THE LARGER MAMMALS OF PATAGONIA
Little known of natural history of Patagonia --
Distribution of principal mammals -- Huemul -- Range --
Habits -- Horns -- Not timid in remote districts --
Curiosity -- Common puma -- Immense numbers -- Destructive
habits -- Method of attack -- Silent -- Expert in hiding
lair -- Pearson's puma -- Points of difference --
Characteristics -- Guanaco -- Wide range -- Large herds --
Quantities of bones at drinking-places -- Hard winters --
Habits -- Lack of affection for young -- Patagonian cavy
-- Arbitrary limit of range -- Weight -- Habits --
Armadillo.
In commencing this chapter I may remark that, as far as English
publications are concerned, I have found nothing bearing on the
zoology of South-eastern Patagonia of later date than the book of
Captain Musters, published in 1871, and no work whatever dealing with
the mammals of the Cordillera.
Captain Musters traversed the country with a tribe of Tehuelche
Indians, and only at one point touched the Cordillera. His book is
essentially a book treating of these interesting Indians, and he does
little more than refer now and then to the zoology of the land through
which he passed.
Every one is, of course, familiar with the volumes to which the
voyages of the _Adventure_ and the _Beagle_ gave rise, but it must be
remembered that the most westerly point attained by the boat-party
from the _Beagle_, which ascended the Santa Cruz River, was Mystery
Plain. In no English work whatever has any mention been made of the
huemul (_Xenelaphus bisulcus_), a deer peculiar to the Southern
Cordillera, nor have we any account of the habits of the puma, or, I
should rather say, the pumas of Patagonia. During the time we spent in
Patagonia we covered a considerable portion of the country, and passed
some five or six months within the Cordillera, or in their immediate
neighbourhood, so that we had ample opportunity for making some
interesting observations.
To begin with, I should like to say a few words concerning the
distribution, broadly speaking, of the principal mammals of Patagonia.
Patagonia is divided practically into sections by its eastward-flowing
rivers. To-day the jaguar (_Felis onca_) does not, I am informed,
range south of the River Colorado, although specimens were killed in
the vicinity of the River Negro fifteen years ago. The River Deseado
forms the southern limit of the distribution of the Patagonian cavy
(_Dolichotis patagonica_). The armadillo (_Dasypus minutus_) is never
found south of the River Santa Cruz. During four months which I spent
south of that river I did not see one, but when for three days we
crossed to the north bank we met with four and killed one. _Dasypus
minutus_ is very common in the neighbourhood of Bahia Camerones. The
range of the huemul (_Xenelaphus bisulcus_) is confined to the
Cordillera or their close proximity, according to my experience, while
_Felis concolor puma_, and the guanaco may be said to cover the entire
country as regards the plains, and I have seen the animals or their
traces in various parts of the Cordillera.
So much for general distribution.
1. Huemul (_Xenelaphus bisulcus_).
(_Huemul_ or _Guemal_ of the Argentines and Chilians; _Ciervo_ of the
Gauchos of Southern Patagonia; _Shóan_ of the Tehuelches.)
In the neighbourhood of Lake Buenos Aires this beautiful deer first
came under my observation. On the south side of the River de los
Antiguos I saw a buck (which I shot), two does and a pricket. I was
told by my Gaucho, Humphrey Jones, that the huemul is found in the
forests as far north as the Welsh colony of The 16th October, about
lat. 43°; on the south its range extends to the Straits of Magellan.
The easterly limit of their present habitat may be said to be the
foothills of the Andes. Dr. F. P. Moreno, however, states that these
animals have been seen in the hills in the vicinity of Port Desire, on
the Atlantic Coast: I do not think that they are any longer to be
found there. As far as my personal observations go, I never came
across a specimen farther east than a couple of miles from the shore
of Lake Buenos Aires upon its north-eastern side. The Indians said
that these deer were at one time more numerous in that region.
[Illustration: BEST HEAD OF HUEMUL (_XENELAPHUS BISULCUS_) SHOT BY THE
AUTHOR. SIDE VIEW]
During the summer the huemules leave the lower grounds, where the
mosquitoes trouble them, and travel up to the snow-line of the
Cordillera and even beyond it. At this season I never saw a large
herd, but in the winter Mr. Cattle, a pioneer living near Lake
Argentino, informed me that he had seen a large herd of over a hundred
strong that visited the lake. In the warmer weather I noticed them
usually in small parties of two or three, seldom more.
These animals are in the habit of wandering outside the forests in the
evening and forenoon, but in the afternoon they generally retire to
their shelter, where they often lie down. I have found them inhabiting
the margins of the dense forests upon the slopes of the Cordillera
which border the lakes. They are excellent swimmers, and cross the
broad arms of Lake Argentino without hesitation.
In December the huemules which I shot were shedding their winter coat,
and I noticed the bucks were farther advanced in this matter than the
does. There were a few scraps of velvet clinging to the horns of one
of the bucks which I shot on December 9, 1901. It is curious to note
that the Indians, on seeing my reindeer-skin sleeping-bag,
triumphantly identified it as being made of the pelt of the huemul!
The best head that I secured carried five points. Mr. Von Plaaten
Hallermund, of the Argentine Boundary Commission, told me he had seen
a huemul's head carrying eight points in the neighbourhood of Lake San
Martin. One of my _peones_, Bernardo Hähansen, who had penetrated into
the same district, said he had also seen an eight-pointer. Mr. Cattle
and his companions shot two bucks, both of which were four-pointers.
Save for the attacks of pumas, the huemul lives pretty well
undisturbed in his fastnesses. The Indians do not hunt them, as in the
forest-land horses and _boleadores_ are comparatively useless. They do
occasionally kill a few of these deer, however, which may have strayed
to the foothills or to the shores of the lakes.
Huemules are, in general, very confiding, for their range is confined
for the most part to districts where they have little chance of making
acquaintance with the human race. But near the colony of The 16th
October, Jones told me that they had become very wary and difficult of
access, as was to be expected in a region where they are constantly
hunted. In the more unpenetrated parts the buck is very courageous in
the rutting season, and has been known to make some show of attacking
man. On open ground, in my own experience, they manifested wonderfully
little timidity, and would wait for the approach of man, but inside
the forests they invariably dashed away on catching a glimpse of one
of our party. If, however, you have a dog with you, they will in all
cases take to flight.
In the preceding chapter I have given various illustrations of the
natural tameness of the huemul.
When it has observed something unusual in its surroundings, this deer
will remain watching, and without moving, for a great length of time.
On one occasion I saw near Lake Argentino a buck and doe about a
quarter of a mile away. I was lying under a bush watching some wild
cattle, a herd of which were above me against the snow-line, and the
huemules stood and watched me for nearly an hour. They were some ten
yards from each other. Presently the cattle moved, and I followed them
upwards. I returned unsuccessful in the evening to the spot, not
having fired a shot, and found the two deer still watching my horse,
which was tied up on the shore of the lake.
On one or two occasions when I have fired at a huemul the others of
the herd have run towards the noise. Once this happened when I was in
full sight of the animals.
Musters, in his travels through Patagonia, mentions a "red" deer. Of
this I could find no trace, so that in all probability he alluded to
the huemul under that name; the reddish tinge of the huemul's hair
lends likelihood to this suggestion.
No. 2. Puma (_Felis concolor puma_).
(_Leon_ of the Argentines; _Gol_ of the Tehuelches.)
This is the silver-grey variety of puma most commonly met with in
Patagonia. The distribution of this animal extends over the entire
country. It is to be found in the Cordillera as on the pampas. I came
upon tracks of this animal at the end of the north-west fjord of Lake
Argentino about long. 73° 14´, and I also saw a puma at the
south-western extremity of that lake.
Evidence of their existence accompanied the whole itinerary of the
expedition throughout the entire route it covered. The number of pumas
in Patagonia is very great, more so than any zoologist has yet given
an idea of. During one winter two pioneers killed seventy-three near
Lake Argentino. Near San Julian immense numbers are yearly destroyed,
but lately, owing to the advent of settlers, they are becoming less
numerous. At Bahia Camerones, on the farm of Mr. Greenshields,
fourteen pumas were killed during the winter of 1900.
A female killed near Santa Cruz measured 6 ft. 10 in., and a male
killed near Lake Argentino 8 ft. 1 in.
The puma can easily be galloped down, as it rarely runs more than 300
yards or a quarter of a mile when pursued on horseback. It invariably
stands at bay with its back to a bush or a rock.
In strong contradistinction to the habit of the _Felis onca_ (jaguar),
_F. c. puma_, when hunting, kills a number of animals from a flock or
herd. To one only of these kills, however, does it return, and it
always makes some pretence of burying the victim singled out for its
meal, throwing upon the body in many cases merely a small bunch of
thorns. This custom of the puma is frequently taken advantage of by
the shepherds, who poison the chosen carcass. The puma, ninety times
out of a hundred, makes its first meal upon the entrails of the victim
or upon the thigh inside of the groin.
The destruction wrought by pumas upon flocks of sheep is immense. One
animal killed upwards of 100 head from among a single flock. One night
alone its total amounted to fourteen. Another point in connection with
the predatory habits of the puma is that it will travel a long
distance, even as much as ten or twelve miles, after killing.
Its method of attack, judging from an examination of its victims,
appears to be to spring upon the shoulders of its quarry and to break
its neck. Cases are reported of pumas attacking horses, but no
instance of this came under my own notice. They generally select a
stormy and tempestuous night during which to make their depredations.
It is rather curious, as occasionally happens, to see a herd of cows
with their calves take up the trail of a puma with a great deal of
lowing and fuss, but they do not follow it for any distance.
Darwin writes that the puma is a very silent animal, uttering no cry
even when wounded, and only rarely during the breeding season. One
moonlight night, in a forest by Lake Argentino, a couple of pumas came
out of the dark and began to walk round and round the camp, and
continued to do so for more than an hour, all the time keeping up
their peculiar cry. On no other occasion--though, as I have said,
pumas or rather the evidences of their presence, accompanied us
through our long journeys--did I hear them break silence.
[Illustration: PEARSON'S PUMA (_FELIS CONCOLOR PEARSONI_)]
Pumas are more often destroyed in winter, when the snow lies on the
ground, and their tracks can be followed to their hiding-places;
otherwise they are so marvellously expert in concealing themselves
that it is often impossible to find their lair.
Authentic instances of pumas having attacked man are few; but some
have certainly occurred.
No. 3. Pearson's Puma (_Felis concolor pearsoni_).
On my return from Patagonia I brought with me a puma-skin, which
seemed to me to differ in some essential respects from any known
species. Mr. J. G. Millais, on examining the skin, agreed with me, and
pointed out that it possessed several characteristics which do not
occur in _Felis concolor puma_. I took the skin to the Natural History
Museum, where Mr. Oldfield Thomas came to the conclusion that the
animal was a sub-species of _F. c. puma_, and named it _Felis concolor
pearsoni_.
The chief points of difference between the two species are as follows:
The very different general colour, _F. c. pearsoni_ being reddish-fawn
instead of silver-grey. The proportionately very short tail; light
instead of dark colour on the backs of the ears, which are, moreover,
sharply pointed in the case of the new sub-species, and there is an
absence of the dark markings round the digital pads which
distinguishes _Felis concolor puma_.
Several Gauchos, settlers and Indians informed me that there were two
kinds of pumas in Patagonia, one being very common, silver-grey in
colour and cowardly; the other they described as rare, much fiercer,
of a reddish colour, and somewhat smaller than the common grey
species. Amongst the seventy-three pumas killed by the English
pioneers near Lake Argentino, one, Mr. Cattle told me, differed very
much from the ordinary puma, and judging from the description he gave
of it, I have no hesitation in concluding that it was a specimen of
_Felis concolor pearsoni_.
No. 4. Guanaco (_Lama huanachus_).
(_Guanaco_ of settlers, Argentines and Chilians; _Rou_ of the
Tehuelches.)
During the whole course of our travels in Patagonia (save when in the
forests) a day rarely passed without our seeing guanacos. They may be
met within a few hours' ride of any settlement. The range of the
guanaco extends all over the plains of Patagonia. In my experience
they were most numerous in the _Cañadon_ Davis, in the neighbourhood
of Bahia Camerones, and on the high basaltic tablelands to the south
of Lake Buenos Aires. At the base of the Cordillera and in some of the
river-valleys under the edge of the mountains, the range of the
guanaco crosses that of the huemul. I do not think, however, that the
guanacos ever enter the forest, although I have seen them in the open
patches amongst the lower wooded parts of the Cordillera. As the
seasons change they move from higher to lower ground, but these
migrations are limited, and a white guanaco has been observed year
after year in the same neighbourhood. During the time I spent at Lake
Argentino--from February 1 to May 15--I saw but few of these animals,
for at that season all the herds migrate to the high pampa. A herd
four or five hundred strong inhabited the higher plateaus of Mount
Frias.
[Illustration: HEAD OF GUANACO]
FitzRoy, in his "Voyages of the _Adventure_ and the _Beagle_," writes,
"Do the guanacos approach the river to drink when they are dying? or
are the bones and remains of animals eaten by lions or by Indians? or
are they washed together by floods? Certain it is that they are
remarkably numerous near the banks of the river (Santa Cruz), but not
so elsewhere." It is true that, although one comes upon skeletons of
these animals upon the pampas, they are not crowded together as they
are in the _cañadones_ of the rivers or by the lakes near water. At
the edge of a lagoon at the eastern end of Mystery Plain I saw a great
number of skeletons in one place, possibly the very ones noted by
FitzRoy. They extended in a wide track down the hillside and to the
edge of the water. At Lake Viedma the margins of the lake, near the
outflow of the Leona, were covered with their skins and bones. The
meaning of this I gathered from Mr. Ernest Cattle. He told me that in
the winter of 1899 enormous numbers of guanaco sought Lake Argentino,
and died of starvation upon its shores. In the severities of winter
they seek drinking-places, where there are large masses of water
likely to be unfrozen. The few last winters in Patagonia have been so
severe as to work great havoc among the herds of guanaco.
At nightfall guanacos gather into close order, a large herd collecting
in a small radius. They seem to choose open spaces in which to pass
the hours of darkness. In moments of danger also they pack together
densely. At the sound of a shot, the outlying members of a herd will
close up and sway their long necks almost to the ground in unison. I
see that Darwin says that guanaco are "generally very wild and wary."
In places where they are hunted by the Indians this is undoubtedly the
case, but on this point no law can be laid down. In some districts the
guanaco is very difficult of approach, in others extremely easy. The
evidence that I can adduce concerning this point I have given at
length in another chapter. Their instinct of curiosity is very largely
developed. During our wanderings I studied the habits of the guanaco
with ever-increasing interest. In cold weather they become
extraordinarily tame, and will permit a man to walk among them as a
shepherd walks among his sheep.
The young are brought forth in the months of October, November and the
early part of December. In Southern Patagonia some are born as late as
the end of December. During the period of copulation the bucks fight a
good deal. I never shot an old buck which was not seamed and scarred
with the marks of these contests. When fighting they give vent to loud
squeals of rage, they strike with their forefeet and bite savagely,
mostly at the neck of the antagonist. The marks of these bites are
often deep and long. The skin of the neck is luckily very thick, so
little harm is done. As has been noted before, the guanacos drop all
their dung in one spot, and near these spots their wallows are
ordinarily to be found. I saw an old buck spend a long time over his
toilette while his wives looked on and waited. He would spend nearly
half an hour on his back with his legs in the air, at intervals
standing up to neigh and then rolling again.
[Illustration: GUANACO CHICO (CAPTURED WITH LASSOO)]
A guanaco descending a hillside is a truly wonderful sight. He
proceeds in a succession of bounds, on landing from each of which he
dips his head almost to touch his forefeet. The young guanaco keeps up
with his elders over bad ground in an extraordinary way.
The power of affection in guanacos towards their young did not appear
to me to be very strong. From time to time I had to shoot a young one
for food. Out of nine instances which I find in my diary, only twice
did the mother halt in her flight to see what had happened to her
offspring. On both occasions she stopped within two hundred and fifty
yards and stared towards me. If dogs enter into the chase the mother
deserts to a greater distance. One day, when I with the dogs had
killed a young guanaco, I left it lying and rode away with the dogs.
Returning alone, I took up my quarters in the heart of a bush, from
whence I observed the herd to which the mother belonged. They did not
return nearer than a quarter of a mile to the spot. On another
occasion when I shot a young guanaco and concealed myself for the
same reason, the whole herd came back and, mounting an eminence in the
neighbourhood, scanned the scene of the disaster. They did not,
however, venture near the place where the quarry was lying. Curiously
enough, wild cattle, though much more difficult of approach than
guanaco, often come back in the night lowing and bellowing to visit
the spot where a herd-mate has been killed, but before dawn they
invariably leave that part of the forest.
The young guanaco is an easy quarry. We caught a considerable number
of them for food with the aid of the hounds.
On one occasion a young one was simply headed off from the herd, its
portrait taken, and then it was set free again.
No. 5. Patagonian cavy (_Dolichotis patagonica_).
(Called "cavy" or "hare" indiscriminately by the English residents;
_liebre_ by the Argentines and Chilians; _Paahi_ by the Tehuelches.)
The River Deseado forms the southern limit of the distribution of the
Patagonian cavy. In 1833 Darwin writes concerning this animal, "They
are found as far north as the Sierra Tapalguen (lat. 37° 30´), and
their southern limit is between Port Desire and San Julian, where
there is no change in the nature of the country." As far as my
experience goes, I never observed a cavy after October 23, upon which
day I counted fourteen upon the pampa between Lake Musters and the
settlement of Colohuapi. The residents of Colohuapi informed me that
the place formed the southern limit of the distribution of the cavy.
It is, of course, impossible to lay down an exact line, but I think it
safe to say that the range of the cavy does not extend south of the
46th parallel. This limit is the more remarkable inasmuch as the
country south of lat. 46° does not in any way materially differ from
that over which the cavy is commonly to be met with. One most often
finds these animals on patches of dry mud. They are comparatively easy
to stalk, as easy as an English rabbit. The best method of shooting
them is, of course, with the rifle, though occasionally you may start
them from a thicket and shoot them as you would an English hare with a
shot-gun. They generally weigh between 18 lb. and 25 lb., though I
heard of one which I was assured weighed 31 lb.
The cavy will often lead the hounds a good chase, especially where the
ground is broken, in such places frequently making its escape.
After being frightened it very soon makes its reappearance, and when
it actually takes to flight it rarely goes more than a hundred yards
before it turns to see whether it is an object of pursuit. This is
only the case when man alone is the pursuer; when dogs are present
there is no time to be lost in speculation of any kind.
No. 6. Armadillo (_Dasypus minutus_).
(_Pichy_ of the Argentines and Chilians; _Ano_ of the Tehuelches.)
This animal is never found south of the River Santa Cruz. During the
four months I spent south of that river I did not see one, but when
for three days we crossed to the north bank we met with four and
killed one, as I have before mentioned. _Dasypus minutus_ is very
common in the vicinity of Bahia Camerones. I saw no specimen in the
forests of the Andes, but near Lake Buenos Aires and Lake Viedma we
found them about the foothills.
No. 7. The Grey or Pampa Fox; _Zorro_ of the Argentines; _Paltñ_ of
the Tehuelches.
To the east of the Andes, the pampa fox is to be met with practically
everywhere. There are two varieties of foxes upon the pampa. The
common pampa variety is a most inveterate thief, and causes endless
trouble to travellers by eating all and anything that the wind may
blow down from the bushes, upon which one's belongings are generally
hung by way of guarding against their depredations. If a horse is
_sogaed_ out with a _cabresto_ of hide, the foxes will very often gnaw
through the _cabresto_ and set the horse free. This trick has cost the
life of more than one Gaucho, who, travelling alone upon the pampa, in
some district hundreds of miles away from human habitations, has been
left quite helpless without his horse, unable to use his _bolas_ with
effect on foot, and so has starved to death.
In my experience the range of the grey fox seems to cease at the
foothills of the Cordillera, where the Magellan wolf (_Canis
magellanicus_) is to be found. Of course, in making this statement I
am open to correction. I can merely state that, during the time I
spent at Lake Buenos Aires and Lake Argentino, I never saw a pampa
fox, although evidences of their presence in the way of tracks were
frequent, upon the north shore of the former lake. Yet directly one
ascended the range of the hills towards the River Fenix, pampa foxes
were to be seen. On the top of Mount Frias I saw a pampa fox in the
snow. I never came upon the pampa fox in the forests which grow upon
the slopes of the Cordillera.
The fearlessness of the grey pampa fox is remarkable, even in
districts where it is chased by the Indians and their dogs. The pelts
are much used for making _capas_ or fur cloaks. During the early part
of January 1901, upon the pampa outside the Cordillera, we continually
came upon half-grown pampa foxes in twos and threes. Until they saw
the dogs they never took to flight.
No. 8. Cordillera Wolf (_Canis magellanicus_).
This is the animal locally known as the Cordillera fox. I have
elsewhere touched upon its strongest characteristic of courage, and
also the dread it inspires among horses. It is, of course, a much
larger animal than the pampa fox, which latter can wander about among
the troop without causing any disturbance. A single Cordillera wolf
will attack young huemules as well as the young of the guanaco.
Although found in the forest, this animal also frequents the plains at
the foothills of the Cordillera. Personally I never observed it
farther east than the River Fenix. In the one case that came under my
observation, when sheep had been brought within its range, its
depredations among them were considerable.
The measurements which I made of three of these animals were as
follows: Female killed at the River Fenix, Lake Buenos Aires,
thirty-nine inches; dog-wolf killed at the same place, forty-one
inches; dog-wolf killed at the Lake Argentino, forty-one inches. These
measurements were taken from the teeth to the end of the tail directly
after the shooting of the animals.
When with young the Cordillera wolf, indeed I may say the Cordillera
wolves, both male and female, will run growling towards man if he
attempts to approach their litter. As far as could be judged from an
examination of the lair of one, their bill of fare is very varied.
There were the remains of many kinds of birds, as well as the bones of
the young of guanaco and huemul.
There is another form of the wolf which I think should perhaps be
considered as a sub-species under the name of _Canis montanus_. Its
range is at present undefined. It is a red variety and lacks the dark
markings of _Canis magellanicus_. I hope shortly to have a series of
skins of this type. At present my readers can refer to the coloured
plate "Camp Thieves," and the photograph on this page. Its general
habits seem to be identical with those of _Canis magellanicus_.
No. 9. Skunk (_Conepatus patagonicus_).
(_Zorino_ of the Argentines; _wikster_ of the Tehuelches.)
The skunk is to be met with throughout the whole country, but we saw
perhaps more specimens of this animal in the neighbourhood of Bahia
Camerones than elsewhere. I have also observed it within ten miles of
the foot of the Cordillera. The skins are much prized by the Indians
for the making of _capas_.
Besides the animals enumerated above, an otter is common in most of
the rivers, but as all the skins I collected have not arrived at the
moment of writing, I will hold over any description of this animal
until a later date.
[Illustration: RED MOUNTAIN WOLF (CANIS MONTANUS)]
FOOTNOTE:
[27] This chapter embodies a paper read before the Zoological Society
of London on April 15, 1902, with some additional details.