23103 Puma, or Mountain Lion, Captured in Colorado

The puma looks like a great big cat. He is the largest cat living in America. The puma used to live in nearly all the forest of our country. But when people began to cut down the forest and to make homes and farms the puma had to move. He moved to the big mountains in the West. That is how he got the other name—mountain lion.

The puma is about eight times as big as a large cat. He has a very light brown coat. He is white underneath. You can see that he has a long tail. The puma is very strong and quick. He often kills deer. He likes horse meat. He hunts all kinds of big animals, even bears.

He does most of his hunting at night. He steals about on his big soft paws just like a cat. He can see well in the dark. When he wants to kill an animal he sneaks up behind it. When he gets near enough he takes a long jump. He can knock down animals much larger than himself.

The puma is afraid of man. He will run from a barking dog. He knows the dog is man’s best friend. The dog chases the puma up a tree. Then he can be shot.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

V7824 Royal Bengal Tiger in His Cage

The tiger is a beautiful animal but he is very fierce. He is the largest and strongest of the cat family. The royal Bengal tiger can kill a lion in a fight. The tiger’s jaw and teeth can crush the bones of a large ox. He can break a horse’s back with one blow from his forepaw.

A cattle-eating tiger will kill an ox about every five days. His soft padded paws carry him through the bush without a sound. Have you ever watched a cat pounce upon a mouse? Just like that the tiger with a great spring may pounce upon man or animal. No wonder the people of India fear him.

Sometimes the men go on a tiger hunt. They ride on the backs of elephants. The hunters must be very quick and sure. The tiger is so sly and cunning that he may kill the hunters before they can shoot him.

The tiger kittens are about a foot long when they are born. They stay with their mother for two years. She teaches them all the tricks of tiger hunting.

See if you can find any stories about the tiger. “The Man, the Tiger, and the Jackal” is a folk story. Perhaps you know the story of “Little Black Sambo.” Perhaps you can find a fable about a tiger.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

16533 Caged Lions at Close Range

These lions were caught in Africa. What shaggy manes they have! One of them has no mane. That is a lioness or mother lion. The lions have long tails with a tuft of hair at the end.

Lions live in the jungles and plains of Africa. They like to hide in the tall yellow grass. It is hard to see them because they are the same color as the grass.

The lion is a great meat eater. He hunts at night. Sometimes five or six lions hunt together. The lion puts his great mouth close to the ground and roars with all his might. This frightens the other animals. It makes it easy for the lion to catch them as they try to run away.

The people can tell by the lion’s roar if he is hungry. Man-eating lions come into African villages where people live. Even tall fences can’t keep them out. Aren’t you glad there are no lions running wild in our country? The lion is very quick. The mother lion is even quicker than the father. She gets very fierce if she thinks her babies are in danger.

There are many stories about lions. Look for them in the Table of Contents in your books and read them. Some of the stories are true stories and some are fables.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

V7826 Giant Hippopotamus from Africa

You can see from this picture what a queer looking animal a hippopotamus is. But you cannot tell that he his one of the largest animals in the world. He is nearly as large as an elephant, but not nearly so tall. That is because he has queer short legs. You cannot see that his skin is more than two inches thick. If yours was so think it would not hurt much to prick your finger.

Animals like this one are found in Africa. They live much of the time in the water. They like to swim. Sometimes a mother hippopotamus has been swimming with her baby on her back. They like to eat the soft weeds that grow on the bottom of the rivers. Sometimes they walk on the bottom of a deep stream under the water. They do not need to breathe as often as we, so they can stay under water a long time. The water cannot get into their noses. There is kind of a skin door that closes the holes if the animal wishes. We wish we had one of those when we smell things we do not like.

Besides the river beds, they eat plants and leaves that grow in the forest. They come out of the water at night to feed. Sometimes they get into the farm crops and eat them all.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

7825 A Rhinoceros from Asia

When you grow up and have a gun, shall you go to the woods to hunt for rhinoceros? You will not find any in the woods of our own country. You must travel across the ocean to India or Africa if you wish to hunt this animal. You must go hunting very early. You must find your rhinoceros in an open space where he has been feeding in the night. If you are too late he will get back to the forest where he hides and sleeps in the daytime. You can walk. The jungle is so thick and tall where you are going that you must ride on an elephant.

Perhaps you will be lucky and find a rhinoceros and shoot him. He will look like one in the picture. He is sometimes nearly six feet tall. His skin is rough and can be dried into war shields. His head is an ugly shape and he has a sort of horn on his nose. If he wishes to hurt you he will not bite, but will put his head down and try to run that horn into you. He eats leaves and grass and can curl his lip around them and pull them off. His feet are large and his short toes are almost as tough as hoofs. He is so strong that you must be very careful when you hunt him.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.