— ' *, [ rs : 3: ae Sad eRe 
142 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
this state of confidence was reached did he make any dem- 
onstration, and then continual depredations attested the 
cunning of the quadruped. Curiously enough, birds were 
freely eaten, but small rodents were utterly refused, so that 
we must conclude that these latter do not enter the regular 
diet of the animal in a wild state. Our raccoon passed much 
of its time in ‘‘jumping rope” with its hind feet, while its 
chain was kept taut by the neck. 
The raccoon is hunted on account both of its flesh and its 
pelt, the latter being used considerably in the manufacture of 
robes and coats, and occasionally, especially in the rural dis- 
tricts, for other purposes. It is neither very durable nor at- 
tractive, however, and would hardly lead to the persecution 
which attends the animal were it not that its depredations upon 
the corn fields and the poultry house add the motives of re- 
venge and self-protection to the more sportsman-like. The 
flesh is not despised by many, though the omnivorous, and es- 
pecially the insectivorous habits of the animal render it 
specially subject to internal parasites in spite of the most re 
markable precautions which either experience or natural taste 
has developed in its eating habits. An instance was seen 
where the body of a raccoon which had been exposed in the 
market with other meats, was literally fillea with worms of the: 
genus Filaria several inches long, and these filled with living 
embryos in all stages of development. 
The hunting of raccoons is a favorite amusement of farmers’ 
boys, and as it is carried on at night with the aid of dogs, 
torches and axes, seems to be replete with an excitement 
hardly commensurate with the value of the prize. This sport 
has a peculiar fascination for the Southern negro, and the ex- 
ploits of a night's ‘coon hunt served to mitigate the weariness 
and sadness of a life of servitude. 
The writer had on one occasion the opportunity of assisting 
in such an enterprise. It was in Northern Alabama, and the 
ostensible object of the hunt was an opossum which, for vari- 
ous reasons, the visitor was anxious to secure. 
At about nine o’clock a party of boys and dogs, which con- 
stantly increased, sallied forth, animated by the occasional 
blasts of an old horn, this instrument being necessary to prop- 
erly control the proceedings of a multitude of mongrel curs, 
each of which excelled in some subtlety of ‘possum or ‘coon lore 
any dog in the county. Lights were brandished and with a 
shout as heterogeneous as the company from which it pro- 

