Lesson 1: A Puma at Large
Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. Whe
n reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of
London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, expe
rts from the zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the descriptions given by people who cla
imed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.The hunt for the puma began in a s
mall village where a woman picking blackberries saw "a large cat" only five yards away fro
m her. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not
attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was
often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the
evening. Wherever it went, it left behind a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabb
its. Paw prints were seen in a number of places, and puma fur was found clinging to bushes
. Several people complained of "cat-like noises" at night, and a businessman on a fishing
trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a pu
ma, but where had it come from? As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the
country, this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow mana
ged to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is dist
urbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.