Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1894-06-08

OF box i'll my bedroom and was moving
away, when l fancied l heard slight
sound in the bathroom. Iopened the door,
and to my horror saw just in front of me
the beautiful sleek back of large leopard,
which was crouching on the floor and
drinking out of one of the ghurras. The
room was SO small that 1 found myself
quite close to the leopard and could in
deed have touched the spots on its glossy
coat from where 1 stood. 1 was too fright
ened to move and stood perfectly still;
and fortunately for me the outer door by
which the creature had entered still stood
wide open, and with single bound it
cleared the threshold and disappeared up
the hillside. Had the door blown to or
been closed from the outside by a servant,
the animal would have had no resource
but to seek an exit by the doorway in
which was standing, and the knowledge
of my narrow escape made us very careful
ever after about shutting up early in the
afternoon.
A few nights later we were awakened
by hearing the Waterman call out loudly
that there was a leopard in the yeranda,
and we ran to the window in time to see
the waving of the branches where the
beast had sprung out among the trees
blankets in the same veranda, slept sound
ly ON meanwhile, unconscious of his prox-
unity to the stealthy footed creature.
These leopards are cowardly creatures
and will never attack human being if
they can avoid it. Their special fancy is
for little dogs, and they will SO haunt the
neighborhood of any house where dogs are
kept that the greatest care is necessary to
prevent the little quadrupeds falling vic
tins to the big ones.
Often in the month of October, when
coming home late at night, have heard
the hoarse sort of purring noise they make
as they rub their sides, like huge cats,
against the trunks of trees The men car
rying my dandi eight palanquin) would
then step out and talk very loud to keep
up their courage, while the mate would
flourish his lantern and shout No leopard
would come near SO noisy party, and the
only danger on such occasions is of the
men taking panic and dropping the dan
di, when the situation would be awkward.
This, however, never happened to me, and
was equally fortunate when riding.
One evening we were riding quietly
home in the short cleaning when large
animal jumped from the jungle above into
the road close in front of us. 1t ran swift
ly along the road for short distance and
then disappeared. My companion advised
that we should hurry little, as our horses
seemed uneasy, SO we trotted on, and, when
we came to the spot where we had lost
sight of the leopard, there it was lying ON
the outer edge of the narrow mountain
road, its eyes blazing like green lamps in
the dusk and it's body half hidden in the
grass and shrubs. was mounted on a
small pony and could not help fearing the
wild beast might spring upon us as we
had to pass SO close to it, but it lay quite
still. When we had passed it, looked
anxiously round and saw it rise and walk
off calmly into the underwood. My COM
panion assured me the real danger was not
from any onslaught on the part of the Loop
ard, but lest our horses should take fright
and bolt with us along the narrow path in
the uncertain light.
Shooting parties were frequently organ
lied, but they were not often successful,
owing to the dense jungle that covered the
slopes and the impossibility of following
the quarry even when sighted The best
chance was for solitary sportsman to
spend a night in tree, but the leopards,
though SO bold in seeking their prey under
safe circumstances, were extremely eau
tious when danger was at hand and would
generally leave the bait untouched near
which their unseen enemy lurked. Traps,
too, were placed on a low spur toward
Bukloh, which they were known to fire.
quent, but very few were caught that year.