THE RACOONS OF NORTH AMERICA 



1533 



the yard by a small chain on its hind leg just above the 

 foot. In the morning the foot was found gnawed off 

 just at the point where the easy-fitting link was attached, 

 and the racoon had made good its departure. It could 

 not endure being made captive, and the relic and chain 

 plainly read : "You may keep the foot, but I must have 

 my liberty." 



Racoons will feed upon almost anything. They are 

 very fond of eggs of all kinds, as those of birds, turtles, 

 and snakes ; and they also eat grapes, berries, nuts, some 

 roots, and many insects. "All along the coast in the 

 southern States," says a writer, "he finds a species of 

 oyster in which he delights ; though we are told he some- 

 times pays dear for the whistle, as he gets his paw 

 caught by a fixed shell, and, unable to escape, he is 



chance to capture one. Some reptiles are also caught 

 and eaten by them, especially snakes. Between flexible 

 snout and wonderfully nimble fore paws, it is indeed 

 capable of prying into and nosing out almost anything 

 that its mischievous mind leads it to do. As already 

 pointed out, it is an excellent tree climber ; and wood- 

 peckers, who build where 'coons are plenty, had better 

 bore their holes pretty deep if they care about the safety 

 of their eggs. "Thus," says a writer about them, "the 

 racoon is an animal of large resources and marked char- 

 acter. He goes prowling about by night as well as by 

 day. He is a fisher, a hunter, a trapper, a reaper, or a 

 fly-catcher, as occasion may require. He is instinctively 

 cunning as a fox, inquisitive and meddlesome as a 

 monkey, greedy as a bear, sly as a cat. In northern 



YOUNG OF THE RING-TAILED RACOON 



Photograph from life by the author. These coons are easily tamed and among Mexicans it is domesticated, when it becomes a playful pet and 



catches rats and mice. 



drowned by the returning tide." These are the "racoon 

 oysters" we hear of ; but the writer never knew of a 

 racoon that was drowned in that way, nor of anyone 

 who could verify such a tale. 



In rearing their young, racoons usually build a nest 

 in a hollow tree, or occasionally in other convenient 

 cavities in the woods. In still rarer instances, they dig 

 furrows of their own, where, in the spring, the female 

 gives birth to her young, the litter varying from three to 

 half a dozen, each being the size of a common rat. Their 

 eyes are closed and for some time they are very helpless ; 

 but when a month old, they are very cunning little ani- 

 mals, not to say pretty. It is said that the old ones are 

 not averse to eating a duck or a chicken, should they 



climates, on the approach of winter, he retires to his 

 home and sleeps like the bear till spring, or only goes 

 abroad occasionally in fair weather. In the South he is 

 active during the entire year." 



Above everything else the racoon loves the young, 

 green corn, or at that stage of its growth when it is said 

 to be in its milk. He will steal into a cornfield at night, 

 and in the most wasteful manner possible, strip ear after 

 ear, eating his fill of the best he can find, and thus de- 

 stroying many ears that would mature later. No wonder 

 the farmer is down on him and will shoot him on sight 

 whenever opportunity offers. 



In the matter of feeding on fish, the racoon is not at 

 his best ; although a fairly good swimmer, he is not fitted 



