Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-12-18
ALL ABOUT RAccooNS.
rhe One Animal You Can't Catch
In Trac-

4 there is anything be knows all about
It's coons- IF any one ever told you
he trapped a coon in the woods, he told
you what never happened. Coons can't
lie trapped except in one way, and i
never found a coon hunter yet who
knew how il was done. I've made a
study CT coons from the time l was
bare foot youngster, and 1 know what
I'm talking about The old coon hun
lers OF Western Pennsylvania first put
me up to trying to trap a coon, and
tried it for years before discovered the
only way it could be done
The coon leaves the coolest scent
( behind 1t of any animal that lives. but
u carries the keenest scent in front OF
It of any animal. You may track a
coon TO his home in the crevice of some
rock, which Is a favorably retreat Tor
him You may place your trap in front
Of the hole, and disguise il as you may,
cover 1t with leaves a foot deep, if you
like, but the coon will never leave that
hole as long as that trap is there. He
will starve to death first, as L have
proved on more than one occasion. He
can smell the iron of that trap, and lie
seems TO know the danger it threatens
him with. He knows it will be death
70 leave the hole, and he prefers death
! by starvation to being trapped l have
tried iron traps and snaTes and all sorts
Of devices, but could not succeed in
! fColing one OF these wise little animals
into getting caught by me until one
/ day a Lew idea struck me. 1t ISN'T
often you see q coon in the daytime,
unless you know where to look for
them. If there is a creek in your vicin-
ity IN which crawfish are plentiful, you
will be likely to discover some eplcur-
can coon fishing for them, if you hide
at the side of the creek and keep very
quiet.
'.The coon is particularly fond of
craw fish. The way he fishes for them
is TO wade in the creek, generally going
down stream. The crawfish live under
tie stones on the bottom. The coon
feels under each stone he comes to with
his fore paws thrusting one under on
one side and the other on the other side.
IL is a comical sight TO see coon fish
| ing for crawnsh. . He keeps his head
high in the air, moving it up and down
and to and fro, his eyes evidently gaZ
ing at moth NJ, every sense seeming 10
: lie concentrated on the business beneath
the water. You can tell in a second
when lie has fastened on a crawfish, for
The expression on his face changes in
sIaLtly from the dull. vacant stare TO
one of brightness and an nation. He
draws the crawfish out OF tile water,
and, standing on his hind feet, rolls it
smartly tetween his paws. This crush
es the shell and claws of the craWfish
and makes the sweet meat more acces-
sible. The coon eats his capture with
great relish, and then begins the search
I for another one.
"Whiie watching 4 coon fishing in
/ this way one day got the new idea of
trapping for coons. / thought that by
I placing steel trap under water in the
creek where the coons did their fishing
they could be deceived and more than
[ likely caught. i tired the experiment
/ sank two traps at different places on a
fayorite crawfishing route for coors.
and the same afternoon found a coon in
each trap. And that Is the only way
you can trap a coon.
''COons are very fond of corn, and so
are squirrels. Farmers often charge
damage done TO their corn TO coons
wien it is done by squirrels, and vice
versa. There should be no misiaking
the work Of coon in a coTnfield. lie
is most wantonly destructive pest
lie will strip an ear, eat a portion of it.
tear it from the stalk and so on until
he is satisfied. lie destroys five-fold
more than he eats. Squirrels are not
one-tenth as destructive rs coons. The
| farmer may tell what kind of squirrel
has cen he'p ng himself to his corn If
/ he is obseTyant. The gray and bla
squirrel eat tie whole OF tie grain,
VIII le the saucy red squirrel nips out
the heart and throws tie rest away.
81 often heard hunters talk about
smoking cCons out OF hollow trees
where they have been located. If they
/ say they have done the smoking by bum
| ing straw or leaves ors distances of that
kind, don't belize e them. Coon hun
ters III Western Pennsylvania know 10y
long experience that there is only one
| thing the smoke of which Will force a
coon to beat a hasty retreat from his
hollow tree. You may burn leaves OF
straw TIL the COWS come home, but you
won't get your coon- You can heaI
him sneezing every little while like a
man with the hay fever, but that Is all
the effect the smoke will have on him.
If you want To get your Don by smok.
ing him out of the tree, you must take
what we call sulphur match i'll IVES
tern Pennsylvania. The coon-huntiNg
sulphur match is made by melting
down a quantity of sulphur in saucer
and saturaIing a strip of muslin a few
inches long and an inch or two wide il
it. When you run your coon into d
hollow trse all you've got to do is to
put your sulphur match at the bottom
Of the hole and light it. 1t won't lie
burning ten seconds before Mr.. Coon
will pop out of his hollow as if he'd
been shot from a catapulf, and then Il
you don't get him It's your fault.
81 never read anything about tie
habits of the coon yet that didn't s.i
that the animal lays up stores to sub
sist on during the winter, / never mel
any one who profes ell 10 know any
thing about cUons that Didn't hold the
same thing. A coon depends on stores
it collects to see it through winter, just
about rs much as the bear does, and
every body knows that the bear goes &c
sleep in his hole when the weather
drives him in, and doesn't generally
wake mp until spring. and so he can't
eat much. The coon does the SINE
thing. except that he will wake up now
and then on some fine day and take a
little stroll through the country. WheI
he goes TO his winter home he rolls him
self with his nose between his hind legs
ana very Close 10 MS naIDS, aI Iudl, anC
gives himself up to oblivion. When he
comes out in the spring he's as thin as
a shadow. I've cut down dozen oI
coon trees in the winter, and alway:
found the coons in that rolled-up Tosi
tion, with not vestige of anything tC
eat IN the hole. If a coon comes out
on a winters day and the ground is al,
covered with snow, lie viii accept tbs
inevitable and walk on the snow TO his
destination, but il the snow is IN patch.
| 90 nr tias in scatterad ar,Es the coon