The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-08-10
The UGLY LEOPARD
He Is a Cattle Thief and Even a
Human Being Thief.
WORSE THAN LION OR TIGER.


cIinss With Its Claws Until It
Breaks the. Spine Of Its Victim or
StrangIes II.
Less in size, but even more ferocious,
the leopard has worse character than
the tiger or lion. Living mainly in
trees and very nocturnal, this fierce.
and dangerous beastsis less often seen
than far rarer animals. 1t 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 1t is sometimes met with in
the Caucasus.
Any one who has frequented the zoo
for any time must have noticed the
difference in size and color between
leopards from different parts of the
world. On some the ground color is
almost white. in others 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
menseiy strong. and it 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 asadelib-
erately as any tiger. They have four
or FIVE young at a birth. The cubs can
be kept tame for some time and are
amusing pets, but it is, extremely dan,
gerous to have them about.
| In Hongkong an Englishman had a
tame leopard. 1t was brought into the
dining room by 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 his looks. asked that it be
removed The ccolie took hold Of its
collar and began to haul it out. 1t
seized him by the neck. bit 1t through
and in minute the coolie was dying.
/ covered with blood, on the dining
room floor.
The Chinese leopard ranges as far
1 north as the Siberian tiger and. like
! the latter. seems to grow larger the
/ farther north 1t is found. The color
Of these northern leopards 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
A more dangerous than the lion or tiger.
They have no fear of the lion. provided
they are not hunting for it. for it will
s. not attack unless provoked. but .
leopard is never to be trusted.
In Africa number of natives were
u 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 yertebrae Of the neck, and the
leopard fell stone dead. But the boy
4 could not recover. The leopard's fangs
had torn open his chest and injured the
& lungs. The latter were exposed tc
view through the cavity of the ribs
He died during the night.
4 Leopards are essentially tree living
and nocturnal animals. Sleeping II
trees or caves by day, they are seldom
4 disturbed. They do an incredible,
amount of mischief among cattle
calves. sheep and dogs. being especial
~ fond of killing and eating the latter
They seize their prey by the throat
and cling with their claws until they
succeed in breaking the spine or ii
strangling the victim. They have 6
habit of feeding on putrid flesh. This
makes wounds inflicted by their teetf
or claws liable TO blood poisoning
Nothing in the way of prey comes
amiss to them. from cow in the pas
ture to fowl up at roost.
In the great mountain ranges of cen
trail Asia the beautiful snow leopard il
|, found 1t is large creature. will
thick. wooily coat and long tail like
fur boa. The color is white, cloude(
with beautiful gray. like that Of al
Angora cat. The edges of the cloud
ings and spots are marked with blacl
or darker gray. The eyes are yer.
large. blush gray or smoke colored
~ H. Nv CS vi Liz WIN ShCSP. ipS-A civ
other mountain animals. In captiyit,
it is far the tamest and gentlest Of TIN
large carnivora. not excepting the pu
ma. Unlike the latter. it is sleepy
quiet animal. like domestic.
The West African leopard skin ]
!, more handsome than the Asiatic. til
spots being very distinct and clear. 81
: and she-they usually go in couples
!, are fond of hunting environments an
Z, around native towns. where they pic
> up goat and now and then baby.
One night was camped in nativ
: town and after | had retired the nf
!. tives. as was their custom, were sittin
) about a great fire asking my carava
oil sorts of questions. for the Africa
savage is the greatest gossip in til
Z world Suddenly a child's cry ran
t out. followed by great clamor. Rusl
! ing out to discover the cause of alarm
S l was informed that a leopard hn
S stolen from the darkness and quick {
fash had grabbed four-year-ol
child and made off with it. The chi