The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-11-08
THE SPORTIvE COON.
IA Old-time Delaware Valley Hunt
Talks Knowingly About 1t.

said an old Delaware Valley sportsman,
and yet if you ask him what his obiec-
ton is to this much-berated animal he
can't tell you. More abundant and
more widely distributed over the Amer
lean continent than any other game
animal except, perhaps, the rabbit, il
is less frequently encountered whe1,
not hunted for than even the rarer
animals. And yet the coon prefers to
| live in the neighberhood of men. In
country totally uninhabited and wild
you may turn your best dogs loose and
you'll never run a coon upa tree. WHY,
in one little circuit of five miles on the
Callicoon creek, in Sullivan county.
one hunter killed forty coons in one
week, and another killed eight in
single night, yet if you should ask ten
persons living in that very district if
they had ever seen a wild coon they
would say no. And it is so the country
over. People generally don't know
anything about the coon, and that's
what makes me mad when hear EN-
run it down.
know a little something about
coons. | have studied them in their
haunts, in their feeding places, in their
domestic relations, everywhere and I'M
der all circumstances, and ! think
speak by the book when | talk about
coons No, l don't speak by the book
either, for have yet to read any pro-
| fessional naturalist's observations on
coons that We're satisfactory, much less
correct. Did you ever read in your
natural history that the male coon is
Surly, cross, inSOlent fellow, wander
ing about by himself, leaving his ma tie
to bring up their family all by herself?
guess not. Did any naturalist ever
set 1t down that it won't do for two old
male coons to get into the same tree
together, because if they should there
would be one Of the hottest fights any
one ever saw between four-legged ami
mails? ! think not. Yet | can tell you
that these are all facts. for I've seen
en-
In the middle states the coon seems
TO thrive the best. if we may Judge by
the size he attains there. The south
ern coon won't weigh within as much
one that grew up in New York, Penn
sylvania, or New Jersey. The coons
that are killed, as a general thing, are
the light weights. | have noticed that
particularly, and my theory of it is
that when coon gets large and heavy
it becomes a hard matter for him to
roam about much, and he feeds in
smaller range.
Why are coons so seldom seen? Well
the coon is what you might call night
hand. He stays home all day. or rather
she does, for the male coon is a rest
less chap. and if you ever see a coon on
the tramp in the day time YOU can set
it down that it is a male The home of
the coon is in the snug hollow of some
good-sized tree, or perhaps cave in
some high and safe hillside, where by
no possibility any random rover, either
dog or hunter, will ever stray. Then
the coon never makes any more noise
than rabbit does, and was never vet
betrayed by u sound. In the summer
nights he steals to the brooks and the
Swamps and marshes for fish, frogs,
mussels snails, grubs and lizards, fish
ing with great deXterity, and digging
with unerring instinct for insects that
live under the soft earth. The coon is
particularly fond of crawtish The
wav he fishes for them is to wade in
the creek. generally going down stream
The crawhSh live under the stones on
the bottom. With his forepaws the
coon feels under each stone he comes
to, thrusting one paw under one side
, and the other at the opposite side. 1t
is a comical sight to see a coon fishing
for craWtish. He keeps his head high
in air, moving it up and down and to
and fro, his eyes evidently gazing at
nothing, every sense seeming to be
concentrated on the business lHneath
the water. You can tell instantly when
the coon has fastened upon a crawfish,
for the expression on his face changes
at once from the dull. vacant stare to
one of brightness and animation He
draws the crawfish out of the water,
and, standing on his hind feet, rolls it
smartly between his paws This brushes
the shell and claws of the crawfish.
and makes the sweet meat more ac-
ceptable. The coon eats his capture
with great relish, then begins the
search for another one.
When the green corn is tender and
in the milk, every night will find the
coon diligently at work diminishing
the farmers crop. Later on. when the
barbcrries and marsh cranberries are
in season, the coon seeks the spot where
/ they may be found and feasts and
grows fat. And he loves grapes. The
coon will soon strip vine of its clus-
tiers. eating the grapes just as a person
does, squeezing out the luscious pulp
and dropping the skins on the ground
In eating the coon piles the skins in
little conical mounds beneath the
vines. so that there need never be any
doubt as to what sort of robber has
been at the vines. In September Octo-
Der and the later months beechnuts,
chestnutS and acOrns become the food
of the coon.
At the first blast of winter the busy
| little animal betakes itself to its snug
hollow in the tree or other nest it has
provided. and, if the stock of fall food
has been plentiful and good. will sleep
without a care until thawing weather
sets in with the approaching spring
If the coon has had to turn in for the
1 winter without having had a sufficient