Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-02-15
ABOUT THAT VARMIhT
Mysterious Animal still Manages n
EVades All HantefS,
MANY THEORIES As TO ITS IDENTITY

One Man Thinks he 10 A:rMp puntatn
Lion or Bob cat-colofed :hlhter; Of
Fort Mill is Sure It 'ls'' a:tWllh Dog
Animal is Still Keeping F6lks in
at Night. ''' =. ':..:," :...,:
That "varmint" which has been
troubling people in York; CASTOR and
Mecklenburg counties has extended
his operations to Monroe, N. c., ac-
cording to the Monroe Enquirer. If he
hasn't done that he has brothers and
sisters over that way. There also
comes a theory from Fort siill' that
the "varnint" Is not a panther but p
wild dog. The following stories are
calculated to throw more light on. the
'varmint:"
Thinks It Wild Dog. -,
Ed Scott, reliable and Intelligent
Fort Mill negro, believes he has the
solution of the question Of the identi-
ty of the wild animal which has hoen
seen northeast of Fort Mill in the
Providence section Of MecklenbUrg
county, N. c., commonly referred to
as the Providence panthef,Ss' For
several weeks numbers OF; .mnters
from Charlotte and other SECTIONS of
Mecklenburg county have TILED. to
trail and kill or capture theistrange
animal whose presence and!idepreda-
tions are reported from daE,t3 day in
different localities in this. seetion, the
last authentic report coming. from the
farm of Will Mckinney, o.. fsK miles
north of Fort Mill. :. f;:,iStiE:,I:h:
Ed Scott is employed byf the Mills
& Young furniture store :as .driyer,o OF
their truck, and makes trips, through
this section for miles aroubd9,i;{ Edf Is
an enthusiastic huntef} },saHfhs '.for
years covered all the 'hnntins ground
of this section for any kind Of game.
He says that for a long time there
has been a breed Of degsr e:ppobably
the shepherd crossed with. the. BULL
dog, running wild. in the,th!ekets along
the creeks near the old. cemftery,,
short distance to the :northeas Of Fqrt
Mill. The animals. ore; elpatEes and
show decided tendencyto aght when
their way of escape seems threaten
ed. Litters Of -pnps have been found
by young Fort Mill boys 'tn-spsAll dug
outs near town and~tf1e little animals
have shown bad OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
f'hard :; to:ri domesticata>sAftsr xc4telfs
brought to homes here: :. :::.ai::>- "a -
Tuesday afternoon while in; the DO
cality where the panther last
reported to have been seen, Ed: Caught
a glimpse of a swiftly<meylpg animal
and got his gun ready to:'shoot IT bat
as the animal came clear of, the bush
Ishe saw that it was a dark broTn dog,
one of the breed which he had rkhoHp
for years. Except for his :kIowledgs
of this peculiar breed of dogs. Ed says
he might have taken the animal for
almost any kind of a5stranger, I'D
was accompanied on the trip Tnesady
afternoon by a responsible white han
who supports the statement, OF the de
ceitful appearance of the animal, :a1id
was followed by Bill Ross; .hlgk1y,ss
teemed farmer of the community who
is inclined to the belief. after this ex-
perIence, that the "Proyidence- pan
ther" is simply one of these Wild. dogs.
Fort Mill Times. :t;'ss:;SA -.
Lion or Bob Cat %.'j;'S:.' j.';S::..a, =
The "varmlnt" which has':;.been
causing so much excitement II Neck
lenburg county recently, doe. not: seeti
to be new to people livifg near Brown
Creek swamps One of these grey col
ored animals was killed near, Polkton
recently. DR.. F. M. Smith, writes the
Charlotte News as follows: !; From
the description that you have given
from time to time of the action, T. am
forced to believe that the animal Is q
large mountain lion or bob-cat. 1,will
say that 1 have been seeing signs of
these animals in this section for sew
cral months, and only a few weeks
ago a Mr.. Harrington, living three
miles from town, killed one that
weighed about twenty pounds Pre-
vous to the time this one was killed
two pigs were killed in the town less
than Il half mile from the station and
the carcass was torn much as the pigs
were that were killed in the Pineville
section. These animals are great
fighters and the ordinary dog Will re-
fuse to tackle one after cornering 1t.
The cat killed here recently was tall
ed to bay by large Kentucky hound
we recently purchased and brought
here and this dog, while twice the
size of the cat, was badly cut and Bit
ten before the cat was shot"
|