Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-31
V,HE PRESENT SEASON OF THE YEAR

oelcious persimmon drops by the roadside.
1t is the season when the,psrtridge and the rab-
bit are hunted; but, best thing Of all, it is the
time when the enterprising sportsman goes in
pursuit Of tho crafty, elusive raccoon. STAR
reporter has heard SO much about raccoon
hunting ecently that he went on one last week
and made q practical investigation Of the
habits Of coons and coon hunters. First Of
all he discovered what the animal is like,
and he had some difficulty In doing 30. He
won't to a local sport who is supposed to know
everything.
"What is q raccoon2" he said.
Don know no such animal" was the reply.
But yOu are said to be great hunter of
"No, sab; never done SO, sab, but Of you
means de coon, why, dats dif'rent"
THE COON AND HIS HABITS
30 before proceeding any further it is just as
well to drop all affectation and call the animal
the coon. The coon, them is wild animal that
lives in the woods by night and evaporates in
the daytime. He lives on corn beans and any
thing else he fancies-that is to say, he is sup
posed to like corn and beans, but nobody ever
saw him at q meal. He likes cold weather and
leads a very malarial life, but has such thick
coat of fur that he never has chills and fever.
He makes things even by giving malaria to the
people who hunt him. You will find raccoons
In the dictionary and coons in geological gar
dens, but if you think you will find the
latter by hunting for them in the woods
you are mistaken. Nevertheless there are
wsll-authenticated instances on record of coons
having been found in the woods. Coons are
said to be good to eat and the experiment of
eating thirty coons in thirty consecutive days
would be more interesting than the same feat
with quail; but it can never be tried, as it is
doubtful whether there are thirty coons in all
America. The coon must not be confounded
with the opossum. The skin of the former is
used to make local waistcoats and hats, but an
opossum's skin is used as an ornament to the
exterior of the log cabins Of the rural negro
population. Tho opossum is a more plebeian
animal than the coon, but he in turn
must not be COMPOUNDED with the Wild
cat. The latter fights and scratches and
dies hard, but the 'possum-let US be
natural and call him affectionately by the
name that is always applied to him-throws
up the sponge at the first assault and pretends
to be very sick, but he Is not really so badly
Of as he appears TO be and this is doubtless
why he is called 'possum, since he is con-
stantly playing possum." Coons and possums
are usually hunted at the same time. The dogs
which are said to be able to catch coon some
times actually tree possum. and the hunts
man prefers to carry one home rather than to
get nothing at all 'POssums are fat, comfort
able fellows and are supposed to be particularly
fond sof persimmons, and colored people are
THE SONG OF THE HUNTER.
When a party starts out to hunt coons and
'possums it is proper for them to sing the fol-
lowing chorus:
'Possum in de gum tree.
Coon. he in de hoiler;
Colored man he cotch i'm
And git q half dollar
Not that the song is exactly correct always, for
q possum may be in the hollow of the woods
and a coon may crawl up gum tree. and it is
not often that either is caught or that the half
dollar is forthcoming in the event of a capture.
The fun Of catching coor is said to be sim
ply tremendous, but there is nobody in WASH
ington, Maryland or Virginia who can con-
scientiously lay his hand upon his heart and saw
he ever caught coon. STILL it is well to re-
peat, coOns have been caught, and there are
coons in the woods, just as there are undoubt-
eddy serpents in the sea, although you may be
pardoned sometimes for questioning the Gre
dulity OF the person who says he has seen either
a sea serpent or a wild coon. But the fact that
coons are not usually Caught does not detract
materially from the pleasure of hunting them,
Tor nobody really expects to get one. Coons
must be hunted in cold fall weather, though
why, when the results Of the hunt are consid-
cred, they should not be hunted in midsummer
or midwinter just AZ well, is hard to say, ex-
cept that, just as sea serpents are said to ap-
pear about August. SO are coons supposed to
be most plentiful in the fall of the year
An invitation coon hunt must be preceded
and followed by supper The latter should
consist OF game, OF course, and everybody
should eat all they can. because thisis the great
event OF the evening, and if anything should hap
pen to you, as for instance a cold or a sprained
ankle, you can declare it was caused by the
supper and not by the tramp through the
woods. 1t Is your cue, Of course, to protest
that you never get tired that you are good for
twenty miles at least and that you would like
to hunt coons every night.
COMPOSITION OF THE HUNTING PARTY.
The hunting party as it starts forth usually
consists of the following persons: Ono man
who is giving the hunt and who pretends to
know all about it, and to have captured hun
dreds OF coons at different times. He is &C.
companied by his son, aged sixteen, who has
outgrown his belief in santa Claus, but still be-
heves in his father and in the existence of wild
coonA There are three or four young fellows
who have come out to the hunt from the city. 1t
goes without saying that one Of them is chronic
joker, and keeps up IRE of cheap wit until he
is stopped by physical exhaustion. Another
one plays the banjo and sings to the coons. and
there are couple of others who don't appear to
be certain that they are enjoying themselves.
There are two or three young ladies in
the party who 60 because they think it
is picturesque. and whose notions of a
coon range anywhere between an animal
the size OF field mouse and q hippopotamus.
There is a child in the party, too, taken because
II wanted to go. 1t soon gets tired and tho
young fellows take turns in ''toting" it. Be-
sides these the colorcd huntsmen and their
dogs The more ragged the former and the
leaner the latter the better. The huntsmen
carry axes to chop down trees when there are
supposed to be coons in them, and large potato
sacks to carry the game home in. The capacity
OF these sacks is generally sufficient for the
transportation OF about seventy-five coons but
the results Of the hunt are usually diffuscd
through the human system in the form Of colds
and chills.
THE COON DOGS.
The dogs that accompany the party are Of
the variety known as 'yaller dawgs' or ''coon
dawgs" II there is an Englshman in the
party he calls them simply 1.-The dargs." 1t is
the duty Of these ''dawgs" to go yelping through
the woods to keep up the excitement Some
times particularly clever ''darg' will stop
under tree and looking up at some dim object
raise such an unearthly howl as to awaken the
admiration OF the whole party. Then comes
great excitement and hurting Of sticks at nm old
hornets nest. There are several lanterns in the
assemblage and sometimes they carry torches,
and these are what produce the picturesque eff
feet that the ladies' of the party admire SO much.
After the dog and the people have discovered
their mistake about the hornets nest they pro-
coed on their, way with the feeling that they
The dog rests upon his laurels and his launches
down to work and walks, and walks, and walks,
through underbrush, over stumps, up the
mountains and through the valleys, sometimes
on n narrow pathWay bux lisuallv whera the ~