The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

THE OCELOT.

In the forest region is also found the most beautiful of the medium-sized cats. This is the OCELOT, which corresponds somewhat to the servals, but is not the least like a lynx, as

The Cat Tribe 53 the servals are. It is entirely a trec-cat, and lives on birds and monkeys. The followin detailed description of its coloration appeared in “Life at the Zoo”:—: “Its coat, with the exception perhaps of that of the clouded leopard of Sumatra, marks the highest development of ornament among four-footed animals. The Argus pheasant alone seems to offer a parallel to the beauties of the ocelot’s fur, especially in the development of the wonderful ocelli, which, though never reaching in the beast the perfect cup-and-ball ornament seen on the wings of the bird, can be traced in all the early stages of spots and wavy lines, so far as the irregular shell-shaped rim and dot on the feet, sides, and back, just as in the subsidiary ornament of the Argus pheasant’s feathers. Most of ‘ae ii hin of the fur is smoky-pearl colour, on which the spots develop from mere dots on the legs and Photo by Ottomur Anschiitz) (Berlin.

OCELOT FROM CENTRAL AMERICA,

The ocelot can be tamed and almost domesticated if taken young, and is occasionally kept as a pet by the forest Indians, speckles on the feet and toes to large egg-shaped ocelli on the flanks.. There are also two beautiful pearl-coloured spots on the back of each ear, like those which form the common ornaments of the wings of many moths.” The nose is pink; the eye large, convex, and translucent. A tame ocelot described by Wilson, the American naturalist, was most playful and affectionate, but when fed with flesh was less tractable. It jumped on to the back of a horse in the stable, and tried to curl up on its hindquarters. The horse threw the ocelot off and kicked it, curing it of any disposition to ride. On seeing a horse, the ocelot always ran off to its kennel afterwards. When sent to England, it caught hold of and threw down a child of four years old, whom it rolled about with its paws without hurting it.

of the World The Living Animals54

OTHER WILD CATS.

A HANDSOME leopard-like animal is the CLOUDED LEOPARD. It is the size of a small common leopard, but far gentler in disposition. Its fur is not spotted, but marked with clouded patches, outlined in grey and olive-brown. Its skin is among the most beautiful of the Cats. It is found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Formosa, and along the foot of the Himalaya from Nepal to Assam. Writing of two which he kept, Sir Stamford Raffles said: " No kitten could be more good-tempered. They were always courting intercourse with persons passing by, and in the expression of their countenance showed the greatest Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. delight when noticed, throwing them- CLOUDED LEOPARD. selves on their backs, and delighting It shares with the ocelot the first place among the highly ornamented cats.

in being tickled and rubbed. On board ship there was a small dog, which used to play around the cage with the animal. It was amusing to watch the tenderness and playfulness with which the latter came in contact with its smaller-sized companion." Both specimens were procured from the banks of the Bencoolin River, in Sumatra. They are generally found near villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except in so far that they destroy

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. their poultry. FISHING-CAT. The number of smaller leopard-cats This wild cat haunts the sides of rivers, and is an expert at catching fish. and tiger-cats is very great. They fall, : those which roughly, into three groups are yellow and spotted, those which are grey and spotted, and those which are grey and striped, or "whole-coloured." There is no wholly grey wild cat, but several sandy-coloured species. All live on birds and small mammals, and probably most share the tame cat's liking for fish. Among the grey-and-spotted cats are the MOTTLED CAT of the Eastern Himalaya and Straits Settlements and islands; the TIBETAN TIGER-CAT; the FISHING-CAT of India and Ceylon, which is large enough Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. to kill lambs, but lives much on fish and MARBLED CAT. large marsh-snails; GEOFFROY'S CAT, an Another beautifully marked cat. The tail is spotted and very long, the American species; the LEOPARD-CAT of Java marbled markings being on the body only

[Berlin. Photo b GOLDEN CAT. ,urnatra is the borne of this very beautifully coloured cat. The general tint is that of gold-stone. Sometimes the belly is pure white. 55 \

56 The Living Animals of the World

and Japan, which seems to have grey fur in Japan and a fulvous leopard-like skin in India, where it is also called the TIGER-CAT; and the smallest of all wild cats, the little RUSTY-SPOTTED CAT of India. This has rusty spots on a grey ground. “I had a kitten brought to me,” says Dr. Jerdon of the species, “when very young. It became quite tame, and was the delight and admiration of all who saw it. When it was about eight months old, I introduced the fawn of a gazelle into the room where it was. The little creature flew at it the moment it saw it, seized it by the nape of the neck, and was with difficulty taken off.” Of the whole-coloured wild cats—which include the BAY CAT, the American PAMPAS-CAT, PALLAS’ CAT of Tibet and India—the most beautiful is the GOLDEN CAT of Sumatra, one of which is now in the Zoological Gardens. It has a coat the colour of gold-stone. The nose is pink, the eyes large and topaz-coloured, the cheeks striped with white, and the under-parts and lower part of the tail pure white.

Four kinds of wild cats are known in South Africa, of which the largest is the SERVAL, a short-tailed, spotted animal, with rather more woolly fur than the leopard’s. The length is about 4 feet 2 inches, of which the tail is only 12 inches. It is found from Algeria to the Cape; but its favourite haunts, like those of all the wild cats of hot countries, are in the reeds by rivers. It kills hares, rats, birds, and small mammals generally.

The BLACK-FOOTED WILD CAT is another African species. It is a beautiful spotted-and-lined tabby, the size of a small domestic cat, and as likely as any other to be the origin of our tabby variety, if tame cats came to Europe from Africa. At present it is only found south in the Kalahari Desert and Bechuanaland.

The KAFFIR CAT is the common wild cat of the Cape Colony, and a very interesting animal. It is a whole-coloured tawny, upstanding animal, with all the indifference to man and generally independent character of the domestic tom-cat.

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. PAMPAS-CAT. Note the likeness of the thick tail and barred legs to our English wild cat. “Inexpressibly savage in disposition” (Hudson).

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.

EYRA CAT.

The lowest and longest of the cats, shaped more like a civet; it is readily tamed, and makes a charming pet.

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.

BAY CAT.

This is an example of the completely tawny small cats.

The Cat Tribe 57

It is, however, much stronger than the tame cats, with which it interbreeds freely. In the Colony it is often difficult to keep male tame cats, for the wild Kaffir cats come down and fight them in the is really breeding-season. The Egyptian cat the same animal, slightly modified by climate. A very distinct species is the = JUNGLE-CAT, ranging from India, through Baluchistan, Syria, and East Africa, and called in Hindustani the CHAUS. The European Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. striped wild cat extends to the Himalaya, KAFFIR CAT. where the range of the lion-coloured, The common wild cat of South Africa. It will interbreed with yellow-eyed chaus begins. The chaus has domestic cats. a few black bars inside the legs, which vary in different regions. The Indian chaus has only one distinctly marked; the Kaffir cat has four or five. The EGYPTIAN FETIERED CAT has been said to be the origin of the domestic and sacred cats of is most formidable when "cornered." General Hamilton chasedEgypt- A male chaus one, which had prowled into the cantonments on the look-out for fowls, into a fence. "After a long time I spied the cat squatting in a hedge," he writes, "and called for the dogs. When they came, I knelt down and began clapping my hands and cheering face. I had just time tothem on. The cat suddenly made a clean spring at my catch it as one would a cricket-ball, and, giving its ribs a strong squeeze, threw it to the dogs; but not before it had made its teeth meet in my arm just above the wrist. For I shall carry the marks of the bite tosome weeks I had to carry my arm in a sling, and my grave." The chaus, as will be seen from the above, wanders boldly down into the outskirts of large towns, cantonments, and bungalows, on the look-out for chickens and pigeons. Its favourite plan is to lie up at dawn in some piece of thick cover near to where the poultry wander out itto scratch, feed, and bask. It then pounces on the nearest unhappy hen and rushes off with into cover. An acquaintance of the writer once had a number of fine Indian game fowl, of which he was not a little proud. He noticed that one was missing every morning for three days, and, not being able to discover the robber, shut them up in a hen-house. Next morning he heard. 1: a great commotion outside, and one Jit. of his bearers came running in to say that a leopard was in the hen-house. As this was only built of bamboo or some such light material, it did not seem probable that a leopard would stay there. Getting his rifle, he went out into the compound, and cautiously approached the hen-house, in which the fowls were still making loud protests and cries of alarm. The door was shut; but some creature certainly not a leopard might have squeezed ,, in through. TTthe small, en-,, Photo ly A. S. Rudland & Sons. trance used by the hens. He opened the AFRICAN CHAUS, OR JUNGLE-CAT. . g the Indlan and African equivalent of our wild cat. It is door, and Saw at the back Of the hen-house The chaus a chaUS Sitting, With all its fur On end, equally strong and savage. 8