Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-11-23
beautiful flowers presented by friends and
fraternal organizations
MRS IL, d. ALDRICH AND FAMILY.
DIED FOR HER CUB.
PANTHER STOLE The LITTLE ONE
AND KILLED THE MOTHER.

Exciting Encounter Witnessed by Party
oil Cattlemen in thu Mountains-The
Panther Meets Its Death From u Riho
Bail.
"The sportsman who has a banker
ing for exciting hunting" said an Ari-
IONA man, after listening to the story
of friend who had had several thrill
ing encounters with tigers in India,
may have plenty of it anywhere
among the mountains of eastern Ari-
IONA. Panthers like those one reads
about in tales of frontier life are still
to be met there in all their pristine
ugliness and strength. I recall very
narrow escape which / and another
cowboy named Burke had two years
ago in one of the forests of that State.
We were returning TO camp, after an
absence of several days, with large
herd of cattle, and late in the after
| noon we missed two steers which had
evidently entered and strayed away IN
the forest along the edge of which our
| journey homeward lay. Not wishing to
| lose the animals in the forest, where
| thousands of panthers were known to
abound, we allowed the bunch of cattle
to go on ahead, and, urging orr
| horses on, went in search of the beasts.
well. We had not gone very far in
| to the thick of the forest, which was in
places covered with a heavy under
growth of bushes, when We thought we
heard noise resembling that made by
the hoofs of steer in walking through
bushes. AS we got little nearer to the
bushes where we had heard the noise
| Burke, who was little ahead of me,
suddenly refined up his horse. He must
have seen something that startled him,
| for he waved me back and then cock
ed his gun. A moment later big pam
Their came in view carrying squealing
cub bear in its mouth. 1t carried the
cub as a cat would a mouse, and as it
didnot appear to notice our presence
Burke took his gun from his shoulder,
and we both sat there looking and Won
dering what the wild beast would do
with its prey.
"Our interest was still more excited
|
mother bear made it's appearance. She
was evidently afraid to tackle the pam
Their, and that beast appeared to know
it. But presently the panther put the
cub on the ground, as if to get bet
ter hold on It's neck, when the bear
plunged at the panther and caught it
round the body just in front of the hind
l. nj or fur q
the cub into the air, yonked itself loose
and turning quickly, jumped at the
bear. The bear knocked the panther
) to one side, and a second stroke of its
paw sent the big cat flying into the
bushes. But at this stage of the fight
the cub squealed once more, and the
mother bear, seeming to forget every
thing but her young one, rushed to its
, rescue. She had not however, taken
more than three or fur steps when the
: panther sprang at her throat again. Its
aim was true, for it settled the claws
of its forefeet in the bears shoulder
and it's teeth in her neck. The bear
r now struggled hard to shake the pam
Their off, but she couldn't do it. Soon
1.-The panther tore the bears entrails
4 out with its hind claws, and then il
eaped away and went to smelling after
r the cub which had crawled over to a
tree near where we had been watching
o the battle.
"On came the panther, shifting along
= the ground for the cub, which had
' retreated until it was within ten feet
. from us. Then the panther paused, anc
cor the first time turned its attention
u to US. It's attitude was one of defiance
4 1t crouched and curled its lips up in a
a Ihideous snarl and Burke realizing the
danger we were in, raised his Win
n chester and fired. But his aim was toe
high, and the savage beast sprang for
my back, tearing my coat into shreds
and leaving the marks of its claws on
. my shoulder. Once again the panther
was about to jump for me. But this
time Burke put bullet in vital spot,
4 and the panther fell dead.
1--WE didn't stop to look around any
longer that day for our steers, but the
4 next afternoon another cowboy belong
ing to our camp ran across their re-
mains in a gorge about half mile
r away from where we had shot the
panther. They had been killed and
!