Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-09-25
THE NEWEST THING IN CATS.
Cats That Fish for Living and De-
iuht in the Water.

in the past few days secured speci-
mems of the Cacomictl and Eyra cats,
animals of the feline family that, I'M
til about 1892, were unknown to sci
ence. Without doubt they are the
most remarkable and curious of all
animals of the feline family. Thus
far specimens of these cats have never
been exhibited in any of the ZOOS of
this country and Europe, and the three
just received are the first animals of
the kind ever seen in the geological
gardens Of the world. Like the Kawiak
bear, the okapi, the giraffe with five
horncores, and the pigmy h1ppopota-
mus of Sierra Leone, these peculiar
little animals have remained hidden
from the explorer and the naturalist
down to within few years of the
10th century, and, in consequence, the
story of their discovery is we'll worth
relating.
The Cacomictl cat differs from all
other members of the cat tribe in
having very long body, long neck,
and, in proportion to the rest of the
body, small weasellike head, with
slightly tapering muzzle. In night,
the animal stands about IL feet at the
shoulders, while the tail, proportionate-
ly longer than in any known member
of the cat family, exceeds the length
of the body by almost a foot. The
legs are decidedly long, making this
cat the greyhound, so to speak, of the
feline race. A more graceful and
active animal it would be hard to
imagine, and yet there is something
about the animal, something in it's
| general makeup that at once reminds
one OF an otter or a mink With a
| body like that of dachshund, set on
long stilt-like legs, it's long neck. small
head, and long, sweeping tail all con-
tribute to make very singular animal
That which still further gives the
animal an otter-like appearance is it's
small ears, which have a somewhat
backward turn. In the matter of color,
| the Cacomictl cat differs from the
| general run of cats, in being of a
rather dark Maltese color, or, more
properly speaking, the color is pretty
much the same as the domestic
Maltese cat
| In it's habits the Cacomictl cat diff
fers from other felines quite as much
as in color and form. The lion is the
king, not only of cats. but Oh beasts in
general; the tiger is a butcher on
large scale; the lynx is a sort of bird
collector and rabbit fancier; the serval
is high jumper and allaround ath-
lete, but Felis cacomictl deals ex-
clusively in fish The habitat of the
Cacomlctl cat IS along the banks of
the Rio Grande river, in both Mexico
and Texas, from the mouth up to about
Eagle pass, and extends north and
south into the interior of the two
countries only a short distance.
They are nocturnal animals, hiding
away during the daytime in dens which
they make for themselves in the
dense mat Of tall grass growing from
the rich soil of the river banks, but
coming out at night to fish. This the
Cacom1ctl cat does by proving on the
trunk OF tree overhanging the water.
in much the same manner that
domestic cat watches a rat hole. wait
ing until some unlucky fish appears
on the surface, when. with a spring
almost as quick as bolt of lightning
ne plunges into the water seizes the
fish and swims ashore to devour his
prey.
In the water the Cacomlctl cat is
quite in his element With his long,
slnuous, otterlike body, he swims with
perfect ease and grace, while his
snort, close, smooth pelage offers no
resistance to the fluid through which
ne moves with such surprising rapid
lty. In fact, he is one member of the
cat family that not only does not OBJ
Ject to going into the water, but rather
prefers it to the land. Just the same.
ne is none the less of a genuine cat
On that account. He splits and yowls
and uses his teeth and sharp claws
just as other cats do, and is as diff
cult to tame as the worst. tiger that
ever lived.
From the home of the Cacomictl cat
down through Mexico and South
America as far as Paraguay there are
other cats that are variations of the
F'ells Cacomictl, although none of
them is quite like the former. The
chief difference is that the latter fish
less and are more cat and less otter
than the Rio Grande variety. Of
these one is the Eyra cat, another
very rare and recently discovered
animal that succeeds the Cacomictl
cat in northern Mexico and ranges
south through the latter country into
south Mexico. In South America the
Eyra cat is succeeded by the Yaguar-
ondi cat, which ranges down into Pa |
faguay, but no further.
The parent of all modern cats. such |
as the tiger leopard. puma, jaguar. |
lynx, ounce, etc, was one Of several |
animals that, in the Eocene period. |
inhabited the dense tropical jungles /
surrounding certain large fresh-water /
lakes, where now are the great plains |
hn