RING-TAILED CAT 
finding the gay little rascal up a tree, whence he must be shot, or shaken 
down into a fierce mélée among the dogs by some adventurous climber, or 
perhaps the tree itself must be felled. Only one instance is on record of 
a coon coming down because he was asked to, — that in which Davy Crock- 
ett made the request! 
In Mexico and the southwestern United States there is a 
charming cousin (Bassariscus) of the raccoon, called ‘“caco- 
mistle” by Anglo-Mexicans, but known more commonly among 
m 
RING-TAILED BASSARISC, OR AMERICAN CIVET CAT. 
us as the ring-tailed cat, or American civet cat — not inaptly 
if one can imagine a civet with the head of a fox. 
“Tn nature,” says Lockington, “it is a dweller in the woods, 
making a moss-lined nest in a hollow tree. . . . It often grows 
bold and enters the miner’s tent, and plunders his 
provision bag, thus sometimes getting caught. It is 
easily tamed, and becomes so familiar and entertaining that it 
does much to soften the asperities and relieve the monotony of 
Q 225 
Cacomistle. 
