Raccoon 1017 



but this is exceptional and imposed by the absence of more 

 congenial quarters. No matter what its daytime residence is, 

 its nightly prowling is always close to the water. 



Its numbers are much greater than is commonly supposed, num 



BERS 



In 100 acres of hardwood bush, near Toronto, I got 3 Coons, 

 and had evidence of several remaining. Yet they were con- 

 sidered scarce. This woods was chiefly second growth; 

 heavy timber has proportionately more Coons. Poland's Fur 

 Trade Reports" show that for 40 years prior to 1891, 500,000 

 to 700,000 Coon skins have been marketed each year from 

 North America. As Mexican Coon fur is worthless, we can 

 see by the map that the region paying this tribute without ap- 

 parently suffering is about two-thirds of the United States, or 

 3,000,000 square miles. I reckon that an annual drain of 25 per 

 cent, is all that such a species could stand without diminishing, 

 and there is evidence that the Raccoon is rather increasing. 



Furthermore, it is probable that not more than half the 

 Coons killed are marketed in London as fur. Therefore, the 

 low annual return of 500,000 would represent an annual kill 

 of 1,000,000, and a total population of 4,000,000 in North 

 America; that is, a pair of Coons to every i^ square miles of 

 their range. A safe estimate, indeed, even though we have 

 included vast farming regions in the Middle States, where 

 the species is now exterminated. 



It is a common thing to find half-a-dozen Coons in one socia- 



BILITY 



hollow tree. It is a rare thing to find a solitary Coon. There- 

 fore, I consider the Coon a sociable animal. But they do not 

 run in bands, except as families, nor are several nests placed 

 together; therefore, they are but slightly gregarious. 



During approach, its singular black-masked face; during inter- 

 retreat, its yet more singular ringed tail, are label marks that nica 

 proclaim to friend and foe with equal emphasis that this gray 

 beast IS a Coon. 



° Fur-bearing Animals, 1892, pp. xxii-xxxiii. 



TION 



