‘Dutton Ranch': Carter and Oreana Actors Reveal the Truth About the Leopard

Dutton Ranch Episode 8 reveals what happened to the leopard that was kept caged at Dwight White's ranch. Actors Finn Little (Carter) and Natalie Alyn Lind (Oreana) reveal it nearly had a very different outcome.

The two on-screen lovers talked to Taste of Country's Adison Haager ahead of Ep. 8. It's a pretty wide ranging interview that will be featured during Tuesday's episode of the Dutton Rules podcast (live at 2PM CT on YouTube).

Spoiler alert warning. If you've not watched through Ep. 8 of Dutton Ranch, you may want to save this article for later.

The Legend of the Dutton Ranch Leopard

During Episode 4 of Dutton Ranch. Carter befriends a rancher named Dwight White (actor Ray McKinnon). The two swap stories and drink beer most of the day. At night, Dwight drives Carter deep into his property and throws a switch to reveal a leopard named Xena.

It's an unexpected development and the cat continues to get attention through Ep. 5. Carter brings Oreana out to feed it one afternoon. A few hours later Dwight is running back to Xena's enclosure when the sheriff (who arrived unannounced, for unknown reasons) shoots him in the back.

"She's a pretty kitty," actor Lind says. "She was so beautiful until she starts chewing her bone and then it's terrifying."

Little and Lind tell Taste of Country that they didn't receive training before working alongside the leopard.

Related: Dutton Ranch Ep. 8 Reveals Beulah's Darkest Secret

"(It) was, 'Everyone stand back and we're gonna bring it in,'" he says. "'And no one stand next to the cage.'"

What Happened To the Leopard On Dutton Ranch?

The Dutton Rules podcast audience had all kinds of theories about the leopard, including one that featured Xena attacking and killing Rob Will. None of that seems likely now.

During Episode 8, Carter brings the sheriff back out to Dwight's property (and the leopard pen) and tries to blackmail him.

It doesn't work, but at the start of the conversion he asks about Xena. "She's at that Texas Zoofari Park down in Kaufmann," Sheriff Handy Wade replies, referring to a real life park in Texas.

It almost ended differently.

"They did have a little arc for us where we released the leopard. That was a version," Little says. "But that never got filmed."