Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-01-05
A Tree Full of Coons.

A correspondent of the n, y. Sun
writes from Newport, Pa, as follows
Its rather flshy but good
Sam Greedy, George Grain, and Phil
Krell of Brady's, went hunting the
other night on Jim's Mountain,
mile distant. The dogs freed coon.
Sam Greedy climbed the tree to shake
it down. The coon was soon jOlted
off the branch, and, after a good fight
the dogs killed it.
"Hold on" Sam shouted down.
"There's another one up here. JIM
inetty! There's two! jerusalem!
The trees full of 'em!"
Then Sam proceeded to Shake down
coons. After he had shaken down
nine, one after another, all fat ones,
and the dogs had killed them. Sam
said:
"There's more up here; but hain't
we got enOugh?"
The other two members said they
thought nine co0ns were enough to
gather off of one tree, and not a very
big tree at that, and Sam came down.
81 don't know how many there's
up there yet" he said, "but there's
-iN certain"
The dogs refused to leave the tree,
but the hunters carried their nine
coons home. On the way in they
met Bill Grover and Jerry Knapp,
who We're also out cooning, but had
not killed any.
"You might as well go home,"
,aid Sam Greedy, "unless you go over
Ginn's Hollow, where we've been.
All the cOons in those woods are
freed in one tree over there. You'll
hear the dogs yelping at 'em if you
20 that way"
Grover and Knapp went over to
the Hollow, and the noise made by
the dogs took them to the tree.
"There's coon here, that's sure"
laid Grover, and he climbed the tree.
lie shook down six.
There's two or three more here"
said Grover, "but they're way up in
he top branches, and | can't get to
en-"
The two hunters went away
with their six coons. The dogs re-
manned. Next morning Charley
Cradle went to the Hollow with his
gun. The dogs were still under the
,ree. Charley popped three coons
out ofthe tree top, and shouldered
hem. Then the dogs went home.
everybody about Brady's said that
,uch thing as eighteen coons being
Ound in one tree was without prece-
lent, and no one could understand
now it was until Uncle Jake Shindler,
he champion hunter of Fabley Run,
cot up and explained it.
"You'il find,' he said, elf you take
he trouble to investigate, that the
rec is holler. Holer trees is where
looms live durin' the winter, as many
IS can comfortably pile in together
Now them eighteen CoonS was look.
N for q winter home, Some of EN-
nay be, had nCsted in that very tree
before. They happened to all NEE
here together about the time Greely's
logs and the rest Of 'em struck thu
rec. Why wasn't they in the hole
# the tree? Well if you will take
he trouble to investigate you'll fine
hat the holler had been took up pre-
viously by a family or so of blacl
snakes. hain't sure, but Pm willing
o bet a farm that you'll find Il coupl
# dozen, maybe, of black snakes hud
lin in that hOller. Now, coon
lain't the kind O critters that viii
Dunk in with snakes, and so then
Eighteen didn't choose quarters i
hat tree. The dogs came along a
hey was considerin' what they ha
letter do, and, Of course, as long a
he dogs were there no coon woul
cave the tree till he was forced t
That's all there is to them cightee
.oons bcin' in tha. one tree. You
ind it is 50 if you take tn
roublc to investigate. ! knocke