Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-02-12
A Tree Full OF Coons and Black
Snakes.

Osm bfrctsls brofke VIM sut ~"
Knoll Of Newport. pennsylv.nis, vent
econ.hun,ins The other nigh, on Jim's
Moun,sin, says dispatch to the sun.
The dog. ueed . coon. Sam Greeley
climbed the tree 10 shake !, down. The
coon va. soon jol,ed OF the branch. and
sitsr . good fsh, the dogs killed IL.
"Hold on :" Sam shouted down.
There. another one up here Jimins,.
vl There, two. jerusalem : The tree.
iall o. EN-
Then Sam proceeded TO shake down
eoon.. After be had shaken down nine.
one sier another. AL "a, ones. and the
dog, bad killed them. Sam said
There. more up here bu, hahn, We
20, enough"
The other two members said they
though, nine coon. -ere enough TO gath
sr OF one tree. and no, . very big tree q,
that. and Sam came down.
81 don', know bow many there's up
there yet. he 'sid. "ba' there's 'iI Ger.
tain"
The dog. refused 10 leave the tree.
but the hunter, carried their nine ooons
home Ga the way they me, Bill Grow.
er and Jerry Knspp, ~ho we're also. out
oOoning. ba, h.dn', killed any.
"You nigh, =. veil 70 home" aid
Sam Greeley. "unle. you 30 over IN
Ginn'. Hollow. where we've been. All
the coon. Ia these wood. are ueed In ooe
tree over there. You'll hear the dogs
yslping q, EN- II you 10 that ~sy."
Grover and Knapp wen, over To- the
Hollow. and the noise made by the dogs
took them 10 ,he. tree.
There. coon here. that. sure said
Grover. and be climbed the tree. he
shook down slS.
There. two OF three more here.
said Grover. "bu, they're way up on The
top branches aud I can, get TO en-"
SO the tuo hunters zen, away With
their .ir eoon.. The dogs remained.
Mex, morning Charley Cradle wen, to
the Hollow with hi. gun. The dogs
we're sill under the tree. Charley pop.
ped three coon. on, Of the tree top, and
,houldered them. Then the dogs wen,
home. Everybody sbOa, Brsdy' said
,h., such . thing q. eighteen eoons be-
/ ing iouad in one tree Was ~i,hOu, pteee.
dent, and no one could understand ho-
|, vas until uncls Jake shindlsi, the
champion hunter Of f.blsy Run. got ~
and explained IL.
"Yoa'll fnd." be said. iii you take
the trouble TO Investigate. that the tree
/. boiler. Hollsr trees n where eoon'
/ live durin' the winter. ~ many ~ can
comfortably pile in together. Now them
eighteen coon. ws. lookin' fcr . winter
home. Some Of EN-, may be had nest
ed in ,h., tree before. They hsppeaed
al 10 NEE, there together sbou, the time
Greeley. dog. and the re', Of 'em struck
the tree. Why wasn't they in the boiler
Of the tree Well. II you'll take the
trouble to investigate you'll find that the
boiler bad been took up previously BY .
family or 50 Of blaeksnskes l hahn
sure. bu, I'm willing TO be, farm iha,
you'll End = couple dozen. maybe. oI
bl.ek.n.ks. huddlin' in that hollsr
Nov. coor, Amt the Kind o eriiien thai
will bunk in with snakes, and 90 then
eighteen didn', choose quarters IN thai
tree. The dog. came along IS they VA
eon.idsrin' VIA, they had better do. and
Of course, ss long /. the dogs vas ther'
no coon would leave the tree till be "a
forced to. That's ell there is TO them
eighteen coons bsin' In one tree. You'll
find H.. 90 II you take the trouble to In
vestiss,e. knocked twenty coons ou
Of . boiler chestnut once. The mex
day cut hole In the tree near the bot
tom, and liz some straw and stuck In H.
and kept the FIRE goin'. IL wasn't lons
before blaek.nakes began to come out o
the hole =, the top, and ,hrsshed th'
life ou, Of ,~en,y.eish, big one'-2oC
fee, Of bl.ek.nske. I'll bet . farm"
Sam Greeley aud the res, OF the hunt
er wen, over TO Ginn's Hollow TO ties
Uncle J.ke's theory. II any one hat
be, q farm ths, Jake VAS wrong he't
have lo., the farm. A fire built in ,h'
tree as the old hunter described made I
lively tree Of !, for . few minutes, fol
thirty. four blseksnskss came whsslin,
and comforting themselves on, Of th'
hollow trunk. and only ,wo were ssil'
enough to get away into the bushes
Af,sr the snake colony bad been elesne'
out. and the jabilan, hunters had com'
back and congratulated Uncle Jake oI
hi. knowledge Of coon and snake lore
the old hunter quietly remarked:
"oh. knew you'd fnd !, that way
you took the trouble TO investigate
Bu, you're pack Of dam.su',sd fool
for doin' IT,"
"hO~'s ,h.,r said Sam Greeley Il
surprise.
"'Cau.s. IL you'd left ,h'm snakes i
the hollsr." replied Uncle Jake. "you''
have found another wsgon.load Of coon