x A LITTLE BROTHER OF THE BEAR 277 
it will occupy the burrows of other animals and 
even rear its progeny in them. It never digs a 
hole of any kind for itself; nor does it care for 
much bedding, —those in captivity preferring the 
bare boards of their pen to any litter that may be 
furnished to them. It is a forest animal, then, and 
rather inclined to swamps; but this may be merely 
because wet lands most often contain damaged 
trees, and also furnish more food than the hard, 
dry, upland groves. More rarely in the West, it 
takes excursions out on the prairies, doubtless in 
search of insects and crayfish. 
In such a hole are produced in early spring a 
litter of five or six young ones that by and by 
grow large enough to leave home and follow the 
parents in their nocturnal vagabondage, staying 
with them for a year or so, until they found fami- 
lies of their own. Hence in the summer and au- 
tumn, when ’coons are mainly in evidence, they 
are most often met with in these little family com- 
panies. It is rare to see a wild ’coon out of doors 
in daylight, however; or, if he does appear, it is 
usually rolled up asleep in some lofty crotch, where 
he dozes in the sunshine, rocked by the breeze. 
In summer, however, when the young are old 
enough to travel, they move about a good deal, 
and in the West often leave the woods altogether 
and wander far out upon the prairies, taking 
shelter in the deserted holes of skunks, badgers, 
and similar temporary retreats. As winter comes 
