RACCOOXS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 15 



salaries of public officials were paid in animal skins, including the 

 following: ". . . secretary to his excellency, the governor, 500 rac- 

 coon [skins] ; . . . clerk of the house of commons, 200 raccoon [skins] ; 

 members of assembly, per diem, 3 raccoon [skins]; . . ." Through- 

 out the pioneer days raccoon skins were regular articles of barter. 

 The skins were especially popular for making caps and coats, the 

 latter use extending to the present time as garments for both men and 

 women. Although their original numbers have greatly decreased, 

 owing to the reduction or elimination of suitable habitat incident to 

 Iniman encroachment, raccoons have persisted where many other 

 native animals have become extinct. Aside from the fur produced, 

 their value in providing excellent nocturnal sport for an army of 

 lumters and exercise for the "coon" dogs nearly throughout the 

 forested sections of the country is well known. This hunting asset 

 is becoming better appreciated by State game commissions and 

 sportsmen's associations, and the lil)eration of raccoons in suitable 

 places is a regular part of the annual program of wildlife management. 



The meat, especially of young raccoons, is an accepted article of 

 food in some parts of the country and is very palatable. During the 

 early days in California, according to Newberry (1855, p. 47), raccoons 

 in considerable numbers were sold in the San Francisco market, 

 commanding a price of one to three dollars each. 



Raccoons are destructive to human interests in some places to a 

 limited extent. Of the economic status of the animal in its typical 

 region, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Rhoads (1903, p. 182) says: 



Dr. Warren reports answers from correspondents which condemn this animal 

 as a stealer of fish, especially trout. Others say it does not catch many of these 

 but is after crayfish chiefly. His raids on nesting turkeys I can vouch for, the 

 eggs being sucked. His destruction of poultry is occasionally severe and he likes 

 green maize ears dearly. No doubt he is a destroyer of birds' nests, eggs and 

 young, both terrestrial and arboreal. He catches some mice, but being a slow 

 sort of fellow, prefers more leisurely employment. On this account, he is quite a 

 vegetarian, grapes, nuts, fruits and certain vegetables falling to his share. His 

 furs for warmth and his carcass for food about compensate for the direct losses 

 sustained by humanity in his depredations. 



In the Gulf Coast Region, where raccoons still abound, conditions 

 are described by Kopman (1921, p. 28) thus: 



One of the principal foods of the raccoon in Louisiana is crayfish. Among 

 vegetable foods, corn in the milk, persimmons, wild grapes, and palmetto berries 

 are very acceptable to the "coon." As a destroyer of poultry the raccoon is 

 often a great nuisance, and it takes many wild birds. These animals are estab- 

 lished on many of the bushy islands of the coast, and they eat the eggs and young 

 of the seabirds and other aquatic species breeding there. On Marsh Island and 

 other bird and game preserves on the coast owned by the State, the Department 

 of Conservation has had to provide for systematic trapping of the raccoon. . . . 



