Jaguarundi

Review bycanaryswear· 2026-11-04

It is the same as the mountain lion, but always lives in trees, among tree-tops, where it gets its food. Seldom does it walk on the ground. [for good measure here is the section on the maçamiztli, which is thought to be a fictional animal] It is the same as the mountain lion. For this reason it is called maçamiztli: its fur is quite like deerskin. And quite similar [to the deer’s] is its body, quite similar are its head [and] its face. The male has horns; the female is like a doe. Quite similar [to the deer’s] are its tail, its ears, its feet; quite similar [to the deer’s hoof] are its claws. Nowhere else do they resemble, nowhere else are they like a deer. In all, it differs from [the deer], for it has teeth like a jaguarundi’s: it has the front teeth, the fangs, the molars. In short, it is a wild beast. And its mouth, its jaws, especially its place of devouring, are very large, very thick. Its dewclaws stand at its ankle joints like metal hooks. Whatsoever it seizes, whatsoever it catches, it rips open from belly to neck with them. Especially does it go imitating, mimicking these deer; it goes as one of them, among, in the midst of them. And when in need of food, when hungry, it pounces upon one; it suddenly rips open its belly, it strews its entrails on the ground with its claws, its dewclaws. But nevertheless there is a sign by which the deer recognize it: it is of sickly odor.