San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-05-12

al 1lOI Sc i liz uOlSCllldl NpdlldlNu Oh
the many good points of the animal
under discussion.
1T seems to me, Mr.. Muggins," re-
marked the young man, that the horse
has rather a big head"
The retort came at once: Big cad,
big 'ead, dc, you call it? Why, look at
Gladstone; what cad 'e's got!"
PET OF A SHEEP RANCHER.
He Finds a Wildcat Better Than a Dog
to Drive on Coyotes.
A sheep ranch near Ash Fork, 4. T.,
j. II. Abshire, has discovered that wild
cats can be domesticated, and are then
as nice pets as any purring Maltese or
tortoise-shell tabbies. He has one that
follows him everywhere, acting both as
protector and companion. 1t is big,
striped and spotted animal, with glar-
ing yellow eyes, whisGcrs like porcupine
quills and tail as glossy and sinuous
in its windings as any jungle tigers.
"How did happen 10 take a wildcat
for household pussy" repeated Mr..
hbshire during recent interview. I'll
tell you about it. 1 was hcrding sheep
one day, and was standing on the top
of cliff. Looking down on a ledge of
rocks projecting from the cliffs below
I saw a very large, demonstrating
wildcat. She had tassels on her ears,
and was lashing her tail from side to
side and glazing at me and growing
angrily. 1 stood spellbound for n MIN
ute, and, not having any gun, was at
a loss to know what to do. spied
huge bowlder on the edge of the ledge,
right over this cat, and, using alrmy
strength, pushed it over. She was
too quick for it and lodged. When l
looked down again she had disappeared.
II concluded there must be n cave,
and perhaps a nest of kittens, so lay
in wait a few minutes TO see if the cat
would make her appearance again. ]
was ready for her this time, as had
secured a lot of rocks and intended to
shower them upon her. did not have
very long to wait, for out she came,
looking fiercer than before. let the
rocks go, and that time there were too
many of them for her to dodge. One
struck her on the back and broke it,
and after that 1 easily put an end to
her. / then crawled down the cliff a
short distance, and pcered over as far
as could, and discovered there were
two very small kittens in the cavern.
Their eyes were not yet open. made
up my mind would have them. It
took me some time to plan how l could
get to them, as the cliff was almost per-
pendicular. 1t was with great diff
Guilty that l finally captured my
prizes. took off my coat and wrapped
il around them and started home. When
reached there laid them down at the
base of a big juniper tree. My largo
hound, Adam, came bounding up, and,
to my surprise, seemed as pleased over
my kits as I was. He at once began to
lick them, and laid down beside them.
The kittens crawled over him and
seemed to think he was a good substi-
tute for their mother. l gave them
sleeps milk, which they seemed to
thrive on. They would lie all day
under the trees with the hound, and
he would never let my shepherd dog
come near them. They grew very fast,
and we all became very much attached
to my strange pets.
AT sheep shearing time we drove
the sheep into Ash Fork. 1 packed the
burros and made box for the wild
cats and dashed them on top. When
we reached town that evening l let
them out to run around the sheep shed.
While Adam was eating his supper a
large dog came in and killed one of the
cats. Next morning, as we were pass
ing down the street, with Adam and the
wildcat following, we created quite .
sensation. Some people were afraid Of
the cat-others were anxious to pet
him, seeing me caress him, but he OBJ
jected to strangers and would arch his
back and spit furiously.
while we were at a saloon near the
depot the passenger train came in. Sew
eral of the eastern tourists came rush.
ing over to the saloon for a drink. They
had Just poured out whisky all around
when they turned and saw the wildcat
sitting there looking at them. They
started for the train on the run, their
whisky standing and not getting their
change. I shall try to keep him out OF
sight of the tenderfoot after this. 1
don't want to scare them to death, but
the cat is all right and the finest pet 1
ever had. 1 wouldn't part with him
at any price He is death on coyotes,
and keeps all those sheep-ki1ing ras-
Gals away from our ranch. Fran
cisco Examiner.