Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-18
HUNTING THE COON.

have beoome extinct u the coon dog of our
fathers, says the Bangor Industrial Jour-
nal He was of no particular strain OF
blood, but he united the keen scent of the
deer-h hound with the intelligence Of the
shepherd dog, and the tenacaty of the bull
dog with the stealth of the panther. With
less accomplishments than these he might
have been good on fox or deer trail; the
lowing herd would have probably been safe
in his keeping; he might have been able to
hold his own in fight, or have stood
chance Of succeeding as sheep stealer,
but he couldn't have been a coon dog
For your coon Is cute and tricky Gus
toner, and crammed with patience More
over, he leaves behind him the coolest, most
scentless trail of any animal that runs. He
leads you through the tangled swamps and
deep, stony hollows- He crosses and re-
crosses swift running streams. He frisks
along the top Of rough stone walls as silent
and swift as shadow. He stops within
dozen feet of some convenient wall, clears
the intervening space at bound, strikes
tree and glides up the longest limb, runs to
its extremity, and leaps a dozen feet be-
yond it to the ground again, breaking his
trail abruptly on one side and beginning it
as confusingly on the other. He invents
tactics for emergencies, and brings to
every consideration of his welfare and that
of his family large and level head. He
plays his cards well and the dog that would
beat him must needs hold both bowers and
ace, with strong cards to back them.
These the coon dogs of cur fathers always
had.
There were, twenty-five years ago. the
stiil-hunting coon dog and the coon dog who
let you know at every step that he was get
ting there. There was mixed up with the
methods of the still-hunter an element of
greater certainty that you would get your
coon than there was with the more melodi-
GUS system of the dog that mouthed his
presence in the shadowy chase; but the
style of the latter put more Jingle INTO your
blood and buoyed you up with sweeter ex-
pectancy. There was something weird and
uncanny in all the turnings and windlngs
of the former through the gloomy woods at
night.
1t was different with the dog that gave
tongue as he hunted. He made music in
the night-not the silvery treble of the fox
hound, floating down from the hills on the
frosty air and drawn out in sweet cadenZa
by every willing echo, nor yet the mellow
bass of the deer hound, swelling over the
ridges, clear and far-sounding as bugle-
note, bat pleasant though staccato song Of
his own, half bark, half bay, a cheerful
mingling of melody with business.
Once in the rare old days Of coon hunting
a new preacher was settled in the back
woods district of Pike County, Ill He was
Dot wise in the way of the woods. Early in
his first autumn on his charge he began the
tod Rv
by he noticed that ON moonlight and starlit
nights his congregation was made up Of
women only. Finally he asked the reason
of this. A sister arose and said:
otis cause the coonin's bett'n it's in the
dark % the moon, Dominic. Soon ez the
moon darks the men'll jine ye."
Sure enough, when the ''rnoon darkedn
the brethren were all in their places in the
meeting house, joining heartily in the pro-
ceedings. The pastor demonstrated with
them publicly.
awhile you have been idling after coons,"
said he, ''there may have been those in this
district who do not hunt coons, 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 deestric'
eZ don't hunt coonS his soul hain't with
savin'.n
Coon hunting as a pastime went out OF
fashion with the war, and 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 as
the fox and more difficult to trail. He is,
moreover, the leanest OF animals, and eats
only the most wholesome food. He should
not be despised, surely, because he can be
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 singu-
lar enchantInent.
Even when coons are most abundant,
nine out of ten of the present generation
never see one, and few people know any
thing about them or their habits. Although
the coon prefers the vicinity of civilization
as his habitat, he plans to keep aloof from
the eyes of men, and his habits render this
an easy task. BY day be lies close in out-of-
the-way retreats, in the depths of hollow
trees or isolated crevioes and holes in the
rocks he wanders forth only at night
and although his foraging expeditions
may bring him to the very doors of the
farmers, and even within the boundary
lines of villages, he never betrays his pres
ence If more than one coon is brought II
bay in a tree they will invariably be females
or mother coon with her offspring. TIE
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 at
lacking dog or hunter until she dies.
While the female coon is social and do
nestle, the male is the reverse. He rs soil
tary, ranges entirely alone and gives nc
care or attention to family matters. If two
males meet in the woods or fields they fight
furiously and not infreQuently to the death
! The male makes his range for forage much
wider than the female does, and having III
one to look after but himself more frequent
IL escapes the hunter. In spring and sum
mer the margin of brooks and ponds and the
soft mud in Swanps and bays are thiclly
indented with the graceful footprints of tho
coon. for in these months he spends hi:
nights in catching frogs, fish, lizards, grub:
and mussels, which are then his chief sub
sistence. Later on he ranges among tht
hucllleberry and blackberry patches and
| feasts on the fruit
When the milk comes in the corn is The
coon's gala time, for he loves the tender
| succulent grains, as farmer knows TO hi!
sorrow, and great are the risks he will take
| to forage in the fields. 1t is not until tn;
! berries are gone and the corn grown tough
| In the ear that the coon begins TO lool
/ about for his winter stores. Then he lay!
I'D plentifully from the beech-nut, chestnu
! and acorn crops, and on these crops depend.