A Game Supper and Tall Tales

We were invited to a church for a hunters' supper of  wild game and a session of hunting stories.  The men did the cooking and when we arrived the food was already on the tables with signs identifying the protein ingredient of each pot.  I don't remember all the dishes but I remember venison stew, squirrel dumplings, rabbit something, shrimp casserole and several other dishes cooked with deer sausage.  There was rice and sausage, cabbage and sausage, and beans with sausage.

After the meal, we moved into the auditorium to hear the hunting adventures and as you would expect, they were tall tales told convincingly in first person instead of actual experiences.  But, it was all in good fun and the preacher would have won the prize for the biggest liar--if there had been a prize.

This story is true. My father told hair raising stories of  black panthers in the country when he was young back in the 1920's and 30's.  They had disappeared until recently but they are making a comeback.  The lady that sat by us told us that she had heard a commotion around the dog pen in her back yard one night this week and she looked out to see a black panther come walking from the shadows into the light followed by a young one.  Panthers attack dogs and other small animals and I suspect they would attack a child if they had an opportunity. This is not their usual habitat so they will eat whatever they can kill.

It is not strange for us to have 'possums or 'coons on the back porch but we haven't seen a panther yet.  I think I'll be more cautious when running around at night.  GL