The Great Puma Panic: How a Loose Cat and a Lucky Dog Sparked Chaos at Leschi Park

There was an exciting scene at Leschi Park just after noon today that made plenty of trouble for the keeper, Mr. J. W. Mahoney. In fact, it was owing to good fortune rather than good management that he finally escaped without broken bones and lacerated skin.

The big puma got loose in the park. How it happened no one will probably ever be able to explain. The trap is a strong one, and is well put together, but it seems that the door must have been left unfastened when the animal was fed his morning meal, and after the attendant departed the turns ascertained the fact and lost no time in availing himself of the opportunity to regain his freedom.

When his tawny majesty stalked forth from his cage after dinner, nobody happened to be around and there was a clear field for operations. It so happens that pumas have an inherited fondness for deer meat that they usually take great pains to gratify, and this particular puma was no exception to the rule. For many reasons he had detected the delicious odor of uncooked deer meat in close proximity to his cage, and had hinged to sample it. The substitute offered him in the shape of cow beef was distasteful; it had an embalmed smell, and would not bear comparison with the wild free flavor of western deer haunches.

The puma went in search of the park deer. He was progressing in a sneaking fashion along one of the park fences and close to the corner of a building, when he came suddenly upon a terrier lying down for a nap. There is no telling what the dog thought. If he stopped to do any thinking at all, but with a scared howl he dashed away towards the part of the enclosure where the black bears are caged. The puma hesitated for a moment, as quite certain whether he preferred fresh dog or tail venison, and then went bounding after the terrier, which ran with affrighted howls toward the bear pit up against the side of the hill.

Bearing in front of the cage, the little dog felt the hot breath of the puma fanning his tail, and he shrieked in terror. It was well for him, indeed, that he went so close to the bear pit. That narrow circumstance saved his life beyond a doubt. As the pursuing puma sprang past it, one of the bears, seeing his opportunity to get in a little good work on the puma, shoved a paw out through the bars and dug its long, sharp claws into the yellow hide of the animal.

With a frightful scream the puma turned and dashed at the cage, now intent on revenging himself for the injury inflicted by the bear. Keeper Mahoney, who appeared at this moment, coming up from the seals enclosure to see what the little uproar meant, was transfixed with astonishment and alarm when he saw the puma loose and fighting savagely with the bears through the bars. The fierce beasts were evidently very much in earnest, and were making bloody passes at each other in swift succession. Finally one of the bears adopted peculiar tactics. Quickly passing two paws out through the bars, he seized the puma around the neck and attempted to give him a deadly hug. The puma gurgled with mortal rage and suffocation, and vainly struggled to tear himself loose from the bear embrace.

Keeper Mahoney could stand it no longer. Visions of a dead puma and an uproar among the street railway directors who have the park in hand, rose before his mind, and he determined to do or die. Rushing forward, he seized the puma's tail in both hands, and muttered between his set teeth—"April 1!"