RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMILIES. 437 



cyon hernandezii), which is found in the regions bordering 

 the Pacific Ocean, from British Columbia to Mexico. Both 

 are alike in general character, being cunning thieves, nim- 

 ble tree-climbers, and one of the most inquisitive, restless, 

 and mischievous of pets when domesticated. Nothing is 

 safe from them if they break loose in a house, and they try 

 to devour everything they can find, from stale bread to 

 hair- oil. They are as bad as monkeys; but they differ 

 from the latter in the fact that they will obey no order un- 

 less it is accompanied by force. 



Adult males weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds, and, 

 when cornered, they not only fight bravely, but often 

 wound several of their assailants ; for their jaws are large 

 and powerful, and their claws are sharp and curved. 



This species brings forth from four to eight young at a 

 time, in the hollow of a tree ; and while the mother remains 

 with them she is a terror to bull-frogs, fish, and even birds 

 and their eggs. She has also the fondness of the bear for 

 honey, and will even risk an encounter with a dog to obtain 

 it. Both sexes pay much attention to cornfields and or- 

 chards, and revel in the milky kernels, or the juicy apples 

 and pears. I have frequently hunted a brace of them out 

 of an apple-tree, and, when they reached the ground, the 

 dogs and themselves generally had it out, unless they gave 

 indications of being able to get away, when a shot-gun 

 brought them down. Bull-terriers or large Irish terriers 

 would be capital dogs for hunting them, as these have the 

 combativeness and strength necessary to engage in a fair 

 fight with them. For trailing them in the woods, the lat- 

 ter would be the better, owing to its keenness of nose and 

 endurance, and the readiness with which it learns the hab- 

 its of the creatures it pursues. 



The raccoon is hunted principally on moonlight nights; 

 and pleasant sport it is if one is with a jolly party, and 

 the dogs are large and brave enough to relish a struggle. 

 When the animal is treed, the tree in which it has sought 

 refuge is generally cut down ; and should it attempt to es- 

 cape it is shot, or is killed by the dogs. 



