The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-11-25
HUNTING THE RACCOON.
Exciting Sport IN the Fall on the
Western Reserve.


AIlu tilc SSdSOu AOI IdCCOOA AuAVAAes "a
'cooring," as it is more often called,
has arrived, wiGh It's attendant scenes
of sport and excitement He who has
never experienced the pleasures Incl
dent to night in the woods with
trained coon dog during the month
of October can only learn what he has
missed by enjoying such an outing at
the earliest opportunity. says the
Cleveland Leader.
To hunt the raccoon at night with
success, trained dog is Indispensable;
for the scent, disposition and coon"
education of the dog are directly re-
sponsible for the number of pelts
which are brought in at sometimes
early hour in the morning, In the Sc
lection of dog for the sport it is not
best to choose hound. as the ability
and persistence of these dogs in ''giv-
ing tongue" warn the raccoon OF his
danger and give that crafty little
animal ample time to seek safe seclu-
sion in the hollow of some large tree.
which size and value prevents the
hunter from cutting down. If the
dogs education has been neglected.
and he manifests an inclination to-
follow the trail of ra bbits rather than
that of the raccoon. the hunter will
not be likely to carry anything home
further than the renem brance of
midnight ramble in the woods.
However, many dogs about whose
ancestry there clusters an imperish-
able halo of mystery, develop into re-
marlx:ble "coon" dogs. Some Of them
are very keen-scented, and will follow
the trail of a raccoon over the ground
where the scent of rabbits and other
animals is encountered every few
yards. A wcll-trained dog will take
large circles and skirt along the edge
of woods that border corn-felds, never
''giving tongue until their approach
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." If 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 a large one,
and then the scientific part of coon
hunting is brought into requisition.
The hunter resorts to what IS called
1Th,, ic If,na byy
placing lantern upon the head and
walking around the tree ustil 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 a good one. The
explosion of heavily shot
gun is the>means employed to dislodge
the coon from his lofty perch, and he
falls to the earth with a. substantial
thud.
The coon is an exceedingly tricky
animal, especially so if he be an old
timer of the swamp" variety -one
that has encountered steel traps or in
Vulnerable dogsfor been filled with
bird shot. He will take to rail fences,
cross streams, run along the bottom of
shallow creeks for long distances, and
jump anything but 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 cornfields to feed as soon as dark
ness settles, and will sometimes go
several miles to favorite locality.
They are hunted for their pelts, which
may 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 blnnders
on to one of those odorous animals that
have large, bushy, black tails, and G
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 il
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
lance from the house. If he is sensi-
tive and refined the dog takes the os-
tracism to which he has been subjected
and the pronounced GOODNESS on the
part of the family circle to heart, and
is not again known to bark 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 furbearing AMI
mails have darker coats in the more
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