2QQ PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.86 



liams 1930, p. 153). Crockett mentioned that in 1825 he killed 

 four bears on one day and 105 in less than a year. During the 

 year 1820, it is reported (Williams, 1930, p. 156) that Reuben 

 Edmondson and John Bradshaw killed 85 bears in Weakley County. 

 Benjamin Porter, Jr., born June 12, 1820, at Porters Gap, is said 

 to have killed more than 100 bears in Lauderdale County during 

 his lifetime (Williams, 1930, p. 161). From Benjamin C. Miles, 

 Rhoads (1896, p. 199) learned that a bear killed in 1865 appeared 

 to be the last record for Haywood County, though bears were oc- 

 casionally killed in Lauderdale County as late as 1895. 



Family PROCYONIDAE 

 PROCYON LOTOR VARIUS Nelson and Goldman: Alabama Raccoon 



Although raccoons are still numerous in some districts in Ten- 

 nessee, they were even more plentiful when the first settlers arrived. 

 Lt. Henry Timberlake (Williams, 1927, p. 71) wrote in his journal 

 under date of January 2, 1762, that raccoons were numerous in the 

 vicinity of Tellico River, Monroe County. On March 31, 1785, an 

 act was passed by the General Assembly of the State of Franklin 

 that made lawful the payment of land taxes in pelts and other 

 specified commodities. The value of a raccoon skin was fixed at 1 

 shilling 3 pence (Ramsey, 1853, p. 297). On account of the de- 

 ranged currency and the scarcity of specie or notes of specie-paying 

 banks, the General Assembly of the State of Franklin passed an 

 act authorizing the payment of salaries to civil officers in pelts be- 

 ginning January 1, 1788. The salary of the secretary to the Gov- 

 ernor was fixed at 500 raccoon skins (Williams, 1924, p. 215). 



Five specimens from Greenbrier, Sevier County, are listed by 

 Komarek and Komarek (1938, p. 149). They report that raccoons 

 occur in the Great Smoky Mountains at all elevations but are more 

 numerous at lower altitudes. 



About 40 years ago Rhoads (1896, p. 197) stated that raccoons 

 were "excessively abundant in the bottoms of West Tennessee." Rac- 

 coons were reported in 1937 to be quite rare in Fayette County. 

 They are said to be fairly numerous, however, in the swamps along 

 the Loosahatchie River, Shelby County, and along the bottoms of 

 Obion River in Dyer and Obion Counties. Tracks were seen by 

 Perrygo and Lingebach during April 1937 along a creek in a hard- 

 wood swamp near Reelfoot Lake, Obion County. Raccoons were 

 reported (Will, 1884, p. 106) as being abundant near Savannah, 

 Hardin County, during the winter of 1883-84. Local residents near 

 Waynesboro in 1937 stated that raccoons were becoming scarcer in 

 Wayne County. A few are caught each year near Crossville. 



