The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-09-17
Some Adventures With CatamOunts.

Some Adventures With CatamOunts.
1t is doubtful if any specimens of the
catamOunt, or panther, once the terror OF
our forests. now survive in the State OF
Vermont; but as late rs in 1867 two of
these animals were killed in different parts
of the State. In the autumn of that year,
a foX-hunter near the foot of Ascuntney,
Mountain in Weathersfield,V VT, had valu-
able hound mysteriOusly killed. All his eff
orts were vain to trace the cause of the ami
mails death. The mangled remains found
shovel that the dog had received terribly
rough usage, but what sort of antagonist
had done the deed, the hunter could not
even guess; for it was not supposed that
there was any wild animal in the vicinity
capable of killing a fOX-hOund. Some
| time afterwards, several children on their
way TO school one day, met a strange ami
NAL in the road. 1t did not seem inclined
to turn out for them. On the contrary, it
/ faced them with so ferOcious an appear
ance that they turned and fled. Most for
| tunately the animal did not pursue them.
| When they reached home and told what
they had seen, their parents could not be-
lieye the story. The description given by
the children answered to that of cata-
mount, but as no such creature had been
seen in that thickly settled region for near
ly forty years, it was decided that the
young people must have been frightened
by dog.
On the 30th of January, however, a
hunter by the name of Venight struck the
track of some strange animal. and feeling
curious to learn what had made it, fol-
lowed the footprints to the top of Pine
Hill about one mile south of DOWner's
Hotel. There he found the tracks led
into den. Night was approaching and
he could not stay to investigate. He
could hear low growing in the den, and
this convinced him that some dangerous
animal was hidden there. Finding ma
terials near at hand, he stopped up the
hole as near as he could, and went home.
The next morning, in company with sew
eral other men who were armed with guns
and had shovels also with them, he re-
paired to the spot again. He found
that his prisoner had not escaped.
The only way of reaching him in safety
seemed to be to dig down to the den
from above. After two hours of labor
they cleared the earth from the rocks over
the cave, and found small hole through
the roof. Then procuring a rail, they
thrust it down through this aperture, and
Immediately a fierce snarl came up from
the darkness below. The next moment
the end of the rail was spitefully seized, |
and held so firmly, that the man who stood |
at the opening could not pull it away. !
Several other men took hold with him,
and drew the rail up by main strength. |
bringing the animal along with it. As
soon as the creatures head appeared above |
the rocks, ball was fired into it. The |.
l,n
it was a catamount) relinquished his hold. |
and dropped to the bottom of the cave
again. This operation had to be twice re-
peated before the fierce animal was killed. |
When he was dragged from the cave he |
measured, from the tip of the nose to the /
end of the tail, seven feet and nine inches. |
He was thirty-twO inches high and weighed |
one hundred and twenty-one and One-half |
pounds. The skin was stuffed by Prof. |
Hagan, formerly State GeOlOgist, and is .
now on exhibition at Downer's Hotel, .
Weatherstield, near the foot of Ascutney .
Mountain.
The same year, on the 18th of Decem-
Der, man by the name of GOmen, living .
in the town of johnson, on the LamOille |
River, was going through piece of woods |
to the house of distant neighbOr. On
his way he saw in the srOw the tracks of a .
large animal with which he was not ac
quainted. He followed the footprints,
and, after some time, the creature itself
started up from a clump of bushes, and
confronted him. 1t was a full-sIzed cata-
mount. One glance at his long, 1.-THE
body, his fiery eyes and merciless teeth,
was sufficient to remind Mr.. GOmen that
discretion is the better part of valOr-at
least to a person unarmed-and he incOn-
tinently took to his heels. Going home,
he soon collected thirteen men with
guns and three good dogs, and with this
force he returned to the woods. Dividing
here, one party went around and station
ed themselves where they could head off
the catamOunt should he attempt to cc-
cape. The other party with the dogs fol-
lowed up the track. They had not gone
half mile before the catamOunt showed
himself on the other side of the woods.
where the first party lay in wait for him.
One of the hunters fired, and wounded
him in the hip. At this, the dogs being
close upon him, the animal turned, and
with an enormous leap plunged into The
The ground was level
here, and it is asserted that this single leap
of the huge cat measured from twenty-five
to thirty feet. Afer tearing his way
through the thickets for ten or eleven
TOts. UOJly puTSutu ny lllc Jugs, Hc = S)IdllS
into tree, and commenced jumping from
one tree TO another. Finally, reaching
large spruce. he curled himself upon a
limb. nearly forty feet from the ground,
and faced his enemies. The hunters were
close upon him. Several shots were fired,
most of them taking effect, and one ball
brought him to the ground. The dogs
rushed upon him, but wounded as he was,
they soon found that they were no match
for the fierce animal in close fight.
They would have paid dearly for their
rashness had not a riie-ball put a speedy
end to his struggles.
This catamount was eight feet and
lalf-inch long, and two feet seven inches
high. His weight was one hundred and
-wo pounds. He was very lean, and when
MS skin was stripped of, the cause of his
eanness was discovered. His head and
shoulders were filled with porcupine's
yuiLLs. One or more of them had passed
through his head, and many 9th
ers were half way through, showing that
1T some time he had made rather sorry
work of trying to devOur this small but
formidable kind of prey. Had he been in
good flesh he would have weighed much
more, and in that case, too, it is likely he
would have sold his life much more dearly
han he did.-FrGnkLin B. Gage, IN Youths