The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-09-16
MY FRIEND CARLO.
Il - y
A STORY OF ANIMAL
SAGACITY.
the fact tina.
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NOTWITHSTANDING the TACT ina.
dogs have been written of 50 vol
%uminously. | venture to offer an abso-
lutely authentic sketch of n who's"
transcendant merits while in life well
deserve such recognition.
TO give Il detailed count OF this
noble creatures extraordinary doings
would fill u large volume; therefore |
will conine myself to recording a few
of those which | deem the most notable.
Early in the spring of 1888, when !
was nine years old and living in the
township of Toronto, Canada, my father
bought from the six Nations" Indians.
then occupying a reservation on the
river Credit. eight miles from our farm.
a dog, whom, in honor of a deceased
predecessor. we named Carlo. Thisani-
nal was said to be then two years Old.
He weighed, perhaps, so pounds, and
was not& particularly prepossessing in
appearance. being of a mixed reddish
color, with an unusually large head.
dropping ears, tremendously powerful
laws and a tail no more than ten inches
long. That member had never been
locked, however, but was an heredl-
tary popularity, az was amply proven by
the fact that many of Carlos progeny,
which. afterawhile, becamcquite numer
Gus in our neighborhood, were brought
forth with precisely similar tails-t
very strange, and so far as my observa-
ton goes, quite unique circumstances.
l have known hundreds of dogs born
with only rudimentary tails. but never,
except in this instance, of any THAI
came into the world with one apparent
~ cut off in the middle.
At first none of us thought much OF
Ca,lo; but it was not long before We
discovered his value, and to me he soon
became a constant companion, play
mate, protector and friend. Little by
little, as his good qualities were re-
yealed, we found that his sagacity was
wonderful and his courage and faith
fitness beyond all praise. Not only in
one role did he excel, but as watchdog,
hunter. retriever. cattle driver and
sheep herd he was perfection itself. He
feared no living thing, and would, on
occasion, tackle a bear, wolf or lynx
as readily as a deer, fox or rabbit.
OF course he could not, unaided, kill
n fu%ll-grown bear nor an adult wolf.
but would often harass and detain n
o. the other until the pursuing hunter
got near enough to shoot it; but he did
eunr ,g.,. 4, t,,rif,r Hnhf hill n llrrl
lynx, an animal so formidable that not
one dog in n thousand will face it.
4. curious popularity of Carlos was
that although the game he was at the
moment chasing might never have beer
sighted by the listener. any such,
thoroughly familiar with him. could al
WAYS tell OF what kind it was merely bv
tho dogs manner of baying. and also
whether the scent was fresh or stale.
He had one style of bark for a deer. an
other for a bear. another for a wolf and
etill another for q fox. a wildcat, a rae
coon or what not.
He was the very best coon dog !
ever saw or heard of, and would kill
one of these mischicvous creatures.
however large and fierce, in less than
five minutes after coming up with 1t.
The raccoon always throws itself upon
it's back when fighting, and. instead OF
skirmishing around, swapping at AMI
tearing the skin as ordinary dogs do,
Carlo would instantly seize it by the
throat and never let go until 1t was
dead. thus not damaging the pelt at all.
Between the ages of II and II years
coon hunting by night was one of my
favorite sports, and when following
Carlo his voice always told me as plain
ly as by ~artictlate speech whether he
was running on hot scent, had caught
his quarry on the ground or had treed
1t. In the latter case my comrade and
I would build a fire and chop down the
tree, whose top could scarcely crash to
the earth before Carlo would have the
coon. Never orce did he let one escape
70 another tree.
Altogether, aside from the fact that
their skins were worth In the proper
season so cents each, it was very neces-
snry to destroy these obnoxious though
interesting animals. as they wrought
SAL havoc among the green corn and
oats and not infrequently carried of
outlying young ducks and chickens.
1t was a singular idiosyncrasy OF Car.
los that, although born among and
brought up by Indians, he would never
after coming into cur possession. let
one OF this race approach the house
without showing the most violent an
ger, and II the red man still persisted
he would seize some part Of his dress
and prevent his farther advance unit
some member of the family intcrfered
4t1E