268 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



often passes quite unexpectedly from lazy sulkiness 

 into the best of spirits by turning a somersault ; 

 and in spite of all his self-restraint and sagacity he 

 commits the silliest blunders when once his desires 

 have been aroused. 



"In the numerous leisure hours which fill to the 

 lot of every captive Raccoon, he occupies himself 

 with a thousand things for his amusement. He will 

 either sit erect in a lonely corner and with the 

 utmost gravity try to tie a grass-blade around his 

 nose; or he will play meditatively with the toes of 

 his hind foot, or make dashes at the wagging tip 

 of his long tail. At other times he will lie on his 

 back, pack a large heap of hay or dry leaves on 

 his stomach and try to compress the whole pile by 

 drawing his tail over it with his fore-paws. If he 



THE RACCOON. Perhaps no wild animal of the forest is better known to Americans than the Raccoon. 



It is destructive, raiding cornfields while the corn is green, visiting Hen roosts intent on robbery, and despoiling 

 gardens "of various kinds of vegetables. It is therefore much hunted. It has dense gray fur with markings of white 

 and blaclc, and has several brownish-black rings on its tail. These markings, the stout boHy, the pointed muzzle 

 and other, features of the Raccoons are seen in the picture. {Procyon lotbr.) 



can reach a stone wall, he scratches the mortar out 

 of the joints with his sharp claws and in a short time 

 causes a sad devastation. Like Jeremiah on the 

 ruins of Jerusalem, he then crouches in the midst of 

 his mound of rubbish, casts grim glances at the sur- 

 roundings and loosens his collar with his fore-paws, 

 exhausted by the hard labor. 



"After a prolonged drought, the sight of a tub 

 filled with water rouses hip enthusiasm, and he tries 

 every means of approaching it. Then the first step 

 he takes is to investigate the depth of the water, 

 for he only likes to dip his feet into it in order to 

 wash various objects in it in play, and he decid- 

 edly disapproves of standing in the water up to his 

 neck. If the investigation proves satisfactory he 



steps into the water with evident delight and gropes 

 on the ground for some washable object. An old 

 pot handle, a piece of porcelain or a snail's shell are 

 welcome finds and are immediately put into use. 



"One Raccoon had entered into a covenant with a 

 large Setter. He liked to be coupled with the Dog 

 and then they both followed every step of their 

 owner, while, on the other hand, when the Raccoon 

 alone was led with a rope, he would always try to 

 go his own way. As soon as he was freed from his 

 chain in the morning, he hurried to join his friend 

 with joyous bounds. Standing on his hind feet, he 

 hugged the Dog's neck with his flexible paws, and 

 caressingly put his head close to his companion, 

 and then touched and looked at the body of his four- 

 footed friend curiously from all sides. It seemed 



^ ^^ _^ that every morning he de- 



i^^:|^~&%"^^o: -' tected and admired new 

 fc--^-^' _^:,t3s>;~-^2VN beauties in it. If there 



were any flaws in the 

 hairy covering, he imme- 

 diately tried to remedy 

 them by licking and 

 stroking the Dog's fur. 



"He did not care to 

 have any dealings with 

 the small, biting Dachs- 

 hunds; yet he occasion- 

 ally tried to embrace one 

 of the crooked - legged 

 creatures from above. If 

 he succeeded in doing 

 this, he would execute a 

 high, backward leap into 

 the air in his delight, try- 

 ing to bite his dangling, 

 curled tail between his 

 parted fore- paws, while 

 still in the air. 



"He attacked smaller 

 mammals and poultry of 

 all kinds, and it was ex- 

 tremely difificult to make 

 him surrender his victims. 

 Mice, Rats and other such 

 animals he killed with a 

 bite in the neck and ate 

 them skin and all, as he 

 could only partially suc- 

 ceed in skinning them, in 

 spite of all his worrying 

 and pulling." 



A Raccoon killed in the 



chase is fairly profitable 



game. His flesh is eaten 



not only by Indians and 



Negroes but also by some white people, and his 



fur is extensively used: Raccoon fur being popular 



for clothing. The long hair makes good painters' 



brushes, the woolly fur is used in the manufacture 



of hats, and the tails are used entire as boas. 



The Crab-Eating Another member of the Raccoon 



Raccoon De- family is the Crab-eating Ractoon or 



scribed. Aguara {Procj/on caiwrivorus), which 



represents the genus in South America, where it 



is principally found on the eastern coasts. It is a 



little taller than its relative, is of a grayish-black 



or yellowish-gray hue, which is lighter on the under 



than the upper surface, and the tail is bushy and 



marked with yellowish rings. The face is dark, and 



over the eyes there is a light patch. 



