The case of the missing panther

The late arrival of G Christmas present this morning, "The Letters of Rudyard Kipling", put me in mind of an early sculpture of mine tucked away in a wild part of the garden.


It was inspired by Bagheera* the black-toned Indian Leopard, a fictional animal character in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book .

My Bagheera has had his own little adventure.

At first he lived amongst some shrubbery near the road so that I would see him every time I left and entered the house.

Unfortunately I was not the only one who saw him. So did all the passing walkers and one day he went missing.

Despite his bulky appearance and large size he is surprisingly light to lift for he is made of fibreglass.

I put a notice in the local Post Office offering a reward more in hope than in any great expectation that he would turn up.

Then I got a phone call.

He had been seen about a mile away in a field with sheep.

We deduced it was a student prank for it was Freshers Week at Stirling University.

So you can understand why he now lives safely at the bottom of the garden.

*The word Bagh means tiger in Hindi.