The Hartford republican., 1909-11-12
THRILLING
POSSUM HUNT.
Down in Georgia In Old
Days.
Plantation School Of Study on
How to Catch the An
imals.

IuSL dS lIt Otu PAAhNSNANNS
schools for negro minstrelsy so
they were the schools for a study
of the 'possaIms, how TO catch them,
how to cook them, and then how goo
they were to cat, says a writer in the
Atlanta Constitution. The catching
comes first, for you must catch him
before you can do the rest.
The first thing in an old-time pos
sum hunt was to prepare light wood
for torches. Whenever a negro Or
white boy, either, got out TO the wood
pile whiting fat lightwood into long
strips. the dogs knew as we'll what
was coming as the people themselves,
and a barking began that echoed
from woods to woods, and from plan
tation to plantation. While one or wv
were getting ready for the torch wood
another was at the potato bank gettin
potatoes to fill one corner of the great
old fireplace. A place was made In
the ashes for these potatoes, and here
was someone 10 take them out at the
proper time and put them on one
side to cool by the time the hunters
returned. and whoever has not tasted
of the old Georgia yam. roasted and
cooled till the sugar was cooling from
the skin. has missed something almos
as good as 'possum itself This all
accomplished, the horn is blown, the
dogs go Wild and off across the fields
the hunters start The dogs are far
ahead and At the first hedge row
this side the bottom, where wild grapes
hang and simmons have sweetened,
one of the pups "opens" and the other
scamper that way to open" too. and
the music begins. But the hunters want
better authority than pups. but soon
old Rather raises his long head and
opens with that loud, long bark.
and the hunters know the possum is
there. There was always some one
dog in pack that had the entire con
fideuce of the hunters, whenever thai
dog opened there was never
a doubt.
Old Rather lived a much longer life
taIa NOS, dogs, and through all that
lie hC hdd never fooled the hun
ters but once. We had just struck the
edge of the river bottom, and We're
mosiug up tt,. bluff to find a place
&" get down. when the pups" and all
the pack bu- old Rather, Opened" on
h.J trail. Here they wen. along tho
bluff at the edge of the bottom and
H. was music 10 delight the hunter:
but old Rat'lsa had no opened yet"
it was with uo uncertain sound, and
never q huEtr had q doubt in IN,
trd'Aiulncss u that sound. On that
trail old RattIer joined with the rest
for a full hsh mile, right up to the
Tree" The hunters hurried, as hun
ters always do. and we found they
had "lreed' - the bluff toward the
lotion and IDGsed on the tops of the
other big Tees that came up from
the bottom bIow.
The big tr~e was at such an angle
as made it t'-SF for any dog even a
}ob-tailed dog, 70 walk it, and 80 We
slcked them untii one of the pups
Went out like - stiff till he struck the
tangled tops over the bottom, and then
went down with a scramble of hun
dred 'possums to the ground below.
Another and smother and another of
The young dogs went out, but they
never returned; they went scrambling
through the htnbs to the ground. All
the negroes and some of the whites
began To- think there We're "haun.s"
around. But old Rather still had our
confidence. spd We waited on him.
Out he went. slowly and cautiously,
and We all held our breath to see If
he would meet the fate of he young
dogs. We didat have long to wait, for
pretty soon there was a greater
scramble in the tree-tops than all the
Young dogs had made together. Old
ANtNNN4NA AAtih a~hN'h NiAN AhAhof Nht'N
ever it was, and holding on like grim
deaJh, they went down through the
limbs togetha. At the bottom Old
Ratler sill held his hold till such a
bleating bega es was never heard in
a 'possum hA4 before. 1t was nothing
but Tom Esuhls billygoat-he had
butted the dogs off one by one till
old Ralller seAsed him and they went
down together. That was the only time
in the long ufe of Old Rattler that
he ever fooleda hunter.
We had aiready caught about as
many as we cared to carry and 50
we built fire W rest a while before
starting on ovr return "trip. As boys
will do, some u them began poklng
sticks at the 'possums to see them
snap. One cid fellow was unusually
vicious for 'poesum and stick after
stick was snapped like straw as Il