1018 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



But its voice is even more serviceable to it. The queru- 

 lous ^ churr' of a captive Coon squabbling over provender is 

 familiar to all. The growl and snarl of Coons in fight are well 

 known, and the soft ' err-err-err' of a young Coon, begging for 

 food, has been heard by all who know the Coon as a pet. But 

 it has yet another note, one that has been the cause of much 

 dispute. In the black woods, on still nights, I have often heard 

 it, a long-drawn, tremulous 'ffhoo-oo-oo-oo.' This is the 

 'whicker.' It is often passed for or confounded with the call 

 of the screech owl. But I think I can tell them apart by the 

 stronger and more squally quality that characterizes the sound 

 of the quadruped; the bird's note is much softer and sweeter, 

 as well as more often uttered. 



The ideal den of this creature is some hollow branch 

 high up in a large tree that is fully exposed to the sun. But 

 Coon ideals are as scarce as those of man, and next choice is any 

 available hole in a standing tree or tall stub; failing this, it 

 will use any hollow trunk it can find, preferably standing, but 

 not to be despised when down, and it will even rest content 

 with a cranny in a clifi^. So far as I can learn, it draws the 

 line only at a hole in the ground. 



The den is not only the nursery, it is the year-round home 

 of the family. There seems little doubt that, like some other 

 species, the Coon maintains a central home-den and several 

 hunting lodges scattered in convenient proximity to favourite 

 and remote feeding grounds, each to be used as occasion seems 

 to warrant. 



All the evidence there is goes to show that the Raccoon is a 

 monogamous animal and that the male stays with the female, 

 helping to some extent in the rearing of the brood. When 

 the mating takes place is not known. The analogy of their 

 near relations, the Bears, would fix on autumn as the nuptial 

 time. Coons are undoubtedly noisier then than at any other 

 time, which is a mite of proof for autumnal mating. The fact 

 that the species hibernates is another indirect evidence, as 



