Picture on Page Thirty-six
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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
(Felynx arbordiffisus.)
A widely distributed and frightfully destructive animal is the
splinter cat. It is found from the Great Lakes to the Gulf,
and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Rocky Moun-
tains has been reported from only a few localities. Apparently
the splinter cat inhabits that part of the country in which wild
bees and raccoons abound. These are its natural food, and the
animal puts in every dark and stormy night shattering trees in
search of coons or honey. It doesn't use any judgement in
selecting coon trees or bee trees, but just smashes one tree
after another until a hollow one containing food is found. The
method used by this animal in its destructive work is simple
but effective. It climbs one tree, and from the uppermost
branches bounds down and across toward the tree it wishes to
destroy. Striking squarely with its hard face, the splinter cat
passes right on, leaving the tree broken and shattered as
though struck by lightning or snapped off by the wind. Ap-
palling destruction has been wrought by this animal in the Gulf
States, where its work in the shape of a wrecked forest is often
ascribed to windstorms.##############################
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