The Leopard
The _leopard_ is another animal of the Cat Tribe. You may know him at
once by the _spots_ on his body; and of course the female leopard also
has the spots. These spots are usually black in color, or sometimes very
dark brown. But the color of the body, or "ground color" as it is
called, is different among the several kinds of leopards.
For, I must tell you, the leopard lives in so many countries that he
varies in size and in ground color in different countries. He is found
in almost all parts of Africa. In Asia he lives mostly in the hot
countries in the south; but a special kind of leopard, called the snow
leopard, is found in the cold countries in the north of Asia. On the
American continent there is also a kind of leopard, called the jaguar.
Now I shall describe in detail all the qualities of these different
kinds of leopards.
First, as leopards are felines, they have the fangs, the tongue, the
claws, and the paws of the Cat Tribe, which I have already described to
you.
_The Leopard's Ground Color and Spots_
The ground color of the leopard's skin is usually yellow, but the shade
of yellow varies in different leopards; sometimes it is a bright yellow,
sometimes a brownish yellow. There are leopards whose skin is even
darker than that,--some actually black.
"But why do different kinds of leopards have different ground colors?"
you may ask.
Because they live on different kinds of soil and amidst different kinds
of vegetation. You will remember what I have already told you: that _the
color of an animal's body is very often the same as the color of the
place where he lives_. Then the animal's prey or enemy is not able to
distinguish him from his surroundings. So the animal finds it easier to
catch the prey, or to escape from the enemy. And, because the color of
the soil and vegetation in different countries varies from yellow to
brown, the color of the leopard's body also varies in that manner, at
least as a rule.
Now I shall tell you about his spots, which are always of a dark color.
But they vary in shape in different kinds of leopards. In some leopards
the spot is a solid round disc, like the shape of a coin.
In other leopards the spot is like a thick ring; that is, there is a gap
at the center. In some leopards the ring is broken up in parts; that is,
the ring is not a complete line, but is made up of a number of short
lines. The spot then looks like a rosette, because these lines spread
outward like rose petals.
All these that I have just mentioned are regular shapes. But in many
leopards the spots are quite irregular.
The spots also vary in _size_. In some leopards the spots are larger
than a silver dollar, and in some they are as small as a quarter-dollar.
_Why the Leopard has Spots_
Now you may wonder why different kinds of leopards have different kinds
of spots, both in shape and in size. I shall tell you. Each has the kind
of spot that is most useful to him. How is that? How can the spots on
the leopard's skin be _useful_ to him? Why does the leopard have spots
at all?
[Illustration: Leopard]
[Illustration: Jaguar
Photographs from the American Museum of Natural History, N. Y.]
First, I must mention that all leopards can climb trees, just like cats.
People believe that once upon a time lions and tigers could also climb
trees. Of course, they climbed only big trees, which have a very thick
bark into which they could dig their claws deep enough to bear their
weight. But now the lion and the tiger have forgotten how to climb
trees. Perhaps they did not keep up the use of their power to climb
trees.
But the leopard has kept up his habit of climbing trees. In fact that is
the way _he usually catches his prey_. Does not that seem wonderful? I
shall explain how he catches his prey in that way.
He chooses a tree near a stream, or near a pool of water, where
different animals come to drink. The leopard climbs up to a bough of the
tree, about ten or twelve feet from the ground. He lies flat on the
bough and waits.
Presently a deer comes to the water to drink. The leopard waits till the
deer is quite near, perhaps actually passing under the bough. Then
suddenly the leopard jumps down on the deer and catches it.
The leopard often does that in the daytime, as well as at night. And in
the daytime the sun may be shining, and on some nights the moon may be
shining. It is _then_ that the spots are useful to the leopard. Can you
tell why?
Because when the sun or the moon is shining, a little of the light peeps
down between the leaves of the tree and reaches the ground. Have you
ever noticed that? If so, you have seen that the light reaches the
ground like little _bright_ spots, but that there are little _dark_
spots also--the bright spots being the little patches of light peeping
down, and the dark spots being the shadows where the light is shut off
by the leaves.
In the same way there are bright patches and dark patches on the bough
of the tree, where the light also falls in that manner.
And that is what a leopard's body looks like--bright patches and dark
patches. The dark patches are his spots, and the bright patches are the
ground color of his skin.
So if the deer did happen to look up to the bough when approaching the
tree, it would not be able to distinguish the leopard from the natural
patches of light and shadow near by. So the deer would not notice the
leopard, and would be caught.
And that is why the leopard finds his spots so useful to him in catching
his prey.
But why do different kinds of leopards have different kinds of spots?
Because they live in different countries, which have different kinds of
trees; and so the patches of brightness and darkness made by the
sunlight or moonlight are also different.