My Boyhood and Youth 



that these poor, timid, bashful bears were as 

 dangerous as man-eating lions and tigers, and 

 that they would pursue any human being that 

 came in their way. This species is common in 

 the north part of the State, and few of our 

 enterprising Yankee hunters who went to the 

 pineries in the fall failed to shoot at least one 

 of them. 



We saw very little of the owlish, serious- 

 looking coons, and no wonder, since they lie 

 hidden nearly all day in hollow trees and we 

 never had time to hunt them. We often heard 

 their curious, quavering, whinnying cries on 

 still evenings, but only once succeeded in trac- 

 ing an unfortunate family through our corn- 

 field to their den in a big oak and catching them 

 all. One of our neighbors, Mr. McRath, a 

 Highland Scotchman, caught one and made a 

 pet of it. It became very tame and had perfect 

 confidence in the good intentions of its kind 

 friend and master. He always addressed it in 

 speaking to it as a "little man." When it 

 came running to him and jumped on his lap 

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