AN INTELLIGENT RACOON. 91 



" Yes, massa," lie said, " the racoon is as intelligent as 

 a monkey, and is very easily tamed. Some three years 

 ago I brought up one, who played with me like a little 

 dog, clambered on my knees, and thrust his head into 

 ID y waistcoat pockets to see if they contained a titbit for 

 him. I was always very careful to keep the door of the 

 poultry-yard shut, or the little rascal would have stolen 

 my eggs ; for, d'ye see, massa, it is his instinct to plunder 

 the nests of the quail, the partridge, and all other kinds 

 of birds. No quadruped is more cunning in discovering 

 the trees where the nests are built. One day when my 

 racoon had left the house, I found him on the tall poplar- 

 tree which stands yonder at the end of the lawn. The 

 rascal, with the help of his paws, had extracted from a 

 hole in the trunk some young woodpeckers, and greedily 

 devoured them, while the distracted mother was hovering 

 above his head. He was also very fond of fresh- water 

 mussels, and was particularly clever in hunting for them 

 in the mud. Tortoise eggs he considered a great treat ; 

 his instinct for tracing the creature's humid track was 

 something wonderful. Once O massa ! see what an in- 

 telligent vermin he was ! I found him lying flat on his 

 belly close to the edge of a pond, near which he and I 

 had passed in our wanderings on the previous day ; he 

 had concealed himself in a heap of reeds, and seemed 

 to sleep like a marmot. A flock of wild ducks floated 

 upon the water, and approached the shore without any 

 mistrust. Suddenly my racoon took a leap and a 

 jump, I might almost say a flight, and pounced upon 

 one of the largest and fattest members of the winged 

 troop. 



" The only fault I had to find with him was that he did 



