OTHER LITTLE ANIMALS 299 



IV 



The 'Coon 



Sir Alexander MacKenzie reported that in 1798 the North- 

 west Company sent out only 100 raccoon from the fur country. 

 To-day, raccoon is a fur in growing demand. What brought about 

 the change ? Simply an appreciation of the qualities of 'coon, 

 which combines the greatest warmth with the lightest weight and 

 is especially adapted for a cold climate and constant wear. What 

 was said of badger applies with greater force to 'coon. The 'coon 

 in the East is associated in one's mind with cabbies, in the West 

 with fashionably dressed men and women. And there is just as 

 wide a difference in the quality of the fur as in the quality of the 

 people. The cabbies' 'coon coat is a rough yellow fur with red 

 stripes. The Westerner's 'coon is a silky brown fur with black 

 stripes. One represents the fall hunt of men and boys round hollow 

 logs, the other the midwinter hunt of a professional trapper in the 

 Far North. A dog usually bays the 'coon out of hiding in the East. 

 Tiny tracks, like a child's hand, tell the Northern hunter where 

 to set his traps. 



Wahboos the rabbit, musquash the muskrat, sikak the skunk, 

 wenusk the badger, and the common 'coon — these are the little 

 chaps whose hunt fills the idle days of the trapper's busy life. At 

 night, before the rough stone hearth which he has built in his cabin, 

 he is still busy by firelight preparing their pelts. Each skin must be 

 stretched and cured. Turning the skin fur side in, the trapper 

 pushes into the pelt a wedge-shaped slab of spliced cedar. Into 

 the splice he shoves another wedge of wood which he hammers in, 

 each blow widening the space and stretching the skin. All pelts 

 are stretched fur in but the fox. Tacking the stretched skin on a 

 flat board, the trapper hangs it to dry till he carries all to the fort ; 

 unless, indeed, he should need a garment for himself — cap, coat or 

 gauntlets — in which case he takes out a square needle and passes 

 his evenings like a tailor, sewing. 



