Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-11-12
FIGHT WITH PECCARIEs.
They XIII Three Bears and Panther
I'm Texas.


About as exciting a battle as L ever |
witnessed occurred a few days age"
writes a Texas correspondent of the Chi |
cago Inter Ocean. THE cowboys or |
Spangler Ranch had three full-grown
bears. captured at one time or other in |
the Santiago mountains. The bears wan |
dered about the ranch and stables, eter-
nally in some mischief but nobody feared
them, as they were always good-humored
and playful. over at Tom Ray Ranch,
near Los Chisos, the boys owned 2-year-
old Mexican lion, or panther. That sort
of net will always become dangerous by
the time 1t is years old, and this particu-
lar one was about the meanest lion ever
caught in that section, and the boys oil
Tom Ray concluded to fight him, II
battle could be arranged, with the bears
OF Spangler.
Before arrangements could be made
Mexican Pope, a hunter for SpanSler
Ranch, discovered den OF pecearles, or
wild Mexican hogs, as they are called IN
| Texas. There's no animal on top of
| ground more unconquerable than pee
| cary. They are small, round-bodled,
| yelIowish- brown animals, about the size
| OF a quarter-grown hog. They are covered
with coarse bristles. the ridge down
! the back and along the neck being OFTEN
five or six inches long. They sport long,
curved, scimitar-like tusks, sharp as
| knife blades, and their dispositions are
| devilish. They are tailless. There's no
animal known which will face them vol
unfairly. The band discovered by Pope
had for its headquarters a cave in foot
| hill of the mountain. The mouth or the
| cave was less than two feet In diameter,
but the cave itself was fully forty feeJ
| wide and sixty feet long. Pope was
| hunting at the time, and the musky odor
| OF the peccaries betrayed them. Luckily
! for Pepe the band must have just &C.
| turned from some excursion, as they We're
asleep at the time, and before they WOKE
up Pepe had corked up the entrance TO
the cave with rocks which were thickly
| strewn about.
"When Pope returned to the ranch and
told his story, the cowboys proposed
| battle royal. They sent word TO Tom
| Ray Ranch, and the cowboys OF that
| ranch brought over their Mexican lion.
| Meanwhile the boys had built heavy
rail fence about 100 feet square and 10
feet high about the cave. The next morn
ing there were fifty cowboys OF Tom Ray
Ranch, as many more from the Rocket
Ranch, and nearly 100 Of the Spangler
Ranch boys gathered together. the
ground within the rallied Enclosure was
|
sized stumps, to each of which bear or
panther was chained with 2O-foot chain.
| Each of the stumps had been squared off
three feet above tho ground.
| "At / o'clock all was ready for the
battle, except the peccaries. This part or
the work was delegated TO Red jim, an
Indian cowboy Of Spangler, with the bet
ting 2 to / that Jim would get nipped
before he could get out of reach or the
Infatuated peccaries. But Jim knew his
business He first rolled stones ana
placed them several feet from the mouth
To impede the brutes should they get out
too quickly for him. Then he slipped a
lariat around the big stone which corked
up the mouth Of the cave Retreating
fifteen or twenty feet he gave the lariat
a strong pull, and out came a stream or
raging wild hogs. They didn't eaten Jim,
but they came close enough 10 spring at
his heels as he scaled the fence. Then
fully 100 mad and swapping peccaries
stood a minute and looked around. In
front forty or fifty feet away, were
three big bears and a Mexican hon. Most
people would think that such sight
would have scared the peccaries, but II
did nothing Of the sort. On the contrary.
the bears and the lion began TO display
signs OF uneasiness. The bears quickly
climbed 10 the top Of the tree stumps 10
which they were chained, and the lion
! squatted and showed its teeth.
zone Of the peccaries caught grip on
the headquarters OF one OF the bears and
hung on like grim death. The bear $
: foothold was lost. and he fell squarely
into the jaws OF the swapping mob below
Then followed another battle on the
ground, with the bear underneath and
the wild hogs, In yellow bank above
| n 81 "a
enemy The bear began 20 work his
hind feet. and bodies Of wild hogs began
10 ay upward and outward, ripped from
! end 10 end by the claws or the bear
. The bear at last got on his feet anc
hacked up against the stump. lie sal
there and beat the peecaries away
| Knocking fully a dozen into king
dom come before the hogs succeeded II
overcoming and dispatching him.
"The last living bear was now attacked
with redoubled fury By an increased force
: OF peccaries. For fully five minutes tn
!, hattie ragged, and the bear succeeded II
= wiping out at least half a dozen pecca
ries. He had no chance OF escape, how
ever. ana was in the end literally torn e
i, shreds BY the enraged peccaries.
s'Meanwhile thirty or more or the pee
carries not mixed up in the fight with tn
hears were either strung out over tn
i field trying to get at tho cowboys on tn
. fence or attacking the Mexican lion. Tn
n long. 1.-THE body OF tho lion had thus IA
escaped serious injury, having received
only a few gashes from the tusks OF h
enemies. while four or i've OF the vii,
hogs were lying al the foot OF the stuml
on which the panther very early I'm tn
3 nght found II necessary TO take refuge
J. But as the raging peccaries drew OF