The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-11-18
Coon Hunting.


(From Country Life in America1
Peculiarly a November sport, though
often il has its beginning in October
is the pursuit of Brown Coon. You
who have never followed a coon in the
dead watches Of the night take you
~straightway into the circle of your
companicnship the owner OF a coon
dog. A coon dog is born, no made.
Usually he is a mongrel, with a bit Of
the bull n a bit OF the hound I'm him.
Rabbit and fox he will have none of,
put n scent of a raccoon loosens his
tongue to the full cry. It is q weird
sensation, the first coon hunt. With a
shot u in the party, a revolver or
two, and every mar supplied with a
lantern and plenty of matches, you en-
dog IS loosed and swallowed up in dark
ness the instant he crosses the mar
row circle Of your lantern light. Silent
you sit or an old log, for a woodland
at night is not conducive to a freeing
of the tongue. The stiffness, unbroken
save for the occasional rustling of
leaves or impatient snuf b%etraying the
whereabouts Of the dog, enters your
very soul There is a peculiar sense of
loneliness, a consciousness of being but
walls you in on all sides, impenetrable.
Only above is it broken, and there i'm
measurable distance reaches UP to the
cold twinkling points of light in a frosty
November sky. Suddenly out of the
darkness rises a weird sound mean
nily suggestive of a little lost child cry
Ing in the wilderness. Then the dog,
unravelling a trail, suddenly gives
tongue, and the music Of the hunt rolls
through the woodland aisles.
Now he circles toward o and now
he starts straight away at a pace
which demands that you follow.
Straight into the blackness beyond
you plunge. The yellow CLEANS of the
lantern hardly show the way ten feet
ahead. Down through the swamp and
the laurel tangles leads the chase; at
times, so thick becomes the laurel that
hands and knees seem the only method
of progress. a ruffed grouse, aroused
from it's slumber. springs up, with a
Fush of wings, in your very face. Start
ling enough by daylight are these
swift-winged flyers. but when without
warning, out of the blackness, brush
Ing your very face, they speed into the
might, IL SlNNS Liz S-oulSSl lHSdIl a
mighty jump. Fainter and fainter
sounds the music Of h dog. 1t is a
mad race now, over moldering tree
trunks, through swampy patches, up
over the ridges, through the old chest
nut grove n down into the hollow be-
yond. 1t is Zach one for himself, for
each would fain be first in when the
game is freed. Listen! From over yon-
der hill comes a new note. There is
less of music in it but there is a steady
purpose which tells it's w story. The
game is freed. What will it be-a vet
eran old chestnut rotted at the TOP
which will necessitate the smoking Out
of Mr.. Coon; a big pine without a linn
for fifty feet, which will necessitate a
climbing-irons; or VIII it be an easy
tree, from which Mr. Coor can be
shaken without difficulty?
1t was exciting before; it Is doubly
so now. You forget the lack of breath
the scratches from the brambles, the
tumbles over hidden roots. Listen,
Steadily, increasingly, the dog barks
No danger of Mr.. Coon slipping ou'
now. He is freed, and old Bob pro.
poses to see that he stays freed. There
he is at the foot of yonder chestnut
looking up into the towering branche.
and impatiently scratching at the bas,
Of the tree. A flash from the Lantern
On U1e rOuSn park ShOWS the CLAW
marks which proclaim hat old Bob ha!
made no mistake. Now for the climb
ingrirons and a long string to lowe
for the lantern. That tree would be
"phaser" by daylight; in the dark Their
is no thought Of it's height or size. u
you go, looking along each branch a
you come to it. Somewhere, unless
perchance, the willy animal has leape'
to a neighboring tree he is hiding clos
against the rough bark. There, clea
at the top, You see him in the lash o
the lantern. Now for the revolver an
a good eye Old Bob, at the foot of tn
tree, knows as well as you what tina
sharp, ringing shot in the tree-to
means, Inc alert and ready, he pounce
on the heavy body that falls at hi
feet.
So the night wanes. Now a coon i
lost on the ridges. Again, one is start
led at his fishing or jumped in a border
ing apple orchard. 1t is rough WORK
vigorous work, at times exciting work
and always the game is worth tn
candle. tt e long tramping.
means barked shins and scratche,
faces, torn clothes and broken shoes
but it is an experience not soon forgot
ten; n last, but by no means tn
least, there is a supper at which
king might dine.