The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-04-03
SIAMESE Twin LIONS
Fight TILL BOTH Die
They Kill an Elk, and While
Eating Carcass, One Is
Caught in Trap

BIG PINEY, Wyo.-William Rober,
in search of location, arrived here
day or two ago and exhibited the pelts
Of twin mountain lions, which had
been Joined together by a band of
flesh similar to that which connected
the celebrated Siamese twins. RobeF
obtained the skins in the high hills
twenty miles east of this place after
fought each other to death.
According to ROBBERS story, he was
camped in the hill near nightfall, when
he heard chorus Of bellows and snarls
from a patch of timber about a quarter
of a mile distant. Curious to know
from whence the sounds proceeded, he
investigated and found the carcass of
freshly killed elk in the timber. Lead
ing from the remains were the tracks
of two large animals, the character of
which Rober was not familiar with at
that time. Whatever had made the
tracks evidently had been frightened
from. the elk by the approach of the
man, and, believing that the animals
would return, Rober went TO camp, Sc
cured a large trap and set it under
the snow beside the carcass.
Reused by Hubbub
At 10 o'clock that night Rober was
awakened by terrific hubbub pro-
ceeding from the direction of his trap
So fierce and sinister were the snarls
and screeches that he feared to investi-
gate and lay for some time listening
to the sounds and afraid to stir from
his bed. Toward daylight the sounds
grew less, and finally ceased altogether.
Immediately after sun up Rober
took his gun and went to the timber
to investigate. To his surprise he
found two almost full grown mountain
lions dead beside the carcass of the
elk. The left front foot of one of the
animals had been caught in the trap.
For yards about the snow was trampled
and blood soaked, giving mute evidence
of frightful battle. The bodies of
both of the lions were lacerated from
nose tc tail, and in the sides of both,
the right of one and the left of the
other, appeared great wounds of pc
culiar appearance Examining more
closely, Rober was aStonished to find
projecting from the side of each ami
NAL short neck of flesh, the ends of
which had been gnawed and chewed
until they hung in strips.
Further examination of the carcasses
convinced Rober' that the lions in life
had been joined together by strip of
flesh protruding from their bodies, lust
behind the last ribs, very much In the
manner that the Siamese twins were
connected.
Freak Lions Kill Elk
ROBBERS theory is that the elk was
killed by the freak lions and that the
animals hid in the timber until after
dark, then returned to their kill. There
one stepped into the trap and both were
caught. The untrapped lion probably
fought Intellectually for freedom, until
he decided to gnaw the band connect
ing him to his twin. The pain of this
operation probably precipitated a fight,
in which the trapped lion, handicapped
by the restraint of one of his feet, was
killed by the other The surviving lion
then must have finished the operation
of gnawing himself loose from the dead
body. dying of loss of blood before he
could leave the spot.
Rober examined the ends of the con-
meeting band closely, and found that
three large arteries ran through the
neck, also an interior neck of what
appeared to be the liver existed. The
remainder of the bond, which was
about two and half inches in thick
ness, apparently consisted of muscle
and skim
Not knowing how near the closest
settlement might be, Rober made no
effort to preserve the bodies of the
lions, but took the skins, each of which
shows a flap at the point where the
connecting bond of flesh joined the
bodies of the owners
The elk killed by the lions was very
emaciated, and doubtless was so Wea k
from hunger that they had no difficulty
in pulling ii down.