Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-27

"Whoop; wh-oo-ooh- pee; put i'm UP.
boy"
What fortunate one who ever enjoyed
varmint hunt In his life does not fondly'
recall the musical encouragement to the
varmipt dogs from the powerful lungs Of
varmint hunt1n' master. waited out on
the stiffness of crisp autumn night?
For varmint huntin' is for him who loves
the deepness Of the sky by night. the
whispering wind as 1t searches out the
recesses Of the forest, the rolling banks
Of foaming clouds. and now and then just
peep Of a young moon. It is for him
who knows and loves the picturesque
habits and the fascinating pursuit Of
those two ramblers Of the nighttime pos
sum and the coon.
Widely distributed animals are Mr. Pos
sum and Mr.. Coon. and much has been
written in verse ana prose, much re-
lated about the cory ire on winters
night. of the possumin' OF possum and
the cunning Of coon. Varmint hunters
everywhere love the sport above all 9TH
ers and place it above all else in the
realm OF actual enjoyment. He is
quaint character. is the yarmint hunter.
with many superstitions and theories.
His pal and his pride Is his yarmint dog.
There are varmint hunters and varmint
hunters. but the anaintest Of them all
without doubt Is the old-tinie darby in
the cabin In the hollow, where picka
ninnies roll about the door and varmint
dogs bask In the sun. Every such cabin
has from two to six yarmint dogs.
Il X
You do not know the accomplishments
of those CANNES. The old man does, for
have they
Shaking Postum Down not freed
Is No Easy Task. e eu
trees in the bottom. put up many coon
in the biggest oaks in the forest? Near
ly always a possum is found in small
or medium sized tree, and always just
as far out on limb as he can get. In
fact, one of the supreme Joys Of pos
sum hunt consists in shaking him out. 1t
requires skill, too. for it Is not an easy
task to keep from falling out Of a tree
hardly large enough to sustain ones
weight and shake a possum all at the
same time. The limb should be swung
as far in each direction as possible In
order to give the greatest momentum TO
the body of the marsupial. and with each
forward and backward movement quick
jerk should be given. Many a time It
looks as though he never will let go ms
hold. for with all four legs and n his !; long
no easy job to get him loose. some
times the varmint hunter finds it neces-
sary to twist him out. This Is a trick
employed in rabbit hunting as well, ex-
cept the stick is longer. It has the same
fork at the smaller end, however, and
it does the work. There is a tradition
among possum hunters that the animal
is ticklish. Any way. he will not stand
H~xr do ~ a
stick revolving among his vitals. and, let
ting go all holds, down he comes among
the waiting company OF varmint dogs
and yarmint hunters =,
every varmint hunter as we'll, for II pos
sible Mr.. Possum must be taken alive.
Few Of them will fight a dog with any
degree of success. Many Iossum hunters
take the quarry home and feed 1t Tor
days, till they are ready to have roast
possum with Sweet taters'' on the side.
No amount OF noise seems to perturb 2
possum in search of food and many q
jolly party. never pausing a moment IN
merry conversation, is successful in quest
coon. He who would put Brer Coon up
a tree must employ stealth and cunning.
/ A coon will always fool the uninitfated
Fat and lazy-looking. he thinks no.hing
and hitting up fast clip for three or
four miles Time and again he will elude
pursuit altogether, for the coon takes
to the water to throw Off the scent, Will
back-track. run up tree and across
branches. and then down again to the
ground. One Of his favorite and remark
able stunts is that Of tapping e tree.
which means he win run up q trunk *, q
space, and continue his journey. This
trick will fool many a coon dog. for 1t
leaves gap in the trail that Is hard for
any but an experienced varmint dog to
explain.
4
1t must be surprise party to handle
coon. He must be put up the first tree
he reaches, il
Cunning Is Required the dog can ac-
to Catch a Coon. tsan aan, -, d the
fun. It's a dark night always, for dark
, nights are best for varmints, and the first
thing Is to locate Mr.. Coon. It is not way
| out on a swinging limb this fellow will
be found. but high up the big tree be-