Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-08-12
THE UGLY LEOPARD
He Is a Cattle Thief and Even a
Human Being Thief.
WORSE THAN LION OR TIGER.
seizes Its Prey by the Throat and
clinas With Its Claws Until Il
Breaks tho Spine of It's Victim Or
7 Stranslss u.

Less in size. but even more ferocious,
the leopard has a worse character than
the tiger or lion. Living mainly In
| trees aud very nocturnal. this fierce
and dangerous beast is less often seen
than far rarer animals. IL Is widely
spread over the world from the Cape
of Good Hope to the Atlas mountains
and from southern China to the Black
sea. where IL is sometimes met with in
the Caucasus.
Any one who has freguented the zoo
! for any time must have uotsced the
| difference IN size and color between
leopards from different parts OF the
world. On some the ground color f.
almost white. In others a clear nut
brown. Others are Jet black.
Wherever they live leopards are cat
tie thieves. sheep thieves. dog thieves
; and human being thieves. Though not
formidable In appearance. they are i'm
Intensely strong. and IL is not unusual
for them to turn man eater. Both In
India and In Africa they have been
known to set up in this line as delib-
erately as any tiger. They have four
ar five young ut birth. The cubs can
Dc kept tame for some time and are
amusing pets. but 1t is extremely dan.
gerous 70 have them about
In Hongkong an Englishman had
tame Leopard. 1t was brought into the
dining room by a coolie TO be exhibit
ed TO the owners guests. Excited by
the smell OF food. the leopard refused
to go out when one of the women, who
did not like bis looks. asked that Il be
removed. The cooIie took hold Of its
collar and began TO haul II out. It
seized him by the neck. bit 1t through
and In a minute the coolie was dying,
covered with blood. on the dining
room floor.
The Chinese leopard ranges as far
north as the Siberian tiger and. like
the latter. seems to grow larger the
farther north 81 Is found The color
OF these northern ieopards is very pale,
the spots are large and the fur Is very
long
The natives OF all countries are unan-
imous in declaring that the leopard is
They have no fear OF the lion. provided
they are not hunting for &. for II viii
not attack unless provoked. but a
leopard is never 10 be trusted.
In Africa a number OF natives were
firing the reeds along stream. One of
them. boy, being thirsty and hot,
stopped down TO drink. He was imme-
| diately seized by a leopard. The boys
brother, with an admirable aim, hurled
his spear at the leopard while the boy
was in his jaws. The point separated
the vertebrate OF the neck. and the
leopard fell stone dead. But the boy
could not recover The leopard's fanRs
had torn open his chest and injured the
lungs. The latter were exposed 10
view through the cavity OF the ribs.
he died during the night.
Leopards are essentially tree living
and nocturnal animals. Sleeping In
trees or caves by day. they are seldom
disturbed They do an incredible
amount OF mischief among cattle,
calves, sheep and dogs, being especial
ly fond OF killing aud eating the latter.
They seize their prey by the throat
and cling with their claws until they
succeed IN breaking the spine or IN
strangling the victim. They have a
habit Of feeding on putrid flesh. This
makes wounds inflicted by their teeth
or claws liable to blood poisoning.
Nothing In the way Of prey comes
amiss TO them, from a COW in the pas
ture to fowl up ut roost.
In the great mountain ranges OF CEN
trail Asia the beautiful snow leopard is
found. 1t is large creature. with
thick. woolly coat and a long tell like
fur boa. The color is white. clouded
with beautiful gray. like that OF an
Angora cat. The edges OF the cloud
fngs and spots are marked with black
or darker gray. The eyes are very
large, blush gray or smoke colored.
IL lives on the wild sheep. ibex and
other mountain animals In captivity
It Is far the tamest and gentlesr of the
large carnivora. not executing the pu-
ma. Unlike the latter. II Is n sleepy.
quiet animal. like domestic.
The West African leopard skin is
more handsome than the Asiatic. the
spots being very distinct and clear. He
and she-they usually 70 IN couples
are fond OF hunting cantonments and
around native towns. where they pick
up goat and now and then baby.
One night ] was camped In q native
town and after | had retired the ma.
dves. as was their custom. were sitting
about great fire asking my caravan
all sorts OF questions. for the Africa
savage Is the greatest gossip In the
world. Suddenly child's cry rang
out, followed by a great clamor. Rush.
Ing out TO discover fhe cause Of alarm.
was informed that q leopard bod
stolen from the darkness and quick as |
a fash had grabbed four-yesr-old
child and made OF with It. The child |
was seated In the midst of the grown
men and women. The litter could |
only lament their loss. They knew Il
was useless 10 try to pursue the beast
into the dense bush.
The leopard is so bold that even ia
daylight he VIII wander about town
or white man's premises. II IL not
at all unusual 20 get q good shot az Q
leopard from a bungalow yerunda or
a mud hut door.-Pittsbure Dispatch.
AMci Eps, cIIcc