According to the Funking Wagner’s New Closet Encyclopedia—the damned thing, dating back to 1986, was simply too big to keep anywhere else:
The Puma, also cougar or mountain lion, Felis (or Puma) Concolor, is a large member of the cat family, Felidae.
The puma is found from British Columbia to Patagonia. Its body can be 1.8 metres, (six feet,) exclusive of the long tail. The thick fur is yellowish-red above, lighter on the sides and reddish-white on the belly. The chin, muzzle, throat, breast and insides of the legs are whitish. The head is relatively small, with a black spot above each eye.
Females have one to six young in a litter. The young are spotted on the back with rings on the tail. Pumas subsist on small game animals, including deer. They hunt mostly at night. Because farmers suspect them of killing cattle, the animals have either been totally exterminated or are endangered throughout their range.
The books containing entries for ‘mountain lion,’ and ‘cougar,’ said, ‘see Puma or Leopard,’ so now he checked the entry for leopard. This proved largely irrelevant, as the leopard lived in Africa and Asia. Still, he read it carefully, as the behaviour was what he wanted.
‘The leopard is an agile climber and will often stalk monkeys in the trees, or it will lie in wait on a limb and wait for some terrestrial animal to pass. It hunts mainly at night.”
‘Good swimmers…etc, etc, etc…’
“Uh, huh. Uh, huh,” murmured Bru as he read. “When larger game is scarce, a leopard will eat mice, fruit, porcupines, baboons or crocodiles.”
What kind of a fuckin’ cat eats crocodiles?
“Holy shit!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The hot dog bandit strikes again…