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]
[Illustration: 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.
THE EYRA.[35]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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