96 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



having- teeth that cut like chisels, but a coon 

 has agility and power of limb as well. 



Coons are considered game only in the fall, or 

 towards the close of summer, when they become 

 fat and their flesh sweet. At this time, cooning 

 is a famous pastime in the remote interior. As 

 these animals are entirely nocturnal in their hab- 

 its, they are hunted only at night. A piece of 

 corn on some remote side-hill near the mountain, 

 or between two pieces of woods, is most apt to 

 be frequented by them. While the corn is yet 

 green they pull the ears down like hogs, and, 

 tearing open the sheathing of husks, eat the 

 tender, succulent kernels, bruising and destroy- 

 ing much more than they devour. Sometimes 

 their ravag^es are a matter of serious concern to 

 the farmer. But every such neighborhood has 

 its coon-dog, and the boys and young men 

 dearly love the sport. The party sets out about 

 eight or nine o'clock of a dark, moonless night, 

 and stealthily approaches the cornfield. The 

 dog knows his business, and when he is put into 

 a patch of corn and told to " hunt them up " he 

 makes a thorough search, and will not be misled 

 by any other scent. You hear him rattling 

 through the corn, hither and yon, with great 

 speed. The coons prick up their ears, and 

 quickly take themselves off on the opposite side 



