New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-28
COONS. COON DOGS AND THEIR WAYS.
From The Bangor Industrial Journal.

COONS, COON DOGS AND THEIR WAYS.
From The Bangor Industrial Journal
| Among the animals which ma. be said to have
wa, of no particular strain blood but h united
the keen the deerhound with the intelligence
OF the shepherd dog, and the tenacit! OF the bull
dog with the stealth OF the panther with less ac-
| compshmen than these he might have been good
probably been safe in his keeping he might have
been aDe to hold his OWN In hGht, or have siood
excellent chance of succeeding as sheep stcaler
but he couldn't have been coon dog
! For your coon is cute and tricky customer, ana
srammed wh patience MTeo'er r ne 81 a ave- aga
that runs. lie Leafs you through tangled swanIs
swift running streams He frishs along the top Of
rough stone walls ', silent and swift as shadow.
Tie stops within dozen feet of some convenient
wall, the intervening space al bound. strikes
tree and glideS up the longest limb, runs to is
extremity and leaps dozen feet beyond 1t to the
ground again breaking his trail abruptly on one sde
and beginning IT as confusingly on the other. lie
invents tactics for emergencies, and brings TO ever
consideration of his welfare ana that OF his fanny
a large and level head lie plays his cards well ana
the dog that would beat him must needs hold both
bowers and ace with strong cards TO BACK them.
These the dogs Of our fathers always had.
There Were, twenty-five years ago, the shl-hunt-
ing coon dog and the coon dog VINO let You know
at every step that he was getting there. There was
mixed W. with the methods OF the still hunter
element Of greater certainty that you would get your
coon than there was with the more melOdious system
of the dog that mouthcd his presence in the shaiowy
chase; but the style Of the latter put more ungle
into your blood and buoycd you up with sweeicr
pcctancy. There something weird and uncanny
In all the turnin.S and wndngs of the former through
the gloomy woous at night. lie crept among tangled
woods and deep ravines, climbed abrupt knolls and
worked his serpentne ways down into deep hollows.
turning, doubling. shifting. crossing and sing
his track, like the labyrinthinc crossing Of ships
capricious course, silent as the night around him.
stealthy as the twilight shadow His very silence
brought him 10 the prize As the trail OF the unsus
became st more cautious until the game was I'm
sight then he rushed upon like an avalanche, and
the pent up music OF his soul went forth in one
fearful how! of triumph and the surprised and fright
ened coon knew that his nights were numbered.
1t was different with the dog that gave tongue
silveIy treble of the fox hound. floating down from
cadcnza By every willing echo, nor yet the mellow
bass Of the deerhound, swelling the ridges. clear
staccato song of his own, half bark. half bay. cheer
full mingling of melody with business. The baying
coon dog always had better nose than his nosrlcss
brother, and he needed TO have. The coon never
knew when the silent dog was on his track and con
sequently did not bring to his protection the many
wiles and sIaacems that he at resorteS 10 when
the cry of the other dog rang out the trail. II
WIS then that he manoeuvred to throw false scents,
all impressed I'm his service I'm his for life
and 1t was then that the baylng coon dog of our
the tangled and well hidden scent constantly sound
ing his wild challenge to the TO do his best, until
and accepting the inevitable. he climbed tirc.
When the dog found he had brought the coon to this,
his musical bay changed 10 loud quick bark. the
signal to the hunter following on behind that the
preacher settled in backwOods district Of Pike
County, illinois he was not wise in the way of the
began the usual prOtracted meeting season. BY and
by he noticed that moonlt and starlit nights his
congregation was made up of women only. Finally
he asked the OF THIS. sister arose and said
It's cause the cOonin's betc'n tits I'm the dark
menl jinc ye."
Sure enough. when the moon darkeds the brethren
ing heartily in the proceedings The pastor reinon-
strated with them publicly;
While you have been idng after cOons.T said he.
there may have beer those in this district who
not hunt coons, and whom you might have led here
Deacon Brown up in the meeting and said
Dominic If the7 any one IN h. deesthc ez don't
Coon hunting as pastime went out of fashion
with the war, and the Old of trained coon dogs
10 be de.psed By the sportsmen in these days is one
of those thngs about which the remark has once or
twice been made that no fellow find out lie is
as cunning as the fox and more difficult to trail He
he m1eover hhe clesnest Of animals and eats only
despised surely because he be hunted only at
night for in threading the woods I'm the darkness.
alone breaAs the stiffness, there IS most singular
few people know any thing about them or their
cvllzatlon a. MS habitat, he plans TO keep aloof
from the eyes Of men, and his habits render this
easy task BY day he lies close I'm OutOf-thc way
retreats, in the depths Of hollow trees or Isolated
crevices and holes IN the rocks. He wanders forth
Only at nlgnt ana although his fOfaGng expeditions
may bring him TO the very doors of the farmers, and
even within the boundary lines Of villages, he never
bersys his presence II more than Is brought
to bay ian tree they will invariably be females or
mother coon with her of spring. The female brings
forth her litter only once IN two years, and from the
coming of the litter 10 the arrival of another she and
her Young are never separated She keeps her litt!s
family together until they two years old and I'm
protecting them Will fight the attacking dog hunter
until she dies Many good dog has been forced
to retreat before the fury Of she-cO0n fighting for
her young and If she IS captured the whole family
fall victims TO the hunter
While the female coon IS social and domestic the
male Is the reverse. lie is Surly and solitary ranges
family matters. II two males meet In the woods or
fields they fight furousl- and not intrequcnly 10
the death. The male makes his range for forage
much wider than the female does and having no one
the hunter In spring and summer the margin Of
brooks and ponds and the soft mud IN swamps and
bays thicly indcnted with tho graceful footprints
OF the coon, for IN these months he spends his nights
which then his chief subsistence. Later on he
among the huckleberry and blackberry matches
and feasts on the fruit
When the milk comes in the is the coon's gala
time, for he loves the tender succuent grains,
farmer knows TO his sorrow and great the RISKS
he Will take 10 forage in the fields II IS not until
the berries gone and the grown tough IN the
ear that the begins to look about for his winter
stores These he lays up plenfuly from the beech
nut, chestnut and acorn crops aud on these crOps
depends the hunting Of. the coon when he Is AZ his
best During the nuting he IL faf, solid and
WIuc awake, providing there are plenty OF nuts. One
pecuiiarity OF the coon, which like most Of his
peculiarities, has escaped the attention Of the
naturalsls who write books is that he never touches
fOod until he has quafed al some spring or brook
even II ne IL compelled TO 60 far 10 find IT, Old
Of his food into water before eating H. but like ali
old hunters, old hunters ~roaf n,anv thnge