The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-01
OFFER CONNECTICUTGAME
Fat coon THAT MADE FRIENDS
WITH 4 FARMER.

prryAM, Conn, oct, 2o.-Do"h n"ss nN
and husbandmen have had many odd enoouh-
,sr, with game this fall. strolling along .ne
S"nr,rv roads in the cleaning, his hands In his
.,. whaling. a young farmer Of East
Thornson. in the extreme northeastern gable
:, Tho Nutmeg State, entered the shadow OF a
ss.d.ide wood, when q rather curlous-iooking
,nIpy animal. about rs big as . cocker spaniel,
,,snned out of the woodland brush and tagged
=, Nj. heels. In the gloom of the forest and the
J.epeuinr night IL seemed to him to be rs olack
a. is,. For half q dozen rods 1t trotted along
.nj,h him. sometimes at his side, again . pace or
,wo behiud, now and then rubbing against Ms
,,onsers leg. 1t behaved so fauoiliarly that tho
nan had no doubt he had TO do with a tramp
dog that desired TO engage him FOR o master.
M, the man recollected he had n dog At nome,
skinny by name, and that Skinny was 90
.,css.iv,Iy Jealous that very likely he would
he discharged instantly from his ohico OF boss
n be returned with a canine pickup at his
hs.l, So he advised the stranger TO got back
into the brush, whence II had come, and waved
vi. arms. But the beast paid no heed to his
command or gesture: IL halted for a moment
I'm, nresent,y trotted on as ,demurely and con-
aa,nely as ever. 1t pressed 40 closely that
anally 1t stepped on the farmers heel. an over
hold act that irritated him. He whirled about
swiftly and kicked the interloper sauarely in
Mia fat haunch. at tho Same time uttering q
varwhoop that roared through the wide wood
land, fairly startling the boot owls on their
roosts.
The outcry and the solid kick combined were
%efectual. The sable-hued animal reeled and
fell on his back in the road, but reEsined his
footing dexterously. skipped across the road
side with o very uncanine-like and wollowing
pait. leaped on the trunk Of an immense chest
.....l .liJ ta sha ton NJ IL IN N tuiDklinn.
"waal. l swan ~ said the astonished farmer,
uazinc, wide-eyed, at the performance. that's
the first dog that ever l see ehin mp trees In that
fashion"
Then An idea dawued In his head. and he set
out. post haste. across the dusky fields TO the
nearest habttation In the neighborhood. Joseph
Smiths farmhouse. joe listened gravely to the
tale Of the strange tree-climbing dog. and with
nut A word took his ouble-barrelle gun from
IT'S hooks in the kitchen. With the East Thomp-
son man for q guide. he quickly called at the
wayside chestnut and with q single charge OF
BIB shot knocked the coon off its tip-top
bough. As the beast ratified down, crashing
from bough to bough. the East Thompson mai
viewed the proceeding complaoently.
There" said he, II knew dunn we'll 1t warn't
no dog"
1t was q young coon. but full grown and very
fat, tender and Juicy. Mr.. Smith dressed It and
presented it to Simeon Smith. who, roasted 1t for
his family dinner. He pronounced II the finest
coon he had ever eaten.
1t is seldom that coons travel abroad after tho
sun is up: they prefer to lie snugly. as o rule. In
their tight homo in the hollow of q great tree.
But a young squirrel hunter. David Taft, who
had filled his bag with sixteen gray squirrels,
hunting all the forenoon in northern Connecti-
cut the other day, surprised Q handsome fellow
about midday curled In q compact tawny-col-
ored ring In the topmost fork Of q giant tree,
seventy-fve feet from the ground. Hardly
knowing what sort of game confronted him,
David nevertheless let drive q load of squirrel
shot into the lofty target, and down tumbled q
underground raccoon.
While working in his fields Charles NJ. COL
burn of Charlton. Just across the Massachu-
setts line. heard a strange uproar in the sky. and
saw o solitary wild goose plunging along as we'll
as he could high aloft with q whole flock of
crows driving at and worrying him. Tho gray
goose. evidently a straggler from q southwark
hound wedge. and about exhausted from the
,n ssxi,x and ShA 5iSsd Of and his rose enemies Tsess,e dsr
swinging tediously from side to aide to
elude them. On the other hand, the crows
straight at the big fellow. two or three at a
charge. attacking him with claws and beak.
Of a1a her .ssF Sodies in s'r rapid light nl% s'! The s0 crow ,"t. ' %srs
isquawking in a frenzy Of excitement and e1ul:
tati"n, and now and then their victim replied
not hit back al his smaller and nimbler foes.
was evidently nearly done for. So MIR. Colburn
range sSOt. lie was q fourteenepopnder; Aftsr
the goose had fallen the crows all betook them
selves h%urriedly and In alarm away from the
neigh borhOod. Instances are by no means rare
in which q pair OF kingblrds or shrikes or even
robins have attacked a marauding crow and
b%utchered him slowly in midair. peckinR him
bare oil his DiumaGe.. unless lie was wise enough
20 niiGht on the ground. where he was able to
defend himself more successfully. But crows
are born pIlftrers and robbers; they crack and
eat other birds nest eggs. and The song birds all
know 1t; Hence. the more pugnaci"us ones
never miss a chance to drub a wandering crow
numerically, They suspect he Is up to mis-
chief OF some kind always, even though he may
be on ms good behavior momentarily. But a
wild goose was never known to injure any one,
man. beast. or bird.
This heavily timbered country about the
town e East Haddam. in the middle Connecti-
cut Valley: has always been a wonderful region
i iDi s'' :Is oid ada s0G pres,i ~ SIM IN w shas rs.p sss,
.p"!tsmen coming from as far north as Hart
ford and Middletown. and as far east as Norwich
:!hanlinr them there lew day. ago Henry
Markham and Charley Curtis of East Haddam
D fSTH ~ ~aed 1t" s s s nat.s sfa,'r frina 70 a sns su sussi
mountain ridge that is the western wall Of the
lonely, wild. and romantic Hop Yard Glen. and
backsin the afternoon. when they reached the
summit OF the great slope. Curtis. who was a
pace or two in advance of his companion. was
critically eyeing the lofty treetops for signs Of
squirrels when he espied o mammoth squirrels
nest In tho topmost crotch of lordiy black
oak, eighty feet above the ground. and q brown
inrred animal IN 1t, half a dozen siZes too largo
for the ha bitation Its rounded back rose high
above the leaf-thatched roof OF the tree house;
ITS Grizzled, wrinkled. vulpine visage confronted
Them. It's cleaning eyes Watching all their
movements keenly and warily. Both men
matted abruptly. and Curtis. without . word.
raised his weapon offhand to shoot.
What Is itf" asked Markham In o half
Don't know" replied the other laconically:
coon or wildcat. | Ruess. I'm goin'tershoot to
ma out. II It's cat. yOu'll see fun"
bang. went the DreechlOader. continuing Its
owners remark, and a heavy load of No. 4 shot
~lloughed through the weazaned head in the
lreetop and solved the problem. 1t was a coon
OF the largest size. Thumpty-thump end over
eng. swaying oak boughs. bounding from branch
70 branch, down IT came. II fell at the feet of
!he delighted hunters, who had not anticipated
lhAt such n windfall would crown their modest
sonlrrel-seeking jalnt. The ex perienced sports
men readily OWNED the reason OF the racoo0n's
appearance IN the squirrels nest in the black
OAK top. He was an inveterate and daredevil
nd night prowler and confirmed r0bber. they
saw AZ glance, Furthermore. he had been trail.
ihievlng, and s~urfei,ed with ~feasting. when
u"ybreak overlook him, and no Just slipped mp
ne OAK. hoping safely to lie in its matted crown
III IA tnH. ---