The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-05-19
VERMONT PANTHER IN BOSTON
Wardsboro Beast Now in Museum
Story Of Animals Death.

aSO' iHeS HNSu 10 tell OF IL, when is !
perhaps more than one might expect.
The story, well authenticated. comes |
to Boston with the panther itself-a |
splendid specimen now to be seen at
the rooms of the Boston Society of !
Natural History.
The great beast just set up and res
tered to his pristine beauty of 1.-the !
strength by Nelson at Harvard, held |
reception at the museum Wednesday. |
when members of the society and
friends admired him and the other
newly arranged exhibits to their
hearts content. drinking tea in his
honor. The animal, superbly mounted,
stood guard at the head of the main
stairway and looked formidable
enough to dismay any who might meet
him face to face. The story Of his cap
ture, told in the straightforward Jour.
nalism of the time-November 18Th
is full of interest. 1t is captioned "A
Monarch of the Forest and runs as
follows
NOV. 20, 1875.
Citizens of West Wardsboro. Vt.
and vicinity have been somewhat ex.
cited over the discovery that wild
animal of very large size was roaming
IN the woods of that locality. On Sat
urday, the goth, II. ~ Fits, S. N.
Perry, II. b. Johnson, two boys and
four dogs from West Wardsboro had
grand hunt for the monster, and
succeeded in killing a North Ameri-
can cougar, otherwise called pan
Their, about mile from the village,
and sent him to George H. Yeaton &
Co., No. Blackstone St, in Boston.
Mass. The animal is seven feet and
three inches in length from the end
or his nose to the tip Of his tail, girth
feet and 6 inches, weighs 40 pounds
Is 50 inches high, and is a most for
mldahle looking creature, having legs
nearly as big as a mans arm, and
paws as big as large fist, with claws
and teeth to match. A small portion
OF one OF his fore feet is missing, the
wound looking fresh, as though re-
Gently caught in trap. 1t appears
that Fits and Perry, while going to
work on a ledge. discovered the ami
mails tracks, which they supposed to
e those OF bear and enlisting
.chnson, the boys and dogs, and arm
j with shotgun, revolver and
nife, started on the trail, and soon
round the skeleton of a hedgehog.
imposed to have been killed by the
Narmmt, but just there all trace of
the monster was lost. After a long
search Perry discovered large ami.
nal in the top OF a stately hemlock
tree and promptly discharged the
contents of the gun into the animals
body The cougar fell from the tree
across log and broke one of his legs.
The dogs pounced upon him, but he
socn taught them that distance lent
enchantment to the view He then
tried to leap into q tree. but his claws
tailed to hold and he then fed to a
thicket. Just as he was entering some
thick brush Johnson rashly seized
him by the tail and Justify called for
assistance Perry responded. and then
the cougar leaped into the thicket with
the men holding on to his narrative,
but that sort Of thing didn't seem to
suit his catship, and he turned on his
tormentors. Then things began to get
rather warm in that locality. but John.
son was equal to the emergency, and
drawing his revolver fred several
shots into the monster feline. This
so discouraged him that he quoted
down and he was then tied to tree
by his hind legs and finished off with
a pocket knife and club. He is said
to be the largest of his species ever
killed in the state of Vermont. Messrs.
1 Yeaton & Co. have sent the animal to
r Vickary, the taXidermist, in Lynn,
/ Mass When properly prepared, the
t huge cat will be returned to West
: Wardsboro and will be mounted over
/ the entrance to Mr.. O. c. Fits office.
This animal, we'll known as the
Wardsboro panther, had had an in.
, teresting career since its death. For a
time it remained on view in the home
ii town, then it iourneyed to Bennington
Il where it was exhibited by the Ben
nington Battle Monument and His
torical Society for the benefit of the
society funds, After that it journeyed
round about the state, being exhibited
\ at county fairs and other gatherings
where it was Of note as a curiosity
| Its last public appearance in Vermont
was at the historical pageant of 1911
Never too well mounted, 1t had suf
fered many strange adaptations in rs
II journeys and its greatly to the
credit of the Harvard taXidermis
that all these defects have beer
remedied and the animal looks a.
handsome today as 1t did when frs
i captured The Wardshoro panther was
Y to have been used as model by
Il Truman IL. Bartlett, the sculptor fo
life-size bronze for the monument
\ marking the site of the old catamoun
tavern in Old Bennington, but fo
some reason the plan fell through ant
Il the report commonly believed tina
the sculptor took the panther to Pari
K with him has no foundation in fact.
The monument exists. but thu
bronze catamOunt surmounting II
"grnning dehnance at the state o
II New York" was by a strange irony o
Fate modelled from live catamoun
n then in the New York ZOO, This monu
II ment commentaries the old cata
II mount tavern which stood close b.
where now stands the panther, and it
wooden sign was surmounted by
n stuffed catamount that grinne1 al