Colocolo as one of their most terrible enemies.”[33]
MARGAY.
THE JAGUARONDI.[34]
This is a curious, long-bodied, short-legged animal ([see next page]), with a body almost as lithe and lissom as a Weasel’s. Like the Puma’s, its head is small and well shaped, and its tail long; but it is a much smaller animal, not exceeding three feet in length, including the tail. Its colour is a dark grey-brown, “each hair being greyish-black, very dark at the root, and entirely black between the root and the point, which is of a dark-grey hue. This diversity of colour causes the Jaguarondi to appear darker or lighter according to circumstances,” that is, according to whether, being in a placid condition, his hair is lying smooth and flat on the body, or whether, being excited, he erects it.
The Jaguarondi lives in the thick forests of Brazil, Paraguay, and Guiana, where it always prefers the most impenetrable thickets, and is never seen in the open country. It lives upon birds and small Mammals, having a special fondness for fowls, which no amount of training will ever diminish. Even when a domesticated Jaguarondi is chained up in a yard, it will “try a thousand shifts” to entice the fowls into its neighbourhood, and will then suddenly leap on and devour them.