X A LITTLE BROTHER OF THE SEAR 277 



it will occupy the burrows of other animals and 

 even rear its progeny in them. It never digs a 

 hole of any kind for itself ; nor does it care for 

 much bedding, those in captivity preferring the 

 bare boards of their pen to any litter that may be 

 furnished to them. It is a forest animal, then, and 

 rather inclined to swamps; but this may be merely 

 because wet lands most often contain damaged 

 trees, and also furnish more food than the hard, 

 dry, upland groves. More rarely in the West, it 

 takes excursions out on the prairies, doubtless in 

 search of insects and crayfish. 



In such a hole are produced in early spring a 

 litter of five or six young ones that by and by 

 grow large enough to leave home and follow the 

 parents in their nocturnal vagabondage, staying 

 with them for a year or so, until they found fami- 

 lies of their own. Hence in the summer and au- 

 tumn, when 'coons are mainly in evidence, they 

 are most often met with in these little family com- 

 panies. It is rare to see a wild 'coon out of doors 

 in daylight, however ; or, if he does appear, it is 

 usually rolled up asleep in some lofty crotch, where 

 he dozes in the sunshine, rocked by the breeze. 

 In summer, however, when the young are old 

 enough to travel, they move about a good deal, 

 and -in the West often leave the woods altogether 

 and wander far out upon the prairies, taking 

 shelter in the deserted holes of skunks, badgers, 

 and similar temporary retreats. As winter comes 



