The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-21
WILD BEAST WHIMS.
FIERCE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST WHO
HAVE PRsJuDlcES.

Wolves, Painters and Hears Sensitive
About Fur Overcoatx-An Aged Sullivan
County Hunter Tells Some Experisnces
Illustrating This Queer Fact.
"A bear or o panther cant stand tht
sight Of Il wolfskin or q coonskin over
coat. " said an aged hunter of Sullivan
county, land both also dislike the looks
of an overcoat made Of buffalo skin.
They become enraged when they see .
hunter striding through the woods with
O fur coat on. They will start for him
the instant they get sight Of him, and
unless he stops them with q rife ball N
q charge of buckshot they will invaria-
bly, tackle him. A wolf or sven a pack
Of them will always turn tail and run
away from a hunter that wears q wolf
skin coat, but they will chase q man
who wears a coat Of any other kind OF
fur and will attack him il thoy get o
chance. In the winters early In the for
ties l hunted panthers, wolves and bears,
killing q deer once in awhile for a
change. When the weather was bitter
cold. / wore q coonskin overcoat until a
panther ruined 1t, and here is what ia
left of it.
II killed an over dozen of panthers
and u score of wolves while wearing
that ooat. 1t was in January 1914,
that ! had to stop wearing it. One very
cold morning I put on my snowshoes
and started for the head of Kitchens
creek to hunt panthers and wolves. The
snow was three feet deep in the woods,
and the wolves and panthers were
slaughtering the deer at a frightful rate.
In q spruce ravine to the right of the
creek ] saw q movement in an ever
green tree and raised my rife for what
! thought might be a panther.
II hadn't been standing . minute
when | heard q twig snap back of me,
and before l could turn half way round
something struck my back and drove me
forward on my hands and knees. OF
course l instantly realized that q panther
had landed IN my back. 1t stuck its
claws into my shoulders and began to
kick with its hind feet, snarling and
tearing at the coonskin with its teeth.
l knew in q second that the only thing
for me to do was to throw myself back
ward, and this l did at once, burying
the panther in the snow beneath Inc.
The panther then started to scream, but
the snow and my weight kept it from
making much noise. : Il continued to
claw great rents in the coonskin coat
until l stabbed it three times in the
side, when it stopped kicking and began
to gasp. knew that the point Of the
knife had touched q vital spot, 20 l lay
still till the panther stretched ont dead.
Then ] got up and pulled the beast out
of the snow by the tail. I'd hardly
dropped it ON the surface than there was
another movement in the evergreen tree.
This time | spied q pair Of eyes on
q limb about Is feet shove the snow
and blazed away at them. A panther
tumbled ont, began to pitch and dive in
the snow, Don turning up it's toes. Then
] pulled of the overcoat and discovered
that the panther had ruined it. The
claws hadn't touched my flesh. though,
Az = III tA4CO tuAOAuCboCS VI uctISA1u
and two of wool under theovercoat. On
that trip of three days l got FIVE pan
theirs and four wolves.
1.-THE same winter l surprised apack
of wolves that had oornered three-d deer
in a pen up in the Mehoopany cothtry.
l had on q wolfskin coat, and the wolves
legged it ont Of the pen the m~omentthey
got sight of me. pulled off the coat
and put it behind q tree, and the wolves,
when they stopped to look back, acted
as il they had been scared by q false
alarm. When they saw that the over
coat wasn't in sight, they didn't care
any more for me than for a sapling.
They immediately returned to the deer
pen as bold as You please, and l shot the
whole five as fast rs l could load and
fire.
lone winter Joel Wright, who used
to hunt and trap all the way from the
loyalsock to the Mehoopany. rolled up
his coonskin overcoat and placed it on
a log in the woods till he could go over
a knoll aud look at one of his traps.
When he got to the top of the knoll on
his way back. he heard q bear below
ing down in the hollow. a IL it was
challenging another bear to fight with
him. In q minute Joel caught sight of
the noisy bear. but c6uldn't make out
where the other one was. The chaiien-
ger vas slouching toward the log on
which the coonskin overooat lay in a
bunch, and Joel made up his mind that
the bear had got scent Of the coat and
was about to tackle it
Joel had . better fur coat at home,
and he didn't care much what the bear
did with the one on the log. Anyhow
he was going to watch the bear. and. il
he got the better Of the coat. all right.
| He could see that the fellow was angry
before he got within ten rods of the log.
Rushing up to the log, the bear seized
the overcoat in his paws and began to
squeeze and shake il as il it was a thing
Of life that he held an old grudge against.
Joe: tramped down the knoll then to see
all thefun ut short range. and pretty
soon the bear gave tho coat q dreadful
hug. let ont a yell. fell over backward
and went tn snrawlino and rolling in