142 BULLETIN NO. VII. 



this state of confidence was reached did he make any dem- 

 onstration, and then continual depredations attested the 

 cunning of the quadruped. Curiously enough, birds were 

 freely eaten, but small rodents were utterly refused, so that 

 we must conclude that these latter do not enter the regular 

 diet of the animal in a wild state. Our raccoon passed much 

 of its time in "jumping rope" with its hind feet, while its 

 chain was kept taut by the neck. 



The raccoon is hunted on account both of its flesh and its 

 pelt, the latter being used considerably in the manufacture of 

 robes and coats, and occasionally, especially in the rural dis- 

 tricts, for other purposes. It is neither very durable nor at- 

 tractive, however, and would hardly lead to the persecution 

 which attends the animal were it not that its depredations upon 

 the corn fields and the poultry house add the motives of re- 

 venge and self-protection to the more sportsman-like. The 

 flesh is not despised by many, though the omnivorous, and es- 

 pecially the insectivorous habits of the animal render it 

 specially subject to internal parasites in spite of the most re 

 markable precautions which either experience or natural taste 

 has developed in its eating habits. An instance was seen 

 where the body of a raccoon which had been exposed in the 

 market with other meats, was literally filled with worms of the 

 genus Filaria several inches long, and these filled with living 

 embryos in all stages of development. 



The hunting of raccoons is a favorite amusement of farmers' 

 boys, and as it is carried on at night with the aid of dogs, 

 torches and axes, seems to be replete with an excitement 

 hardly commensurate with the value of the prize. This sport 

 has a peculiar fascination for the Southern negro, and the ex- 

 ploits of a night's 'coon hunt served to mitigate the weariness 

 and sadness of a life of servitude. 



The writer had on one occasion the opportunity of assisting 

 in such an enterprise. It was in Northern Alabama, and the 

 ostensible object of the hunt was an opossum which, for vari- 

 ous reasons, the visitor was anxious to secure. 



At about nine o'clock a party of boys and dogs, which con- 

 stantly increased, sallied forth, animated by the occasional 

 blasts of an old horn, this instrument being necessary to prop- 

 erly control the proceedings of a multitude of mongrel curs, 

 each of which excelled in some subtlety of 'possum or 'coon lore 

 any dog in the county. Lights were brandished and with a 

 shout as heterogeneous as the company from which it pro- 



