Family MUSTELIDAE 95 



The coon is trapped or hunted in every county of Illinois. As 

 a furbearer, it is second or third (preceded by the muskrat and 

 usually the opossum) in the Illinois fur catch each year. More 

 than 10,000 trappers and hunters harvested coons in this state 

 in 1939 and in 1940, when at least 32,000 coons are estimated 

 to have been taken each year. Coon populations have increased 

 since that time, and the annual catch has undoubtedly increased 

 also. As a game mammal, the coon provides exciting sport. It 

 is hunted during autumn nights with the help of dogs and lights. 

 The clever running of the coon taxes the trailing ability of dogs 

 to the utmost and furnishes exciting sport to both men and dogs. 



Signs. — Coon tracks, fig. 20, are most abundant along the 

 margins of streams, ponds, and lakes. Prints of individual feet 

 commonly vary from 3 to 4 inches in length. Tracks of small 

 coons look somewhat like those of large muskrats, but the latter 

 usually are accompanied by tail marks; the birdlike prints of the 

 four-toed front feet also distinguish the muskrat tracks. The 

 usual gait of the coon is a walk. 



Scats or droppings of coons may be found along margins of 

 streams and lakes, usually on logs. Often great accumulations 

 of them may be found, because coons commonly follow regular 

 routes and leave their droppings in a few chosen spots. Large 

 quantities of crayfish parts, corn, cherry pits, or berry seeds are 

 characteristic of them. 



Distribution. — Raccoons are present in every county of Illi- 

 nois and are particularly common in those parts of the state 

 with extensive wooded areas. Two subspecies are known to 

 occur in Illinois, Procyon lotor hirtus Nelson & Goldman in the 

 northwestern four-fifths of the state and P. I. lotor (Linnaeus) 

 in the southeastern fifth. The range of the species includes ex- 

 treme southern Canada; all of the United States except a west- 

 ern area that contains parts of the southwestern deserts, western 

 parts of Wyoming and Montana, and most of Idaho; also the 

 range includes Mexico and Central America. 



MARTES AMERICANA (Turton) 



Pine Marten Marten 



Description. — The pine marten is similar in shape to the 

 better-known mink but is slightly larger. Its fur is yellowish 

 brown on the bodv and shades to dark brown or black on the 



