THE RACOONS OF NORTH AMERICA 



BY R. W. SHUFELDT, M.D., C.M.Z.S. 



F ALL the different kinds of racoons in this in the country at the time of his death. A 'coon hunt 



1 f country, the habits of the common eastern species 

 are doubtless best known, and, in the main, this 

 is the form referred to in the following paragraphs. 

 The habits of the four or more forms of the South and 

 West may differ more or less, but only to such an ex- 

 tent as they have been influenced by environment, nature 



in this vicinity baffles all description, and it must be 

 attended in order that one may appreciate the excite- 

 ment that prevails during the entire time of its happen- 

 ing. It comes up to the highest pitch, perhaps, when the 

 dogs have succeeded in putting up into one tree from two 

 to four vigorous old 'coons. It is easy to imagine such 



of the country inhabited, what is required to obtain the a scene, with from two to four of these crafty and plucky 



animals up in 

 a thick hem- 

 lock tree, fifty 

 or seventy feet 

 in height, with 

 a group of ex- 

 cited men be- 

 neath it, carry- 

 i n g lanterns, 

 and promiscu- 

 ously armed 

 with revolvers, 

 guns, rifles and 

 clubs. With 

 them is a pack 

 cf yelping and 

 howling dogs, 

 eager to have 

 the infuriated 

 'coons tossed 

 down to them, 

 sc they may 

 enter into the 

 fray as soon as 

 possible. The 

 climbers quick- 

 lv ascend; and 

 often they are 

 in luck if, in- 

 stead of 'coons, 

 they do not 

 meet, in the 

 dense foliage 

 of the dark 

 hemlock, a by 

 no means to be despised wildcat. On one occasion this 

 very thing happened; and when the animal was finally 

 slain, it was found to weigh no less than thirty-five 

 pounds. After some little difficulty, the 'coon is at last 

 shaken down ; and in the mix-up that follows, in which 

 men, dogs, and all take a hand, there is excitement enough 

 to satisfy the most fastidious. When two or more 'coons 

 are in a tree, generally the remaining ones escape to 

 neighboring trees, and make off through the woods. 

 Then the hunt is on again with even renewed and 

 greater excitement. Occasionally the animal escapes over 



different kinds 

 of foods, and 

 escape from 

 the different 

 kinds of ene- 

 mies to be 

 found in the 

 regions they 

 inhabit. Aside 

 from all this, 

 however, 

 racoons arc 

 racoons wher- 

 ever we find 

 them, and the 

 general habits 

 of any one of 

 the subspecies 

 will be found 

 to be more or 

 less identical 

 with those of 

 the common 

 species. Of re- 

 cent years 

 'coons have 

 been on the in- 

 crease through- 

 out some of the 

 New England 

 States ; it is 

 lrom such 

 places that we 

 now get good 

 a c c o u nts of 

 'coon hunts, and new chapters on the life history of this 

 interesting animal. 



Mr. George E. Moulthrope, of Bristol, Connecticut, 

 sent a very good account of hunting racoons in his 

 State. He says: 'There is probably no section of the 

 state of Connecticut where fox and 'coon hunting is more 

 generally indulged in. The Bristol sportsmen have always 

 owned the best foxhounds and 'coon dogs in the state. 

 Some of the hunters have become very prominent in 

 this line of sport, and none more so than the late 

 W. Barnes, who was the most famous racoon hunter 



THE COMMON RACOON OF THE EASTERN STATES 



Photograph from life by the author. These coons have a habit not indulged in by any other animal. 

 If given a piece of raw meat they very carefully wash it before eating it. 



1531 



