THE RACOONS OF NORTH AMERICA 



1535 



a string. The knowledge of this, and the habit the animal 

 has of running the entire length of every fallen tree he 

 comes across in his rambles in the woods, has suggested to 

 trappers an easy means of capturing him. All that is 

 necessary is to set a strong steel trap on the upper side 

 of any long tree trunk lying upon the ground, and sus- 

 pending directly above it by means of a string any small, 

 bright thing, such as a piece of tin, at a height that a 

 'coon can reach by standing on his hind legs. It is certain 

 to tempt him, either on a moonlit night or in the daytime. 

 Utterly regardless of the naked trap beneath it, he at 

 once stops in his course to have a toss with it, and the 

 chances are that, inside of a minute, he knows what it 

 means to have a big steel trap seize him by one of his 

 hind feet. His liberty — maybe his career — is at an end, 

 unless he resorts to gnawing the fastened foot off 

 above the point of seizure. 



When they sleep away the 

 cold snaps in the winter, it 

 is not an uncommon thing to 

 find a whole family, or may- 

 be several families, curled 

 up together in the hollow of 

 some big tree. If the weath- 

 er chances to become warm- 

 er, they will drowsily awak- 

 en ; and if it is very pleasant, 

 they will all come out, de- 

 scend, and prowl around 

 through the woods in the 

 neighborhood of their win- 

 ter home. Occasionally they 

 find something to eat at this 

 time; still, toward spring, 

 they become very thin and 

 hungry, and do not get fat 

 again until early in the sum- 

 mer, when all kinds of food 

 is once more to be found in 

 plenty. If there is snow on 

 the ground, their character- 

 istic tracks may easily be 

 recognized. With the on- 

 coming of another cold snap, 

 the entire party at once hie 

 themselves to their hollow to 

 sleep through it, huddled up together like 

 squirrels. 



Although the ring-tailed racoon can hardly be con- 

 sidered a game mammal, it is one, in a sense, as it is an 

 animal that may be eaten or shot for its pelt. In any 

 event, the hunter in the southwest desires to know some- 

 thing about it when he meets with it — hence this brief 

 description. The habits of this animal are still but little 

 known owing to the fact that it is almost entirely noc- 

 turnal, and resides in the rough, rocky, and heavily tim- 

 bered regions. 



The ring-tailed racoon is a small animal, with an 

 elongate, slender body. As will be seen in the cut, it 



THE RACOON HOUSE IN THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK, 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 



In this quaint little log cabin reside numerous individuals of the* 

 common Racoons. There are both adult and young specimens, and 

 all of their habits may be studied here to the greatest advantage 

 Frequently they climb among trie topmost twigs of the tall tree to 

 the right, not far from the foot of which is placed a small, cement- 

 lined pool, in which they wade about and where they are often 

 seen washing their food. 



a lot of 



has a very long and somewhat bushy tail. This is banded 

 black and white, the extremity being black. Its muzzle 

 is pointed, and its eyes and ears are rather large. 



An account says about its disposition that "this animal 

 is lively and playful, running along on the branches of 

 the trees with the agility of a squirrel. It is shy and 

 retiring, and speedily flies to its retreat, which is a hole 

 in a tree, at the slightest alarm. Its food consists of 

 birds, insects, and small quadrupeds; it is said to also 

 feed on the pecan and other nuts, though this is doubtful. 

 Sometimes it scolds or barks at an intruder, holding its 

 tail curled over its back. It is easily tamed ; and among 

 the Mexicans it is domesticated, when it becomes a play- 

 ful pet and catches rats and mice. It produces three 

 or four young at a birth." 



But few lines can be spared here for description of 



the Mexican coati. Upon 

 seeing this animal, one is at 

 once struck by its long and 

 flexible snout, and the gen- 

 eral elongation of the body 

 and tail. It is about the 

 size of a large cat, and it is 

 said it has a habit of gnaw- 

 ing off its tail at the root ; 

 but the writer cannot in any 

 way vouch for this. The 

 coatis are excellent climbers, 

 and they feed upon honey, 

 insects, eggs, various fruits 

 and vegetables, small quad- 

 rupeds, and probably upon 

 other animals. When once 

 tamed they become gentle, 

 and they have not a few 

 amusing habits in confine- 

 ment. However, they are 

 restless and possessed of all 

 the curiosity of a 'coon, to 

 which they are more or less 

 nearly related. 



At the present time there 

 is no mounted specimen of 

 this animal on exhibition in 

 the United States National 

 Museum, ;.nd there are very 

 few reliable cuts of it extant. This being the case, the 

 writer has reproduced a figure from one of an old work 

 on natural history, which gives an excellent idea of 

 the animal. 



The typical racoons and their allies is a comparatively 

 small group of mammals exclusively American in their 

 habitat ; they constitute the family Procyonidcr, contain- 

 ing, according to most authorities, five well-recognized 

 genera, namely, Procyon, Bassariscus, Bassaricyon, 

 Nasua, and Cercoleptes. The first of these contains the 

 type of the genus to which it belongs — the common 

 racoon of the United States and its subspecies ; also the 

 crab-eating racoon of South America, and perhaps 



