The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-28
a BoBoAr AND a DEER.
The Terrifying Combination Encountered By =
Man In search OF 1ounties.

AUGUSTA, Me-, March o6.-Since his return
from Stumblow, Frank Gregg OF Winthrop does
not care TO discuss the bobcat question In any of
its bearings. Commissioner Carleton induced
him to go out and look for bobcats. Stories from
Hancock county were related evory day, telling
how plenty bobcats were. They robbed hen
roosts. killed sheep, and stolo sucking pigs by
tho dozen. II a man wanted to combine courage
with commerce the place for him to go was
Stumblow, where bobcats roasted on every limb
and where the snow on two townships was
trodden down with their tracks. Tho state
bounty Of 81 a head would make the trip a
profitable one, while the fun OF killing would DO
the event OF q lifetime.
For four days Gregg hunted without seeing n
bobcat or the sign of one. Late in the week he
discovered the track of q catlike animal, which
he followed on Saturday and Sunday without
stopping to rest. The animal was chasing deer.
running them down in the deep snow and eat
ing them where they fell. Three mutilated and
denuded carcasses were found between Stun.
blow and Nicatous Lake, and every animal
had died from a broken neck. This fact
puzzled Gregg. A bobcat, an animal that sell
dom weighs more than thirty-flve pounds, was
not strong or heavy enough to break a deer's
neck. Gregg looked at the tracks. They were
fully five inches across. He s%crutinizod
them more closely and learned that tho
animal was covering from eighteen TO
twenty-five feet at every leap. No bob
cat, though he was king Of his race.
could mako such leaps. Gregg argued the
case with himself, and arrived at the
conclusion that the animal ho was chas.
ing was q great American panther or In
dian devil, a beast which can kill q man as
easily as a rabbit. This changed the complexion
of things. He had gone hunting to kill some
thing. The notion of getting killed by a panther
and leaving his bones in the woods for the crows
and foxes to pick was not an agreeable one. 1t
were better that all the deer in Maine should
perish. and all the hens, sheep and poultry with
them, than to fall a victim to SO greedy and I'M
reasoning a beast. Gregg was drawing a picture
of the panther trying to break his, neck and
making ready to go home at once when a noise
IN the bushes at his right caused him to look in
that direction.
As his glance fell upon a clump. of scrub
beeches a great animal emerged from the mass of
tall. His legs were long and slim, like those of a
deer; but his body was short and furry, and his
nSae e ears one Of a SBG obest f0u Gregg sse CROPPED opp dh his G riSe.
IN ade n swivel.like turn on his snowshoes, and
ned for camp. where he told of a perilous escape
the woods and chased him for nearly a
mile. The men who went out TO look for his
i fnnf i had gone me- 1T6asrS were wneFe deer saef fea saia s and am an
top of these were tho imprtnts of a wildcats
feet, showing that the cat had jumped on the
was standing. Further on the men found the
body of a newly killed deer and a lean bobcat
shot the cat and brought the body in to show
to Gregg, but he had gone home before they re-
turned. To his friends in Winthrop Gregg ex-
the purpose OF earning a few dollars in bobcat
As the State pays no bounty on pam
Mean WI Hta there her ef IS q g s1 Sq rihe IN ms B a%m%n ca%p
at Stumblow which awaits an owner.