Human Contact

Due to the secretive lifestyles of the smaller cats, there are few native stories about them.

The one exception is the jaguarundi, which, according to some authorities, was tamed by local Indians before the Spanish arrived in South America.

Both the jaguar and the puma are thought to have played significant roles in the mythology of pre-Columbian civilizations.

Artifacts left by Aztec and other societies suggest that these cats were respected, even venerated.

In North America, the bobcat was characterized as a trickster by the Native Americans, making appearances as such in their folklore, but it was never tamed.