Slowly, silently, a jaguar creeps through the underbrush after an armadillo. The short muscular legs of the jaguar are wonderful for slinking through the bushes in the dense forests where they live, silent and mysterious as they are and awesomely designed by God. The jaguar’s orange and black coloring makes him virtually invisible in the under brush, so the armadillo is completely unaware. He creeps closer. Suddenly, with a quick swipe of his paw, the 265 lb. male jaguar turns the armadillo over on its back, exposing its softer underparts. His muscular jaws close on his prey and he hurries off into the forest with his prize.

A jaguar is only 7.5 feet long, much stockier than other large cats and his size makes him perfect for hunting in dense underbrush. Their coloring is orange with black spots, called rosettes. This pattern often looks like sunlight shining through the leaves and dappling the ground. Even the rare black jaguar’s rosettes are visible in bright sunlight.

God made very special whiskers for jaguars, just as He did for all cats. These whiskers are called vibrissae. At the base of the vibrissae are many sensitive nerves that tell the jaguar about his surroundings. The vibrissae even tell the jaguar where to bite his prey to kill it quickly.

Jaguars have binocular eyesight much like humans. That means both eyes focus together, giving jaguars amazing depth perception. God made most prey animals such as birds and lizards with eyes on either side of their head so they have a wider range of vision to watch for predators. Predators generally have eyes on the front of their head so they can focus on one thing.

Cats tend to be more active at night and the jaguar is no exception. They also have especially good night vision. During the day, the pupil of a cat’s eye is small, but at night it widens to let in more light. God created the jaguar with a unique cellular structure that allows the retina to receive the light twice. This structure is a mirror-like layer of cells called the tapetum. The tapetum. The tapetum situated behind the retina and as the light comes through the retina, it is reflected off the tapetum and back through the retina, allowing the jaguar to see double light.

In a sunny glade near the jungle, a mother jaguar watches her two cubs. They are less the one month old and are only about 18 inches long. Tumbling around and batting each other playfully, the cubs establish a relationship that will last even after they have left their mother- for a few months, anyway! Like all siblings, the cubs will have their disagreements and several months after they have left their mother, they will split up and leave each other to establish their territories. But for now, the cubs have a lot to learn. They will leave their mother when they’re about 2 years old and in the meantime they must learn to hunt and survive without her.

Far away in his den a jaguar lies down to sleep after finishing his armadillo. He might rise again to hunt after darkness has fallen over the jungle, but for now, he sleeps. God has created all animals, all plants, and all of everything around you would not be possible without God. His most wonderful creation was us and more than 2,000 years ago He loved us and gave himself for us although we did not and do not deserve His perfect love.