, 1889-12-08
ALL ABOUT RACCOONS.
ONE OF THE ANIMALS YOU CAN'T
CATCH IN A TRAP OUT OF WATER.

Especially the Long Fast.
"Did you ever hear any one say he had
trapped a coon?" said P. b. Eyler, of
Pittsburg, who has been spending a few
days on Lake Keuka, and says that if
there is anything he knows all about it's
coons. "If any one ever told you he
trapped a coon in the woods he told what
never happened. Coons can't be trapped
except in n way. and 1 never found a
coon hunter yet who knew how it was
done.
The coon leaves the coolest scent be-
hind it of any animal that lives, but it
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 favorite retreat for him. You
ma place your trap in front of the hole,
and disguise it as you may, cover it with
leaves a foot deep, if you like. but that
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 he seems to know
the danger it threatens him with. He
knows it will be death to leave the hole,
and he prefers death by starvation 10
being trapped. 1 have tried iron traps
and snares and all sorts of devices, but
could not succeed in fooling one of these
wise little animals into getting caught
by me, until one day a new idea struck
me. 1t isn't often you see a coo in the
daytime, unless you know where to look
for them. If there is a creek in your
vicinity in which crawfish are plentiful,
YOU will be likely to discover some cpl
curean coon fishing for them, il you hide
at the side of the creek and keep very
quiet.
The coon is particularly fond of
crawfish. The way he fishes for them is
to wade in the creek, generally going
down the stream. The crawfsh live un-
der the stones on the bottom. The coon
feels under zach stone he comes to with
his fore paws, thrusting one under on
one side and the other on the other side.
1t is a comical sight to see a coon fishing
ior crawfish. He keeps his head high in
the air, moving it up and down and to
and fro, his eyes evidently gazing at
nothing, every sense seeming to be con-
centrated on the business beneath the
water. You can tell in a second when
he has fastened on a crawfish, for the ex-
preston on his face changes instantly
from the dull, vacant stare to one of
brightness and animation. He draws
the crawfish out of the water, and, stand
ing on his hind feet, rolls it smartly be-
tween his paws. This brushes the shell
and claws of the crawfish, and makes
the sweet meat more accessible. The
coon eats his capture with great relish,
and then begins the search for another
one.
While watching a coon fishing in this
way one day / got the new idea of trap
ping for coons. 1 thought that by plac-
ing a steel trap under the water in the
creek where coons did their fishing they
could be deceived, and more than likely
caught. l tried the experiment sank
two traps at different places on a favorite
crawishing route for coons, and the
same afternoon found a coon in each
trap. And that is the only way you can
trap a
/ often hear hunters talk about smok-
ing coons out of hollow trees where they
have been located. If they say they have
done the smoking by burning straw or
leaves or substances of that kind, l don't
believe them. Coon hunters in western
Pennsylvania know by long experience
that there is only n thing, the smoke
of which will force a coon to beat a re-
treat from his hollow tree. You may
burn leaves or straw till the COWS come
home, but you won't get your coon. You
can hear 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 coon by
smoking him out of the tree, you must
take what we call a sulphur match over
in western Pennsylvania. The coon
hunting sulphur match is made by melt
ing down a quantity OF sulphur in a
saucer and saturating n strip of muslin a
few inches long and an inch or two wide
in it. When you run your o into n
hollow tree all you've got to do is to put
your sulphur match at the bottom of the
hole and light it. 1t won't be burning
ten seconds before Mr.. Coon will pop out
of his hollow as if he'd been shot from a
catapult, and then if you don't get him
it's your fault.
l never read anything about the habits
of the coon yet that didn't say that the
animal lays up stores to subsist on dur
ing the winter, and l never met anybody
who professed to know anything about
coons that didn't hold the same thing.
a coo depends on stores it collects to
see it through winter just about as much
as the bear does, and everybody knows
that the bear goes to sleep in his hole
when the weather drives him in, and
doesn't generally wake up until spring,
and so he can't eat much. The coon
does the same thing, except that he will
wake up now and then on some fine day
and take a little stroll through the coun-
try. When he goes to his winter home
he rolls himself with his nose between
his hind legs, and very close to his hams,
at that, and gives himself up to oblivion.
When he comes out in the spring he's as
thin as a shadow. I've cut down dozens
of coon trees in the winter, and always
found the coons in that rolled up posi-
ton, with not a vestige of anything to
eat in the hole. If a coon comes out on
a winters day and the ground is all COW
cred with snow, he will accept the inev-
table and walk on the snow to his desti-
nation, but if the snow is in patches, or
lies in scattered banks, the coon will fol-