Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-03-22
WILD BEAST WHTMs.
HERcE ANIMALS or TIE FOREST WHO
HAVE PREJUDlCEs.


= bean cr a PANTHER cant stand tbs
sight If a woisssin OF a eoonskin over
coat. said an aged hunter Of Sullivan
county, and both also dislike the looks
OF SUI overcoat made OF buffalo skin.
They become enraged when they see a
hunter striding through the woods with
fur coat on. They will start for him
the instant they get sight Of him, and
unless be stops them with rife ball or
q charge OF buckshot they win invaria-
bly, tackle him. A wolf or even a pack
Of them will always turn tail and run
away from hunter that wears wolf
skin coat, but they will chase a man
who wears a coat Of any other kind Of
fur and will attack him if they get d
chance. In the winters early in the for
ties | hunted panthers, wolves and bears,
killing deer cnce in awhile for a
change. When the weather was bitter
cold, wore a coonskin overcoat until a
panther ruined it, and here is what is
left Of it.
II killed an even dozen of paBthers
and a score of wolves while wearing
that coat It was in January. ls44,
that | had 10 stop wearing it. One very
cold morning l put on my snowshoes
aud started for the head of Kitchen 5
creek to hunt panthers aud wolves. The
snow was three feet deep in the woods.
and the wolves and panthers were
slaughtering the deer at frightful rate.
In a spruce ravine to the right of the
creek | saw a movement in AN ever
green tree and raised my rifle for what
| thought might be panther.
~ hadn't been standing a minute
when l heard twig snap back of me,
and before | could turn half way round
something struck my back and drove me
forward on my hands and knees. OF
course ! instantly realized that panther
had landed on my back. Ii stuck its
claws into my shoulders and began to
kick with its hind feet, snarling and
tearing at the coonskin with its teeth
knew in second that the only thing
for me TO do waste throw myself back
ward and this | did at once, burying
the panther in the snow beneath me-
The panther then started to scream, but
the snow and my weight kept it from
making much noise. Ii continued TO
claw great rents in the coonskin coat
until stabbed it three times in the
side, when it stopped kicking and began
to gasp. | knew that the point of the
knife had touched a vital spot, so lay
still till the panther stretched out 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 pair of eyes on
a limb about Is feet above the snow
and blazed away at them. A panther
tumbled out, began to pitch and dive in
the snow, soon turning up its toes. Then
| pulled off the overcoat and discovered
that the panther had ruined it. The
claws hadn't touched my flesh, though,
for wore three thicknesses of doerskin
and two of wool under the overooat On
that trip of three days ] got five pan
theirs and four wolves
The Same winter / surprised a pack
of wolves that had cornered three deer
in pen up in the Mehoopany country
had on wolfszin coat. and the wolves
legged it out of thepen the moment they
got sight of me. pulled off the coat
and put il behind tree, and the wolves
when they stopped TO look back, acted
MS If they had been scared by a 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 rs bold as you please, and l shot the
whole FIVE rs fast as | could load and
fire
cone winter joel Wright, who used
to hunt and trap all the way from the
l.oyalsock 10 the Mehoopany. rolled up
MS eoonskin oyercoat and placed it on
log in the woods till he could go over
4 knoll and look at one Of his traps.
When he got to the topof the knoll on
his way back. he heard bear below
ing down in the hollow, as if it was
challenging another bear to fight with
him In a minute Joel caught sight of
the noisy bear, but couldn't make out
where the other one was. The challen-
ger was slouching toward the log on
which the coonskin overcoat lay in a
bunch, and Joel made up his mind that
the bear had got scent of the coat and
was about 10 tackle it,
Joel had better fur coat at home,
and he didnt care much what the bear
did with the one on the log Anyhow
he was going TO watch the bear, and. if
he got fhs better of the coat. all right
He could SEQ that the fellow was angry
before he got within ten rods of the log.
Rushing up to tho log, the bear seized
the overcaat in his paws and began to
squeeze and shake it as if twas thing
of life thar he held an old grndge against.
Joel trampe.i down the knoll then TO see
All the fun at short range, and pretty
soon the bear gave the coat dreadful
hug. let ont yell. fell over backward
and went 20 sprawling and rolling in
the snow joel knew what the trouble
was. bnf he didn't say word The
hear q had his own way. and he was as
dead as aint when joel got TO him.
loci's hunting knife was in a pocket of
the oyercoat, and the point Of it had
pierced rho heart Of the angry animal
when ho Rugged the coat to his breast
in a TT of rage Scranton Letter in
New York Sun.