162 HUNTING DOGS. 



the dog IS after it. So Mr. 'Coon is obliged to 

 climb whatever kind of a tree there is handy 

 and very often is taken on the ground. 



From a Central States hunter's letter: I 

 used to be a dear lover of a dog that would bark 

 on trail and raise some of them, but now my 

 choice is a still trailer, as a quiet trailer suits 

 this locality best on account of the thickly popu- 

 lated country and the great amount of stock 

 raised, and a great many farmers claim the con- 

 stant barking of dogs frightens their sheep. For 

 that reason fox chasing is fast losing its interest 

 and foxes are becoming quite a nuisance in the 

 destruction of quail, pheasant, rabbit and such 

 like game. 



A brother of conviction on this question 

 writes : It takes patience, perseverance and 

 skill to properly train a hound for 'coon. First, 

 the dog must be silent until he finds the hot 

 scent, so as jiot to give Mr. 'Coon time to com- 

 mence his sunny ways, as the 'coon has a good 

 knowledge box and lots of strings to his bow 

 which he uses to evade Mr. Hound. He will 

 swim down and sometimes up stream and often 

 crosses them. Will never miss a hollow log 

 and comes out at the other end, and will climb 

 leaning trees and leap from them to others and 

 may return to the stream for a good long swim 

 before he will make quietly for his den. This 



