HISTORY OF DERRYFIELD, 6$ 



by their industrious teeth testify to their former residence here. 

 The beaver passed with the last century, but we were informed 

 by the late Joseph M. Rowell, one of the oldest native-born res- 

 idents of Derryfield, that he had in his boyhood seen their fresh 

 skins brought in by trappers, and he distinctly remembered what 

 was pointed out to him as a "beaver slide," on the bank of an 

 inlet to the Piscataquog river. The fur of this animal has always 

 been valuable, and many an old settler paid for his first cow with 

 a bundle of beaver skins. 



The Black or Silver-Grey Fox, an animal of the genus Vulpes, 

 is now seldom found within the limits of the state ; once here in 

 considerable numbers, stray specimens having been seen within 

 the last quarter-century. The skins are now valuable and are 

 sometimes in use for hearth-mats. 



Red Fox, Vulpes fulvus. This cunning and mischievous ani- 

 mal still survives in this and neighboring towns, and notwith- 

 standing there are more hunters than game the fox is said to be 

 upon the increase. His favorite dishes are domestic fowls, the 

 larger and fatter the better, and he makes nothing of carrying 

 off a full-grown gobbler. When young they are easily tamed, 

 but not easily kept, as they will escape if possible. The fox is 

 a thief by nature, a criminal by heredity, and takes to the road 

 as inevitably as a highwayman. He is the embodiment of cun- 

 ning and adroitness, and in folk-lore tales is always assigned the 

 part of combined rogue and villain, which he perfectly plays in 

 real life. It is said that he has never less than two holes to his 

 burrow, and it is certain he has a good many strings to his bow. 

 His survival to this day, amid the civilized surroundings of a 

 great city, is little less than a miracle. 



Raccoon, Procyon lotor. Most of our older citizens have seen 

 and hunted the "coon " in his hollow. Year after year, since the 

 larger sorts of game became scarce, the sport of coon-hunting 

 has gone on under the eyes of the October moon, but in spite 

 of men and dogs the sly old coon contrives to live, even within 

 6 



