Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-09-26
FIGHT TO THE pEATr.
a Panther Vanished and Devoured
by Wild Hogs.

aud trapper, who lives in a cave Of the
mountain In its deepest fastness. came
mere q few days since, and l. still here
have diligently piled him with o,,es-
lions and listened TO his stories until
nave enough 70 I'LL an octave volume.
one 81 them. the story Of fight be.
tween Wild hogs and panther, | win
tsli ~ Ills own language as near as pos
About ten years ago, nears | kin
rekollect, WAS huntin' on ton OF North
Mountain. about twenty miles from
here. ] had killed big buck AM had
lest finished skinnin' him when / heard
the sqnelin' NV drove OF wild hogs
lou kin bet just hung that buck IN In
Tree quick as | could, fur them crit
t1fs y the pryenest things an the
meanest ye ever saw. Why, II they get
mad they'll tackle anything. Wen. /
hsd les got my deer safe when heeri
them cnmmin'. a-squealin' an a-grunt-
In. 4 he'd 70 hunt a sale place myself.
fur there wuz no use a-shootin' one
where there's maybe forty. III killed
one q had TO kill 'em all; they'd never
leave long as one Of 'em wuz alive. /
ihrowed the gun strap over my shoulder
an took 70 d good-sized tree about
twenty yards from where | hung the
deer
Them hogs put In an appearance
Just ~ ! got into a big limb about
hitAen feet above the ground. They
wux led by two big boars, and wuz
tMenty-Uine NV 'em all told. They
| smelt the blood an the deer, rooted up
The leaves and ground with their long
noses, an tore around generally until
ihey found the tree where the deer
Gtix hung. just about this time heard
something lnmpln' from tree to tree on
The lower side Of the rize, an purity
soon ! SAW the long. slim body OF the
biggest painter ever saw jump onto 4
limb Nv a tree about seven or eight
yards from the limb the deer wuz hung
on. Them hogs hadn's yet winded the
painter, an they kept up sich racket
sqnealln' an gruniin' thet they hadn't
heersl him. The painter didn't see the
hogs until be struck the last tree. when
he war almost over them. He lest laid
himself out full length on the limb an
watched them, all the time slowly
wngin' his tail back an forth an show
In his teeth. He know'd he had TO git
tibet meat while II wux Ia the tree or
hsv tho fight Nv his life fur il II il got
10 the ground.
!. After bit tho painter seemed TO
make up his mind. fur he got his feet
under him an squaited. tell We,
stranger. that wug a purity jump. Thef
painter iest sailed through the air an,
landed plump on the limb over the deer.
When the painter struck the limb the
hogs quiz sqnealIn' and icarin' round
and formed themselves 10 ring with
the body NV the deer In the center
above them. they began 10 foam III
The mouth an snap their taisks. What
. noise they made. They was the mad
desi an awtalcst loolSin' animals ever
saw. All this time tho painter wuz
tryin' 20 haul the deer up TO him wit h
his paw. but every time he'd git the
deer swung partly round the sinews
with which he wuz fastened 20 the limb
wud make II slip back. Purity soon the
painter seemed 10 sec the trouble. fur
he grabbed the buck with one paw,
while he reached down and bit the
deer lose. There's where the painter
made the biggest mistake Of hts life,
for he couldn't hold the deer when the
fasienlns was cut and In spite NV him II
tore loose from his claws an fell right
In the middle Of the drove OF hogs.
They jumped on II and tore II into
pieces quickcrn' kin tell yc.
The painter was 30 mad that he
lost his Judgment. or he wouldn't hev
done SIGH foolish thing rs he did, for
he gave one snarl an wig among them
hogs IN second. knocking two NV them
over as he landed. Then there wuz a
fight. The hogs quit the deer an went
fur the painter. Now he wuz down an
then mp. Over went 4 hog ripped wide
open, here, while there another got a
wipe with that big paw which made
him zee stars. But the hogs want
idle. by no means. They ripped and
tore tibet painter fore an aft There
wuz dozen long cuts on his sides an
legs. an his body wuz covered with
blood. Sich snarling, screamin', squeal-
in. rippin' an tearin' never did see.
In less than | kin tell IL. eleven NV
them hogs wuz laid out an two or three
more wuz hurt; but the painter wuz
purity near knocked. too. He wuz lay
In on his back, an every time hog
got In reach OF his claws he wud give
him q rip which wud knock thet hog
out, az least for awhile, One hog
made n lunge at the painters head and
got caught by the throat by the painter,
but tibet wuz his last act, fur one NV
the bears drove his long tuslSs into the
painters belly an literally ripped him
wide open from one end 10 the other,
an In less than three seconds that
painter wuz tore into pieces. The
hogs took up The pieces. bones an all,
an crushed an ground them till moth
in could be seen OF the animal big
enough TO make gin-wad. Thet w,iz
a battle, sure. There wuz about fifteen
dead hogs and six or eight tore an
gashed from snout TO tail. ! don't be-
lieve single one escaped some injury.
But the livin' ones, whether wounded
or not, list kept tearin' round till they
cleaned up what wuz left OF the deer
an painter.
ss.I he'd set my gun on that limb an
watched the fight until 1t wuz finished
an never thought Of my gun, an II !
he'd don't believe wud hev used y;
- A.. Il