96 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



consisting of cornmeal mixed with lard and baked in flat 

 pans, has been used with success' by several fur farms in 

 the east and north, and this diet is said to have produced 

 animals with very fine pelts. Experiments along this line 

 should be worth trying by those interested in raising fur 

 animals in captivity. 



Treeing a 'coon at night with dog and flambeaux has 

 long been a sport in the South, and in Louisiana, especially, 

 "'cooning" has been a favorite out-of-door recreation of 

 our farmer-folk. However, with this animal's rising value 

 in the fur marts, trapping is practiced more and more. In 

 a 'coon hunt, the quarry is usually brought down from its 

 refuge in a tree top with a shotgun, and this lessens the 

 value of the skin considerably, and when a treed 'coon is 

 shaken from its perch for the dogs to finish, its coat of fur 

 is so ripped and torn by dogs' teeth as to make it practically 

 worthless. 



Although agile and expert at tree climbing, the raccoon 

 must not be considered a wholly arboreal animal, for it. 

 does not hunt its prey in the treetops, but, rather, utilizes 

 the trees as sleeping places and refuge when pursued by 

 man or other foes. With the coming of night, Brer 'Coon 

 descends from his lofty perch to search for food on the' 

 ground or capture a luckless crayfish from the edge of a 

 watery depression. Water is no hindrance to this animal, 

 for it is capable of swimming long distances and is fre- 

 quently trapped on low-lying islands in the Gulf of Mexico 

 off the Louisiana coast, miles from the mainland. 



In Louisiana the raccoon is of uniform distribution 

 throughout the state. It is as plentiful in the marshes as. 

 it is in the vast hardwood lands and the cypress and tupelo 

 swamps. The marsh animal is known to the trade as. 

 "Louisiana tide water" or "salt water" coon, and is reddish 

 or yellowish as compared to the darker inhabitants of the 

 wooded swamps. The darker raccoon brings a much better- 

 price than does the marsh animal. 



The cause of the reddish or yellowish color of the marsh 

 'coon has been attributed to a lack of shade enjoyed by the 

 swamp 'coon and most trappers securing a blackish raccoon 



