The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-06-03
GOT THE BIGGEST SQUIRREL



.VD Against the niGgest wildcat.
i shot q squirrel once that was two
feet and q half long and weighed five
pounds" said James Stone Of Mercer
county. Pa, "aud although I believe
that squirrel was the biggest one ever
killed In Pennsylvania or anywhere
else. I guess. 1t was all the more re-
markable because II I hadn't killed It,
wouldn't now hold the record for
having killed the biggest wildcat the
State ever got rid of.
i was out for squirrels In the noun
tains near my place and had made q
bag big enough to go home with, when
! saw something bounding through the
top OF an oak tree that startled me. It
was SO big that l thought some fox
must have suddenly become seized
with the power Of climbing trees and
scurrying through the branches ar !
was exercising it. wasn't SO startled,
however, that let the big animal get
away from me. fred, and down 1t
came tumbling to the ground.
That's satisfactory said to my
self. Now, let's see what we've killed.
i took couple of steps toward the
spot where the game was lying, and
then stopped so suddenly that / almost
fell over backward.
This said to myself again, isn't
quite SO satisfactory, and l guess we
won't see what we've killed, just yet
"On the lower branch of tree, just
ahead of me. and between me and the
tree out Of which had shot the ami
NAL that had startled me, lay a wild
cat, the like Of which l had never seen
before. 1t had evidently been lying
there in wait for Its dinner, and per-
haps had its eye on the animal had
shot However that might be, the big
cat now had its eye on me, and didn't
like the way that eye glared, either.
At first l thought l would call every
thing square as 1t was, leave my I'M
known dead game for the wildcat to
dine on, and go home without further
Investigation. Then 1t seemed to me
that If ! retreated thus, and told my
adventure when got home, as l GER
tainly couldn't help doing, l would
naturally be looked at somewhat with
suspicion; SO l resolved to save my
reputation, enlarge my geological
knowledge, and also get the 80 bounty
on that wildcats scalp. l put in big
double charge Of squirrel shot and pre-
pared for action.
The wildcat remained on the limb,
crouching as if ready to leap upon me.
emitting the low, savage growls or
snarls peculiar to its kind when en-
ragged. The animal was twenty-five
feet away, but as it is no trick at all
for a wildcat to spring distance of
thirty feet, even on the level, l knew
this one could easily launch itself upon
me II 1t was so inclined. Consequent
ly, did not wait for this possible overt
act on its part, but fired
The immense beast leaped straight
up from the limb when the charge
struck 1t. Failing back, it caught with
the long, sharp claws Of its forepaws
on the limb again, where it hung,
writing and filling the woods with
frightful yells. They were so frightful,
in fact, that was almost forced to
abandon the field after all and leave
the wildcat to fight 1t out by itself.
Just then, though, blood began to pat
ter down from the wound my shot had
made, and loaded up to give the ami
NAL another shot. Before l could do
that, the wildcats hold on the limb
relaxed, and the animal came tumblng
to the ground. 1t lay still for a Sec
ond, but then, badly wounded as it
was, rose to its feet and rushed at me
with short, quick bounds. | had no
time for reflection, but blazed away
again. So fierce was the assault of
that Infatuated wildcat that, although
that last charge filled its heart and
lungs with shot, it did not lessen the
velocity Of the assault, and the animal
dashed right on, striking me on the
breast with its huge, sharp claws,
which closed spasmodically on my
clothing as they struck. The force
with which the wildcat hurled itself
against me threw me backward to the
ground, and the cat fell square upon
me. But the great brute was dead
had been dead, in fact, before it reach
ed me, / crawled hastily from under
the dead animal, drenched from head
to foot with its blood.
After recovering as much of nv
equanimity as | could under the cir
cumstances, ! proceeded to investigate
the ether thing | had killed. | could
scarcely believe my eyes when | saw
it. II was a squirrel, true enough, but
bigger than any three Of the biggest
squirrels had in my bag, and | had
some big ones. 1t was as red as a red
fox and with a brush almost as long,
The wildcat measured nearly five feet
al length and three-foot wildcat is a
big one"