Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-09-13
Jimmie Cooper's
Woodchuck

Jimmy Cooper's father owns the
-four mill on the stone road, and Jimmy
Allen lives in that tiny brown house
near the mill. He and Jimmy Cooper
are great friends. .-
One day Jimmy Cooper invited jim
my Allen to help him catch a wood
chuck. #s
tits easy as anything if you know
how" explained Jimmy Cooper. tossing
a clump Of grass into the mill pond.
'sThe millman told me. He says most
woodchucks have front door and a
back door,"
ooh, know that much" interrupted
Jimmy Allen, and he, too, threw a
clump Of grass into the mill pond. His
clump Of grass went farther than
Jimmy Cooper's and made bigger cir.
cles in the water.
well, let's hear you tell what you
know" Jimmy Cooper suggested,
snatching his hat from the grass as he
spoke, and making dive at a butter
fly. The butterfly escaped.
you stop up one end of the burrow
so the woodchuck won't get out" con-
tinued Jimmy Allen, ''and pour in
water at the other end until the wood
chuck is drowned" Then he made a
dive at the butterfly with his old straw
hat, and caught it.
That's the way to capture wood.
chuck If you want it for a pet!" ex-
claimed Jimmy Cooper, watching the
quickly released butterfly float through
June sunshine.
Catch woodchuck with your hat?"
inquired Jimmy Allen.
mo. I mean catch him alive. My
fathers mill-man says that two boys
can do 1t If one boy holds basket
tight over the front door Of the bur
row. Then the other boy goes to the
back door of the burrow and builds a
fire in 1t. Pretty soon the smoke gets
so bad, Mr.. Woodchuck thinks his
kitchen stove must be smoking. But,
if he goes back through the long hall
and through his bedroom to see what is
the matter, he thinks his house is on
Are, and straight he goes to the front
door, ker-bang into the basket! 1t is
just as easy! All you have to do is,
shut down the basket tight, and there
is your pet woodchpck!"
"That is easy" agreed Jimmy Allen;
Tets try it. want to catch him in
the basket"
"S'pose you dare7" questioned
Jimmy Cooper. Sometimes wood
chucks bite" t,
Dare! who's afraid?" replied jim
my Allen. Lets get to work, because
We ought to build pen to keep him
in"
"And make him a warm little winter
house of stones and sod," added jim
my Cooper. my fathers man says
the reason woodchucks get so fat in
the summer Is because they go to
sleep in the autumn and don't wake
up until spring. I want my pet wood
chuck to be as comfortable as he
would be at home"
While the boys built the pen, with
help and advice from the miller's hired
man, they talked Of Jimmy's wood
chuck.
at will be such fun to watch him
comb his facet" exclaimed Jimmy
Cooper.
comb his facet" repeated Jimmy
Allen, in tones of establishment. .
Eyes, sir, that is what 'Johnson's Ma
tural history says. He will sit on his
hind legs like squirrel AMI lick and
smooth his fur like a cat. He will
clean and comb his face with his claws,
too It seems as if can't wait!"
When all was ready, the millers
man left his work to watch the boys
catch the woodchuck.
When Jimmy Cooper at one end of
the burrow was about to light his
match, he called to Jimmy Allen at the
other end, "Basket-bas-ket-w
OUT"
Scr-scratch went the match on a
brick, and crackle-crackle the fire be-
gan to burn.
Jimmy Allen wasn't afraid as he