10^20 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



good hold of the back of his neck, and placing him between her 

 fore-legs, so that he, too, could climb, she marched him up the 

 tree and into the hollow." 



Whether the parents ever bring home food to the young 

 is not known. 



In mid-June, about Toronto, 1 found the young still 

 suckling. 



In |uly the young begin to accompany their mother, or 

 possil)ly both jnirents, in nightly excursions to the edges of 

 swamps and streams where they learn the rudiments of frog- 

 hunting, crayhsh catching, and many other pursuits that make 

 their life. 



In August — the Green-corn Moon — the mother Coon will 

 lead them to the fields where grow the milk ear-rows, and they 

 revel in a feast that is to them what honey is to Bears. 



A lively scene took place one mid-August night outside my 

 shanty in the Adironilacks. Two Coon families had met at a 

 certain delectable fishing pool, which was responsible indeed 

 for my presence. Their meeting was accidental and unfortu- 

 nate, if one might judge by the row that followed, for they 

 squabbled, scolded, and fought for half the night. As nearly 

 as could be ascertained in the gloom, there were i old ones in 

 charge of one family and but i caring for the other. 



All through autumn and winter the family life continues; 



not even the mating season seems to mar their good-fellowship. 



Merriam says:" "It is unusual to find a Raccoon alone, for 



they commonly live and travel in small companies, consisting of 



the several members of a single family. They do not return to 



the same nest every morning, but often make little excursions in 



various directions, being gone several days at a time, and taking 



refuge, about daylight, in any convenient arboreal shelter. 

 ******* 



"In tracking Raccoons upon the crust I have sometimes 

 obscr\ed a family to separate and go in different directions, 

 spending the day in different trees, to come together again on 

 the night following." 



' Mam. Adir., 1SS4, p. 94. 



