256 The Raccoon, 



his view. His briglii eye, however, almost invariably detected us 

 ere we could take aim at him, and he adroitly fled into a hollow 

 tree and escaped from us. 



We once met with one of these animals whilst we were travel- 

 ing on horseback from Henderson to Vincennes, on the edge of a 

 laro-e prairie in a copse, and on approaching it raa up a small 

 sapling from which we shook it off with ease ; but as soon as it 

 reached the ground it opened its mouth and made directly to- 

 wards us, and looked so fierce, that drawing a pistol from our hol- 

 sters, we shot it dead when it was only a few feet from us. 



The young are at their birth quite small, (about the size of a 

 half-grown rat ;) some that we saw in Texas were not more than 

 two days old and were kept in a barrel. They uttered a plaintive 

 cry not unlike the wail of an infant. 



The Raccoon usually produces from four to six young at a time, 

 which are generally brought forth early in May, although the 

 period of their littering varies in different latitudes. 



When the Indian corn is ripening, the Raccoons invade the fields 

 to feast on the rich milky grain, as we have just stated, and as the 

 stalks are too weak to bear the weight of these marauders, they 

 generally break them down with their fore-paws, tear off" the husks 

 from the ears, and then munch them at their leisure. During this 

 invitino- season, the Raccoon is not the only trespasser on the corn 

 fields, but various animals are attracted thither to receive their 

 portion, and even the merry school-boy shares the feast with them, 

 at the risk of paying for his indulgence by incurring the necessity 

 of a physician's prescription the next day. The havoc committed 

 in the Western States by squirrels and other animals is almost 

 incalculable, and no vigilance of the farmer can guard against the 

 depredations of these hungry intruders, which extend from farm to 

 farm, and even penetrate to those embosomed in the forests, where 

 settlements are few and far between. 



The Raccoon is not strictly a nocturnal animal ; and although 

 it generally visits the corn fields at night, sometimes feeds on the 

 o-reen corn during the day ; we have seen it thus employed during 

 the heat of summer, and it will occasionally enter a poultry house 

 at mid-day, and destroy many of the feathered inhabitants, con- 

 tentinor itself with the head and blood of the fowls it kills. 



The nest or lair of the Raccoon is usually made in the hollow 

 of some broken branch of a tree. When tamed, these animals are 

 seldom induced to lie or sleep on a layer of straw. 



