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Wild Cat Mountain Series is a series of caches that we placed in Wild Cat Mountain State Park. A vehicle admission sticker is required on all motor vehicles stopping in the park. You can buy either an annual sticker, for admission to all state parks and forests for the calendar year, or a daily sticker, valid only on the date of issue.
There are seven caches. The six regular caches named after cats and the final the Wild Cat Mountain Lair, which is a mystery cache. You need to collect numbers from each of the other caches in order to find the final cache in the series. A special thanks to Ronald Campbell, for giving us permission to place these caches.
The Jaguar Cache is an ammo can that is about 25 feet off the horse trail. Be sure to write down the code. You are looking for F = ?
In appearance the Jaguar is often confused with the Leopard - both cats, depending to a degree on sub-species have a similar brownish/yellow base fur colour, which is distinctively marked with dark rosette markings. However, the jaguar can be distinguished by the presence of small dots or irregular shapes within the larger rosette markings, a more stocky and muscular body and a shorter tail. Melanistic or black jaguars (see below) are common in certain parts of its range and are often confusingly labelled 'Black Panthers', a name which is also applied to black Leopards. In this melanistic form the cats are more difficult to separate, however the jaguars large head and stocky forelimbs are often a good way to differentiate between the two cats.
In the wild, identification would not be an issue as the cats inhabit different continents - the jaguar is the only member of the panthera family to be found in the Americas and its is by far the biggest cat on the continent. The Jaguars range, which once spanned from the southern states of the USA down to the tip of South America, now centres on the north and central parts of the South American continent. The jaguar is predominantly a forest dweller with the highest population densities centring on the lowland rain forests of the Amazon Basin - dry woodland and grassland also serve as suitable terrain, although the cat is rarely found in areas above 8000 feet.
The overall body size and coloration of the cat often relates to its location - jaguars found in dense forested areas of the Amazon Basin are often only half the size of those found in more open terrain and it has been suggested that this can be related to the more frequent occurrence of larger prey species found in open terrain . Coloration of dense forest dwelling jaguars is often darker than those found in grassland and scrub forest - here, as with the darker coloration of rainforest leopards, the darker coats give better camouflage in the low light condition on the forest floor and offers the dark coated cat greater success in hunting and a greater chance of survival.
Unlike many other big cats, apart from man, the jaguar has no rivals - no other predator can compete with this powerful cat. The jaguars main periods of hunting activity are greatly dependant upon location - in some areas which are close to human habitation it appears that the cat is most active at night, whilst in other locations the jaguar is crepuscular and in certain cases diurnal in its hunting activity. The prey base of the jaguar is extensive, taking full advantage of the diversity and dense concentration of animal species found in the rainforest areas. In size its prey ranges from large domestic livestock such as cattle and horses (for which it has a poor reputation with local farmers), Marsh deer, Brocket deer, down through various species of Peccary, larger rodents such as Capybara, Paca and Agouti, to reptiles, monkeys and fish.
In comparison with the other cats of its size the jaguar has particularly power jaws and often kills its prey by piercing the skull with one swift bite. In the Cockscomb Basin Reserve in Belize the predominant prey species has been found to be Armadillo, who's bony protective plates offer little defence against the power of the jaguars bite. Where possible, the cat will inhabit areas close to water - it is an expert in catching fish and will often tackle turtles and large caiman, dragging them from he water to hide the carcass in the dense undergrowth. Equally at home as a climber, although not as adept as the leopard, the jaguar will hunt monkeys in the lower branches of the large rain forest trees. In much of its range where man lives close by, the jaguar now has to compete with the human hunter and poacher who takes many of the same species as the big cat.
Body Length(mm) - 1200-1800
Weight (kg) - 70-120
Litter Size - 1-4 average
Life Span - 12-16
Status - Near Threatened
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvqqra haqre fbzr gvzore.