The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-01-23


those in this district who do not hunt
eoons. and whom you might have led
here and saved their souls"
Deacon Brown rose up in the meeting
and said
Dominic, if thez any one in this dees-
tric' sz don't hun, coons his soul hain't
wuth savin'"
Coon hunting as pastime went ont Of
fashion with the war, aud the old race Of
trained coon dogs gradually became ex-
tinct. Why the coon has come to be de-
spised by the sportsmen in these days is
one Of those things about which the re-
mark has once or twice been made that
no fellow can find out He is as cunning
and as cute as the fox and more difficult
to trail. He is, moreover, the cleanest Of
animals aud eats only the most whole
some food. He should not be despised
surely because he can he hunted only at
night, for in threading the woods in the
darkness, following dogs that you can
not see, and whose baying alone breaks
the stiffness. there is a most singular en-
chantmens.
Even where coons are most abundant.
nine out Of every ten Of the present gen
Grafton never see one, and few people
know anything about them or their hab-
its. Although the coon prefers the Vi
ciuity Of civilization as is habitat. lie
plans 70 keep aloof from the ewes Of men
and his habits render this an easy task.
By day he lies in close out-ofthe-way re-
treats. in the depth Of hollow trees or iso-
lated crevices and holes in the rocks. He
wanders forth only at night, and although
his f0raging expeditions may bring him
to the very doors Of the farmer. and even
within the boundary lines Of villages. he
never betrays his presence If more than
one coon is brought TO bay in tree they
viii be invariably females or a mother
coon with her offspring The female
brings forth her litter only once in two
years. and from the coming Of the litter
to the arrival Of another she and her
young are never separated She keeps
her little family together until they are
two years Old, and in protecting them
viii fight the attacking deg or hunter
until she dies. Many a good coon dog
has been forced to retreat before the fury
Of a she-coon fighting for her young. and
if she is captured the whole family fall
victims to the hunter.
While the female coon is social and do
mestic, the male is the reverse. He is
surly and solitary, ranges entirely alone,
and gives no care or attention 10 family
matters. If two males meet in the woods
or fields they fght furiously and not in
frequently to death The male makes his
range for forage much wider than the fe-
male does, and having no one 10 look az
ter but himself, more frequently escapes
the hunter. In spring and summer the
margin Of brooks and ponds and the soft
mud in swamps and bays are thickly in
dented with the graceful footprints of the
coon, for in these months he spends his
nights in catching frogs, fish, lizards,
srubs and mussels, which are then his
chief subsistence. Later on he ranges
among the huckelberry and blackberry
patches and feasts on the fruit.
When the milk comes in thecorn is the
coons gala time. for he loves the tender
slcculent grains, as a farmer knows to his
sorrow, and great are the risks he will
take to forage in the fields It is not un-
til the berries are gone and the corn
grown tough in the ear that the coon be-
gins 10 look about for his winter stores.
These he lays up plentifully from the
beachnut, chestnut and acorn crops, and
on these crops depends the hunting Of
the coon when he Is at his best. During
the nutting season he Is Gar. solid and
aide awake. providing there are plenty
Of nuts. One popularity Of the coon,
which like most Of his peculiarities. has
escaped the attention Of the naturalists
who write books, is that he never touch I
es food until he has quaffed at some
spring or brook, even if be is compelled
70 % Ear to find it, Old coon hunters say
that the coon dips every mouthful Of his
food into water before eating it, but, like
ali old hunters, old coon hunters say a
great many things that would bother
them to prove.-Bmg5r Industrial Jour
AaL