64 WINTER SUNSHINE 



antagonist had shaken him as a terrier does a rat, 

 making his teeth meet through the ^mall of his 

 back, the coon still showed fight. 



They are very tenacious of life, and like the 

 badger will always whip a dog of their own size and 

 weight. A woodchuck can bite severely, having 

 teeth that cut like chisels, but a coon has agility 

 and power of limb as well. 



They are only considered game in the fall, or 

 towards the close of summer, when they become fat 

 and their flesh sweet. At this time, cooning in the 

 remote interior is a famous pastime. As this animal 

 is entirely nocturnal in its habits, it is hunted only 

 at night. A piece of corn on some remote side-hill 

 near the mountain, or between two pieces of woods, 

 is most apt to be frequented by them. While the 

 corn is yet green they pull the ears down like hogs, 

 and, tearing open the sheathing of husks, eat the 

 tender, succulent kernels, bruising and destroying 

 much more than they devour. Sometimes their 

 ravages are a matter of serious concern to the farmer. 

 But every such neighborhood has its coon-dog, and 

 the boys and young men dearly love the sport. 

 The party sets out about eight or nine o'clock of a 

 dark, moonless night, and stealthily approach the 

 cornfield. The dog knows his business, and when 

 he is put into a patch of corn and told to "hunt them 

 up " he makes a thorough search, and wiU not be 

 misled by any other scent. You hear him rattling 

 through the corn, hither and yon, with great speed. 

 The coons prick up their ears, and leave on the 



