Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-01-17
THINGS ABOUT RACCOONS.
a CRAFTY ANIMAL VERY DIFF.
CULT TO CATCH.
The Trap Must be Isaitcd md Sunk
III tho Watcr-Smoktng..II Him Out
His Winter Habits.

hind it of any animal that lives" said m
oiu western Pennsylvania trappcr to ,
correspondent of the New York Sun
"but 1t carries the kccncst scent in from
oil 1t OF any animal. You may track
coon to his home i'll the crcvicc of somt
rock, which is favoritc retreat for him
You may place your trap in front of tho
hole, and disguise it ns you may, cover II
with leaves II foot deep, il you like, bui
that coon will never leave that holc as
long MS that trap is there. lie nil
starvc to tlcnth first, ms have proved on
more than one occasion. lie can smell
the iron OF that trap, and he seems &c
Know tile danger il threatens him with.
lie knows il will be death TO leave the
hole, and he prefers death 10y starvation
to being trapped. have tried iron
traps and snnres and all sorts of devices,
nut could not succeed in fooling one of
these wise little animals into getting
caught by me until one day II new idea
struck me. II isn't often YOU sec "A coon
Ill The daytime, unlcs, you know where
To look for them. If there is II creek in
your vicinity in which cmw.lish nrc
plentiful, you will be likely to discover
some cpicurcan coon fishing for them. II
you hide at the side of the creek and
keep very quiet.
Tho coon is particularly fond of craw-
fish. The way he fishes for them is 10
wade in tho creek, generally going down
| stream. The crawiish live under the
stones on the bottom. The coon feels un
der each stone hc comes to with his fore
paws, thrnsting one under on one side and
the other on the other side II is II conf.
cal sight to see coon fishing for craw
fish. He keeps his head high in tho mir,
moving it up and down and to and fro,
his eyes evidently gazing at nothing,
every sense seeming to be concentrated on
the business beneath the water. You cnn
tell in II second when he has fastened on
n crawfish, for the expression on his face
changes Instantly from the dull, vacant
stare to one Of brightness and animation.
lie draws the crawsl out Of tho water.
and, standing on his hind feet, rolls it
smnrtiy between his paws. This crrslcs
the shell and claws of the crawlisl,, nnd
makes the sweet meat moro accessible.
The coon cats his capture with great rel
ish, and then begins the search for another
! one.
"Wfiilc watching 81 coon fishing in this
way one day goi The new i,lca Of tran.
! ping for codsls | thought Tint BY plnc-
ing steel trap under the water in the
creek where coons did their fishing they
could he deceived, and more than likely
caught. | tried the experiment. sank
two traps at different places on favot1ic
crawlishinG route for coons, and the same
afternoon found II coonin each trap. And
that is the only way you can trap Il coon.
"Coons are very fond OF corn, and so
nrc squirrels. Farmers often charge
damage done TO their corn To coons when
IL Ii the work Of squirrels, and vice
vcrsa There should be no misinkin"
the work OF Il coon in n cornticil. He is
n most wantonly destructive pest. lie
will strip I'M ear, eat portion of il, tear
ii from the stalk, and so Oh until he is
satisfied. He destroys iivcfold more linn
he eats. Squirrels are not onc-tcnth ms
destructive as coons. The farmer may
tc. what kind OF squirrel has been HELM
ing himself to his corn if he is obserynnt.
The gray and blacll squirrel cni the whole
OF the grain, while the saucy little red
squirrel nips ont the heart and throws
the rest away.
"l often hear hunters talk about
smoking coons out OF hollow frees where
they have been located. If they say they
have done the smoking by burning straw
or leaves or substances of that kind. |
don't believe them. Coon hunters in
western Pennsylvania know by long cx
pcricncc that there is only one thing. the
Gtnnl.n Of .p1,,,,l
retreat 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 sncczing every little while
like n man with the hay fever, but that
is all the effect the smoke will hive on
him. II you want to get your coon by
smoking him out of the tree, You must
take what we call a sulphur match over
i'll western Pennsylvania. The coon
hunting sulphur match is made by melt
ing down u quantity of sulphur in a
saucer and saturating n strip Of muslin n
few inches long and an inch or two wide
Ill It, When you run your coon into n
hollow tree all you've got to do is 10 put
your sulphur match ut the bottom of the
hole and light it. 1t won't be burning
ten seconds before Mr.. Coon will pop out
OF his hollow rs if he'd been shot from n
catapult and then if you don't get him
it's your fault.
"i never read anything about the
habits of the coon yet that didn't say
that the animal lays up stores TO subsist
on during the winter, and 1 never met
anybody who profcsscd to know any.
thing about coons that didn't hold the
same thing. A coon depends on stores
it collects to see it through winter just
about as much rs 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 cat much.
The coon does the same thing, except
that he will wake up now and then on
some fine day and take little stroll
through the country. When he goes to
his winter home he rolls himself with his
nose bctwcnn his hind lo,,, o,,1 .o.