Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-02-22
BEARS AND BOBCATS.
They Approach Civilization Too Fa-
military to Suit .Maine- r srmers.'

| Lewiston Cores. Boston Advertiser.
"zekel' is fairly driving the Oxford
| county farmers distracted. '1f
! 'Zekel is the amiable black bear that
! dwels in great abundance up that way. He
isn't dangerous. 'Zekel was never known
even to make faces at any one that walked
upright on two legs like himself. The fact
is, Zekel is too well fed to- be cross; and
Zekels well-fed condition makes the farm
ers mad. 'Zekel has attained his prime con-
/ dition on their fat sheep -.,
There are more black bears in Oxford
county To the square mile than in any other
area in Maine. The residents of the county
call themselves Bears" so noted is the
county for its bruins. oxford is q land
OF hills and craggy little mountains, rising
abruptly from the river meadows Almost
every farm has its rocky steeps-a hill
humping from the level of some back pas
| ture. Zekel lives up in his den on the
mountain, and finds It easy to drop down
on the tocks and scuttle bac kto shelter
again. Two years ago the bear bounty In
Maine was declared off. Now the farmers
of oxford are piling IN petitions by the
/ hundreds asking that the bounty be re-
stored.
They say that the bears are fairly eating
them up. The Critters have stolen fat
sheep. they have broken into the cellars
through the bulkheads and have extracted
the best vegetables. They have even burst
ed the butter crooks, and some mornings
when the man of the house has. gone down
stairs TO see what has been happening the
language that he has used has been Of the
sort that isn't tolerated ordinarily in puri-
tanical oxford county.
AT the last session of the legislature the
bounty on wildcats was also lifted. 1t is
now in order for some of the people down
in Washington county to follow along be-
hind the farmers of Oxford aud request of
the state that price be placed back ON the
head of the "loucivee." "-,..--r d
Mrs. Harriet Bagley Of Whitneyyille will,
however. take care of herself on the bob
cat question even without the state law.
She was sitting in her kitchen the other
evening waiting for the men folks to come
home. All at once she heard q queer
sound at the window. There was no cur
tain there. She looked, and against the
glass was pressed the furry face Of bob
cat.
A bobcat has a curiously blank counte-
nance. His ears stick up straight In an
inquistive fashion but his eyes are simply.
saucerike. without expression The cat
sat perfectly quiet and stared at Mrs. Bag
ley without winking: There wasn't even
the futter of his eyeld. Those great round
eyes slttered in the frozen night. They
glared and they stared at the woman, who
sat and stared back at him. At first she
had the uncomfortable notion that he
would pretty soon make spring and come
through the glass, but he seemed content to
sit and look at her.
She recovered her seIf-possession little
and commenced to make motions to drive
him away. His eyes only grew bit
larger II that were possible, and still he
looked at her without winking. In a little
while Mrs. Bagley grew nightly offended
at his close and bold scrutiny. She had
been reading the fashion page in her week
ly paper, and now to save her life she
couldn't get interested in the latest style
of skirts. 1t was too much for any woman
to bear. --'- 49, =
So she went along to the wood box and
secured a big chunk of birch. The cat
never took his eyes off her. His gale fol-
lowed her when she boldly went to the
kitchen door, raised the latch and threw
| the door open. When the lamplight
strcamed out into the night down jumped.
the bobcat and started to straddle Oh.
But Mrs. Bagley aimed her birch atiek In
such a deadly fashion that she hit him on
the head. She didn't go-out to see what
had happened to him, but when thA men
folks drove up an hour later thSf1 was
q dead bobcat in the yard.