4 2 



noses, and if they waken for a time they suck 

 their paws drowsily till they sleep again, so 

 tfJUfk ftrofher that, like the bear, they are often tender-footed 

 w hen they come out in the spring. 



Often the young coons of the same family 

 sleep all together in the same den. The old 

 males prefer to den by themselves, and are 

 easily found; but the mother coon, like the 

 mother bear, takes infinite pains to hide 

 herself away where she can bring forth her 

 young in peace, and where no one will ever 

 find them. 



There is one curious habit suggested by 

 these winter dens that I have never seen 

 explained, and for which I cannot account 

 satisfactorily. On certain soft days in winter 

 Mooweesuk wakes from his long sleep and 

 wanders off into the world. At times you 

 may follow his track for miles through the 

 woods without finding that he goes anywhere 

 or does anything in particular, for I have 

 never found that he has eaten anything on 

 these wanderings. Sometimes, miles away 

 from his den, his track turns aside and goes 

 straight to a hollow tree where other coons 



