The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-14
TIE RArrLEsSAkE COON DEAD.
Committed Suicide, Maybe, After Stealing
$1,000 Worth of Poultry,

EAST DEDHAM. Me-. May l2.-The rattlesnake
coon that has robbed more than fifty henroosts
and destroyed a thousand dollars worth OF
eggs and poultry In the last three years has been
caught at last In one OF Sam Houston's traps.
and the skin Ia now at a tannery being cured.
after which 1t will be made up into a fur cap.
The animal began his adventurous career in
this town In the autumn OF 1897. Green corn
was in tho milk at the time. and all
other coons we're contented to live in
the fields and woods without rIskiEg n
near approach to civilization. The rattlcsnake
coon was OF n different mind and wouldn't
look at sweet corn 80 long as there was a tough
old rooster to be had for the climbing. Be
tween Sept. l. 1907, and Jan. l. 1923. II is said
that this coon destroyed $500 worth OF poultry
in Dedham. besides making frequent raids into
Bucksport and Otis.
The raccoon is a crafty animal that sncaks
upon his prey in the dark and then slips away
without noise. The rattlcsnake coon. though
as sly as his congeners, came to his larder with
n bell ringing. as II he wished everybody to
know OF his presence. The noise was half way
between q chime and n rattle. and could be
heard for rods. Whenever he visited q hen
house the people knew all about his comings
and eoinGs. il they were awake. and though
they sat up for him with guns and hunted him
with dogs and lanterns he lodged death for
TWO years.
In the fall Of 1893 Charles Perry. a hunter Of
Bangor. introduced a novelty in coon catching.
He argued that q raccoon likes green corn bet
ter than any other food. Therefore. when the
green crop was safe in the granaries. he pro-
cured a dozen two-pound cans OF green corn.
Instead OF removing the contents with n can
sections, ~diyiding It in the way, a housewife
cuts a pie. Having removed nearly all the corn.
he turned down the six sharp points OF tin so as
TO admit q raccoon's head. and placed his traps
along the runways whore coons were known
70 travel. The plan worked well. In a week
woods carrying tin cans over their heads, and
inside OF a month the last can had fitted itself
to a coon and was on its travels. The rae
coons. being unable to see. wandered aimlessly
about and most OF them were shot or dubbed
never been seen 1t Is probable that they died OF
starvation.
While the rattlesnake coon was not identified
among the slain. everybody hoped he had
perlshed. This spring he came out early in
March and began to make assessments on the
yards gave out. he stole sucking pigs from the
barn cellars and picked up stray lambs in the
fields; His bell OF warning sounded at rare in
%tervnls.. and those who saw him as he hunted
the fields for mice said he was looking lean
when the school children went to the
woods to nick checkerberries and May
flowers and to celebrate Dewey's victory. they
found the terror OF the town dead In one Of
Sam ,Houston's. traps. As the trap had not
walls that the raccoon committed suicide.
An examination OF the body resulted in find
ing an old style sleigh bell attached to q strap
about the animals neck. A tin tag on tho
strap contained this inscription: Return to
William A. RemicE. Mariaville. Me. and get a
hRndepna rawor1 -