BEAR OPOSSUM. 301 



and the vigor of digestion which comes from life in the 

 forest, gives a sublime zest to anything, and thus the 

 "coon," finely frosted and roasted, might, under certain cir- 

 cumstances, for a moment abolish the nausea which comes 

 with the thought (which it certainly inspires) of eating an 

 animal so nearly human as the dog. * The coon night-hunt 

 is among the established sports of the woods. Geographic 

 range, from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Fort 

 Kearny. 



BLACK BEAR. 



Of the UrsideB there is another representative, the Ursus 

 Americanus, or black bear. This bear is frequently found 

 in numbers on the Alleghanies, and in some portions of the 

 more savage part of the range the species breeds. They 

 sometimes migrate from one part of the mountain to an- 

 other, directed in their journeyings by the instinct of self- 

 preservation on the subject of food. The sport of taking 

 this animal is greatly enjoyed by the huntsman, the danger 

 of capture giving zest to the chase. The flesh is esteemed 

 a great dainty by many persons, but its coarse fibre, bathed 

 in grease of a peculiar flavor, must perpetually exclude it 

 from the list of genuine luxuries, f The bear hybernates, 

 passing three or four months in a state of torpidity ; range, 

 United States generally. 



OPOSSUM. 



ORDER MARSTJPIATA, (Family Didelphidse. ) 

 DIDELPHYS, (Linn.,) Yirginiana, opossum. This is a com- 

 mon wild animal of Pennsylvania, and is found on the Alle- 

 ghanies. Its habits are well known, and some of them 

 peculiar. It is sometimes eaten, and considered a delicacy ; 



* " The coon's flesh, when young, is savory, not unlike pig, but in 

 adults it is rank and disagreeable." De Kay. 



f " The flesh of the bear is savory, but rather luscious, and tastes 

 not unlike pork," De Kay. 



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