The Monmouth inquirer., 1898-11-17
DIED FOB HER CUB.
PANTHER STOLE THE LITTLE ONE
AND KILLED THE MOTHER.

Exciting Encounter Witnessed by q Party
Of Cattlemsn in the Mountains-The
Panther Meets Its Death From Rifle
Rail-.
'The sportsman who has a banker
ing for exciting hunting" said an Ari-
zona man, after listening to the story
of a friend who had had several thrill
ing encounters with tigers in India,
may have plenty of it anywhere
among the mountains Of eastern Ari-
zona. Panthers like those one reads
about in tales of frontier life are still
to be met there in all their pristine
ugliness and strength. recall a very
narrow escape which l 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 a large
herd of cattle, and late in the after
noon we missed two steers which had
evidently entered and strayed away ii
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 our
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 heavy under
growth of bushes, when we thought we
heard noise resembling that made by
the hoofs of a 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 reined 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 PAN
ther came in view carrying a squealing
cub bear in its mouth 1t carried the
cub as a cat would 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
when few moments later the wailing
mother bear made it's appearance. She
was evidently afraid to tackle the pam
ther, and that beast appeared to know
it. But presently the panther put the
cub on the ground, as if to get a bet
ter hold on its neck, when the bear
plunged at the panther and caught it
round the body just in front of the hind
legs. Like flash the panther flung
the cub into the air, yonked itself loose
and turning quickly, jumped at the
bear. The bear knocked the panther
to one side, and 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. It's
aim was true, for it settled the claws
of it's forefeet in the bears shoulder
and it's teeth in her neck. The bear
now struggled hard to shake the PAN
ther off, but she couldn't do it. Soon
the panther tore the bears entrails
out with its hind claws, and then it
leaped away and went to smelling after
the cub, which had crawled over to a
tree near where we had been watching
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, and
for the first time turned its attention
to u.s. It's attitude was one OF defiance.
1t crouched and curled it's lips up in
hideous snarl, and Burke realizing the
danger we were in, raised his Win
chester and fired. But his aim was too
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,
and the panther fell dead.
I'VE didn't stop to look around any
longer that day for our steers. but the
next afternoon another cowboy belong
ing to our camp ran across their re-
mains in a gorge about half mile
away from where we had shot the
panther. They had been killed and