Jaguar

Jaguar (Felis onca), the American "tiger," ranging over the Western continent from Texas to parts of Patagonia, frequenting the wooded banks of the great rivers and the reedy shores of lakes. It is rather larger than the leopard (q.v.), and the tawny fur is marked pretty regularly with ring-like spots enclosing a disc darker than the ground colour, and often marked with small dark dots. Jaguars seem to have little fear of man, and though they will seldom attack him when they can get other food, Wallace records a case where one entered the hut of an Indian and sprang upon him in his hammock. Horses and mules are their favourite food, but they also eat fish and turtles. scooping out the flesh of the latter from the unbroken shell with their paws. The story of their contests with alligators, though generally discredited, is recorded by Wallace on what he seems to consider good evidence. But a great deal would depend on the size of the alligator.