The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-12-09

to the coon is so close that the viva
cious little animal finds escape by
fight impossible and scales the near
est tree Then the frantic and pro-
longed notes of the dog proclaim to
the hunter, who may be some distance
away, that the game is "up" and a
coon has been ''treed." 1t the tree is
a small one so much the better. The
animal is either shaken out OF the
branches and the dog given an oppor-
tunity of testing his metal, or else the
coon is shot while in the tree and the
dog allowed in at the finish. 1t often
happens that the tree is large one,
and then the scientific part of coon
hunting is brought into requisition.
The hunter resorts to what is called
shining the coon" This is done by
placing lantern upon the head and
walking around the tree until the re-
Fiction of two small balls OF fire de-
notes the location of the game. Some
times several pairs of cleaning eyes
are revealed by the rays OF the lantern,
and then the hunter knows that the
nights work will be good one. The
explosion of heavily-charged shot
gun is the means employed to dislodge
the coon from his lofty perch, ard he
falls to the earth with substantial
thnd.
The coon is an exceedingly @leAF
animal, especially so if he be d "a
timer of the swamp" variet oM
that has encountered steel traps "
Vulnerable dogs or been file with
bird shot. He will take to ra;' fences.
cross streams, run along the fDtfoD %
shallow creeks for long distance, -----
Jump anything but q freight train
when thoroughly alarmed. If the dog
is inexperienced, the coon is usually
able to battle; his pursuers. and is safe
from furth er annoyance for the time be-
ing. But ofttimes The sagacity OF the dog
will resurrect the trail that suddenly
terminated at the creek. and the gen.
eralship of the pursuer proves him mas
ter of the situation.
A favorite haunt of the coon in Octo-
Der is in the cornfelds that skirt the
largest tracts of woodland. They visit
the cornields to feed as soon as dark
ness settles, and will sometimes 60
several miles to a favorite locality.
They are hunted for their pelts, which
NAV bring from one dollar to one dol
lar and fifty cents in the market, and
for the rare sport that it affords at this
season of the year. Not infrequently
on these expeditions the dog blunders
on to one of those odorous animals that
have large, bushy, black tails, and a
white stripe running down the back
Sometimes the acquaintance SO sudden
ly formed is of lasting nature. In this
event the faithful companion OF man in
an exciting chase is forced to abandon
his favorite rug by the fire that he has
been wont to lie and dream upon, and
finds himself securely fastened to
| large airy shed at satisfactory DIS
tance from the house. IT he is sensl-
tive and refined the dog takes the os-
tracism to which he has-been subjected
and the pronounced coldness on the
part of the family circle to heart, and
| is not again known to clark up the
wrong tree"
There are two distinctive species OF
the North American raccoon. The
California or Texas ANIMALS differ
from those found east of the Missis-
sippi river in that they have black feet.
The fur of the prairie coon of the west
| is Of lighter color than that OF his
eastern brother. This is accounted for
by the fact that all fur-bearing ami
mails have darker coats in the more
thickly timbered regions.