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N A M E :
L A T I N M E A N I N G :
I D E N T I F I C A T I O N :
R A N G E A N D H A B I T A T :
N I C H E S :
B E N E F I T S :
O F F S P R I N G :
C O M P A R A B L E B E A S T S :
R A N G E M A P
THE CACTUS CAT.
(Cactifelinus inebrius.)
How many people have heard of the cactus cat? Thousands
of people spend their winters in great Southwest---the land
of desert and mountain, of fruitful valleys, of flat-topped
meas, of Pueblos, Navajos, and Apaches, of sunshine, and the
ruins of ancient Cliff-dwellers. It is doubtful, however, if one
in a hundred of these people ever heard of a cactus cat, to say
nothing of seeing one sporting about among the cholla and palo
verde. Only the old-timers know of the beast and its queer
habits.###########################################
The cactus cat, as its name signifies, lives in the great cactus
districts, and is particularly abundant between Prescott and
Tucson. It has been reported, also, from the valley of the
lower Yaqui, in Old Mexico, and the cholla-covered hills of
Yucatan. The cactus cat has thorny hair, the thorns being
especially long and rigid on its ears. Its tail is branched, and
upon the forearms above its front feet are sharp, knifelike
blades of bone. With these blades it slashes the base of giant
cactus trees, causing the sap of the first cactus has fermented
into a kind of mescal, sweet and very intoxicating. This is
greedily lapped up by the thirsty beast, which soon becomes
fiddling drunk, and goes waltzing off in the moonlight, rasping
its bony forearms across each other and screaming with delight.
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