The light in the rain forest began to fade. Fingers of pink and orange crossed the evening sky as the sun sank into the western horizon. Night hunters, feeling the pangs of hunger, stirred in their dens. Inside a hole in a tall Teak tree, a long-tailed creature yawned and stretched. For a few moments she lay still, intent on the rustling and scratching of day creatures returning to their lairs.

She knew the sounds lizards and rodents made as they scurried up trees and into their nests. She knew the snap of twigs breaking to be monkeys preparing their beds.

She perked her ears at the whoosh of air through wing feathers as a large bird descended to its nest. Somewhere nearby, she knew, was an easy meal of eggs or chicks.

The creature eased her head out of her den and looked around. Her large round eyes allowed her to see into the darkest nights with ease. She crouched, gathering her legs under her, and leaped across space into a neighboring tree. Her spotted coat blended into the mottled shadows as she sprang from branch to branch.

A rustling in the branches below caught her attention. A small monkey was busy preparing its bed. She crept back to the tree trunk and moved out of the creature's sight. She rotated her ankles a full 180 degrees like a squirrel, dug her claws in, and scurried downward head first. She stopped to peer around the tree trunk. Her position was perfect, eight feet above the busy monkey. Carefully she moved around the tree, reached up and snagged a limb. Upside down, she sneaked along its length until she reached a point over the unsuspecting simian. She dug her claws in and hung, like a large fruit, by one hind foot.

The monkey was busy knitting and weaving the ends of small limbs to form its nest. Its eyes darted about, constantly keeping watch, but didn't bother to look straight up.

The long-tailed creature, her spotted fur making her one with the shadows, hung patiently, awaiting the right moment.

With the branches expertly knitted into a hammock, the monkey lined its bed with leaves and took one last look around. As if it sensed something, it looked up. With a screech, it leaped straight out into space and crashed into the branches below.

The long tailed creature let go and dropped into the nest. The monkey was gone, but as soon as she landed she had her legs gathered under her, ready to leap. Her weight and the force of her leap was too much. The hammock disintegrated and she was left dangling, while the monkey fled.

The agile Margay, also known as The Little Tiger Cat of the Amazon Jungle, easily swung back onto the branch. She peered down, her long tail twitching as she watched the monkey make its escape.

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